project - Research and innovation
OPTimising FORest management decisions for a low-carbon, climate resilient future in EUrope
Kontext
Significant reductions in anthropogenic emissions and increases in CO2 sinks are needed to meet the 1.5 centigrades threshold for global warming set out in the Paris Agreement and reach the climate-neutrality goal of the European Green Deal by 2050. The CO2 sink provided by forests, including old-growth forests, partially offsets the rise in anthropogenic CO2 emissions, providing a large-scale buffer to climate change. Depending on their characteristics and local circumstances, such as management practices or ecosystem services, forests may range from net CO2 sinks to sources. The project 'OPTimising FORest management decisions for a low-carbon, climate resilient future in Europe (OptFor-EU)' will build a Decision Support System (DSS) to provide forest managers and other relevant stakeholders with tailored options for optimising decarbonisation and other Forest Ecosystem Services (FES) across Europe. Based on exploitation of existing data sources, use of novel Essential Forest Mitigation Indicators and relationships between climate drivers, forest responses and ecosystem services, OptFor-EU has five specific objectives: (1) Provide an improved characterisation of the Forest-Climate Nexus and FES; (2) Utilise end-user focused process modelling; (3) Empower forest end-users to make informed decisions to enhance forest resilience and decarbonisation; (4) Provide a novel DSS service; and (5) Bridging different EU strategic priorities, robust science, and stakeholders in the forest and forest-based sectors. Based on a supply-demand approach, the methodology combines an iterative process of data consolidation, modelling, and co-development of solutions alongside forest managers and other practice stakeholders in all European Forest Types. The DSS will be designed and tested at 8 case study areas, to provide a ready-to-use service, near to operational (TRL7) at European level, while a user adoption and up-take plan will maximise the societal and business impact.
Objectives
The primary objective of OptFor-EU is to co-develop a Decision Support System (DSS) with forest managers and other forest stakeholders, that provides them with suitable climate adaptation and mitigation options for science-based optimising forest ecosystem services (FES) (including decarbonisation) and enhancing forest resilience and its capacities to mitigate climate change across Europe.
The up-take of knowledge collated by OptFor-EU at a user scale will be ensured by empowering forest managers, other practice stakeholders, and decision-makers to make informed decisions. The consortium, through their various collaborations with forest managers and other relevant stakeholders has already analysed market interest at the pre-proposal stage of the project (co-design). This allowed the consortium to identify research and policy gaps and stakeholders' needs in relation to FMP and forest ecosystem services. Once research gaps and needs were jointly identified, study cases and set of research questions were jointly designed and finally the project objectives. In this respect , our primary objective is to introduce a forest DSS in a four-year project with the following specific objectives (SO):
SO1: Improve the characterization of EU FES.
SO2: Provide a focussed FES modelling framework.
SO3: Empower and support forest managers and other stakeholders to implement sustainable FMP based on scientifically-informed decisions that enhance FES (including decarbonisation) and forest resilience.
SO4: Develop a novel DSS to optimize Forest Management Practices (FMP).
SO5: Bridging different EU strategic priorities, robust science, and stakeholders in the forest and forest-based sectors.
Activities
Work package WP1 – Harmonised Data Base
T1.1. Develop open-access code to harmonise forest-climate data
T1.2. Develop a set of novel Essential Forest Mitigation Indicators (EFMI) and an open-access code for the related data
T1.3. Build, update and store the OptFor-EU database
T1.4. Generate land cover datasets for land surface and Regional Climate Models (RCMs)
Work package WP2 – Modelling the F-C Nexus
T2.1. Develop new FMP for forest models
T2.2. Integrate FMP and updated land cover datasets into land surface and climate models
T2.3. Run model simulations for FMP, socioeconomic and climate scenarios
Work package WP3 – Engaging Stakeholders in the Case Study Areas
T3.1. Stakeholder Engagement Plan and Mapping
T3.2. Inventory of relevant stakeholders, and documentation of their needs and requirements associated with the F-C nexus
T3.3. Local data collection in each CSA, and delivery to WPs
T3.4. Evaluation of the stakeholder engagement across the CSA
Work package WP4 – OptFor-EU Decision Support System
T4.1. Design of the OptFor-EU forest DSS architecture
T4.2. Development of the OptFor-EU forest DSS open-source framework and continuous integration
T4.3. Supporting decision-making for selecting climate-resilient adaptation and mitigation options of FES
T4.4. Development of a Dashboard Visual Interface for the forest managers
Work package WP5 – Up-take and User Adoption
T5.1 Adoption and customization strategy and implementation
T5.2 Mapping institutional and governance factors for end-user up-take
T5.3 Exploring forest managers’ perceptions on CC, FES and forest management
T5.4 Trade-offs and optimisation of FES / EFMI in management scenarios
T5.5. Develop policy recommendations
Work package WP6 – Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication
T6.1. Developing a project dissemination and exploitation
T6.2. Tailored dissemination and exploitation of OptFor-EU knowledge and results
T6.3. Developing a project communication strategy
T6.4. Tailored communication tools and activities
Work package WP7 – Management and Coordination
T7.1. Administrative, legal, and financial management, reporting to the EC
T7.2. Coordination of day-to-day operations, internal communication within the consortium
T7.3. Engagement with other projects financed under Horizon-CL6-2022-Climate-01-05 and HORIZON-CL6-2021-CLIMATE-01-09; monitoring and maximising impacts
