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Partner Beneficieries
where the young researcher will join the science

UNIPD participates as Project Leader to the S4a with the TESAF Department More than 60 permanent researchers and teaching staff develop highly qualified research and teaching. TESAF Department is currently hosting more than 50 PhD students attending the L.E.R.H. PhD School. The TESAF Department reflects disciplines such as Forest operations and Silviculture and forest-ecology teams which are involved in ETN Skill-For.Action. Recruited ESR07, seconded ESR04 and ESR11 will be in the condition to be in contact with local forest owners and forest enterprises associations in order to discuss actively on research approaches and preliminary results.

TUM is acknowledged as university of excellence. The Chair for Forest Growth and Yield Science (FGYS) and the Institute of Forest Management (IFM) participate in the project. FGYS has recognised expertise in forest mensuration, forest growth and yield and modelling. It maintains one of the most extended and continuously measured network of long term yield trials globally. Recent research focuses on mixed stand dynamics and tree and stand performance under changing environments. Staff members have enhanced skills in applied statistics, dendroecology and forest growth. IFM has outstanding experience in inventory methods, remote sensing, and land use optimization to improve sustainable land management strategies. TUM maintains vital connections to forest practice and management organisations providing recruited and hosted ESRs a strong linkage between research and application.

The University of Valladolid (UVA) main activities are education, research and extension. Within the UVA, the Research Institute iuFOR is focused on the forestry and forest science research including silviculture, forest monitoring (LiDAR). Recruited ESR01 and the PhD enrolled ESR04 will be in the condition to access to experimental plots in the Mediterranean forests including long term plot network and experiments on thinning and forest regeneration. UVA will offer its experience on LiDAR technology to all the ETN Skill-For.Action partners and partner organizations. UVA will provide the webinar on inventory and modelling forest ecosystem in collaboration with FORA to complement the program with the practical experience

Stellenbosch University is acknowledged as a university of excellence in South Africa and Africa. Department of Forest and Wood Science addresses the entire forestry value chain in both teaching and its research activities. It addresses all forest resources in the region, which include plantations, natural forests and South Africa’s vast woodlands areas. The research focuses on Precision Forestry, Integrated Land-use Management, Wood Quality, modelling forest growth and dendro analyses.
Recruited ESR05 and ESR09 and the seconded ESR01, ESR02, ESR06 will be in the condition to analyse mixed forest and forest plantation under difficult climate conditions in term of nutrient and water use efficiency and ESR07, ESR08, ESR11 to analyse harvesting operations and efficiency in plantation as well to discuss actively on research approaches and preliminary results. ESR11 (recruited at HALF) will be enrolled at PhD programme in Forestry and Natural Resource

University of Applied Sciences Bern (BFH) pursues an international strategy . The School of Agriculture, Forest and Food Science (HAFL) as one of the Departments of BFH is an accredited training and competence centre for forestry in Switzerland. Our research and development is innovative, practical and need oriented. Recruited ESR11 and the seconded ESR09, ESR10 and ESR12 will be in the condition to be in contact with local forest owners and forest managers in order to discuss actively on research approaches and preliminary results. The recruited ESR11 will be enrolled at the PhD programme in Forestry and Natural Resource of Stellenbosch University (SU)

INIA is a Public Research Organisation of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. The Center for Forestry Research (INIA-CIFOR) has the functions of scientific research, technological development and innovation, scientific-technical training, national and international cooperation. INIA-CIFOR works in close collaboration with public research organisations, universities and technological centres through mixed R&D projects and collaborates with different institutions and international organizations. Recruited ESR04 and seconded ESR02, ESR03, ESR05, ESR06 and ESR12 will be in the condition to analyse stress patterns and the relevance for intra- and interspecific interaction, tree drought response and comparison between different forest management.

The Free