T7.4. Monitoring implementation risk, data policy, IPR, gender representation and ethics issues
Project details
- Main funding source
- Horizon Europe (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Type of Horizon project
- Multi-actor project
- Project acronym
- OptFor-EU
- CORDIS Fact sheet
- Project contribution to CAP specific objectives
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- SO1. Ensuring viable farm income
- SO2. Increasing competitiveness: the role of productivity
- SO4. Agriculture and climate mitigation
- Environmental care
- Preserving landscapes and biodiversity
- Supporting generational renewal
- Protecting food and health quality
- Fostering knowledge and innovation
- Project contribution to EU Strategies
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- Achieving climate neutrality
- Reducing the overall use and risk of chemical pesticides and/or use of more hazardous pesticides
- Reducing nutrient losses and the use of fertilisers, while maintaining soil fertility
- Protecting and/or restoring of biodiversity and ecosystem services within agrarian and forest systems
- Fostering biodiversity friendly afforestation and reforestation
EUR 4 289 076.00
Total budget
Total contributions including EU funding.
EUR 4 289 076.00
EU contribution
Any type of EU funding.
2 Practice Abstracts
Collaborating with stakeholders improves research projects’ outcomes. To ensure research’s utility, provision of serviceable outputs and societal acceptance, stakeholders’ involvement is crucial. This includes a bottom-up approach for consultative engagement and awareness-raising. Successful stakeholder engagement fosters shared understanding and project transparency. In OptFor-EU, stakeholders are defined as individuals, organizations, or communities with a direct interest in project outcomes. Key stakeholders contribute to co-creation. Engagement activities encompass consulting, listening, communicating, influencing, and negotiating. The stakeholder engagement plan comprises of five key elements:
1. Background, Context, and Purpose
2. Stakeholder Group Development Process
3. Principles of Stakeholder Engagement
4. Knowledge Co-creation Framework
5. Communication Strategy
In the stakeholder group development process, stakeholders from 8 different countries (all 14 European Forest Types) were identified. Each country liaised with its national stakeholders. Nine stakeholder types (including civil society, government, academia, and industry) were mapped using the quadruple Helix model. Key stakeholders were identified based on power and interest, and potential areas of conflict were explored.
For knowledge co-creation, workshops, interviews, and surveys were conducted in each case study area. The project aims to create a decision-support system (DSS) for sustainable forest management, with stakeholders input ensuring true co-creation. The communication strategy integrates guidelines for effective communication with stakeholders. Data collection includes socio-economic data, forest inventories, and impacts of forest management on climate.
Having the ability to monitor forests using detailed classifications of forest types is important for monitoring the impacts of climate change on forests and biodiversity. Indeed, classification systems consisting of only three classes - conifers, broadleaves, and mixed - are not sufficient. In the OptFor-EU project, we have developed a raster-format map at a resolution of 100 meters that can be simply used in any GIS system.
To generate the map, we used a "rule-based expert system" algorithm that uses as input data the maps of relative presence of forest species developed by the JRC and other European open-access data. The map shows the 14 categories according to the European classification of forest types developed by the EU Environment Agency in 2006. The map represents the first example of consistent classification of European Forest Types and will be useful for various countries to report indicators of sustainable forest management and biodiversity indicators.
However, if there are more precise maps of the distribution of forest species in Europe, this map can be further improved by applying the algorithm to them again.
For more information, contact francesca.giannetti@unifi.it – ilaria.zorzi@bluebiloba.com [https://optforeu.eu/](https://optforeu.eu/)
Contacts
Project email
Project coordinator
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ADMINISTRATIA NATIONALA DE METEOROLOGIE R.A.
Project coordinator
Project partners
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UNIVERSITAET FUER BODENKULTUR WIEN
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HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM HEREON GMBH
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CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE
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BLUEBILOBA STARTUP INNOVATIVA S.R.L.
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MYKOLO ROMERIO UNIVERSITETAS
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INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN ENERGY AND CLIMATE POLICY STICHTING
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH-EASTERN NORWAY
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INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE DEZVOLTARE IN SILVICULTURA MARIN DRACEA
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SOFTWARE IMAGINATION & VISION SRL
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ASOCIATIA WWF ROMANIA
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AMBIENTA INGENIERIA Y SERVICIOS AGRARIOS Y FORESTALES SL
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SERVEIS DE SUPORT A LA GESTIO SL
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THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
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MET OFFICE
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UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER
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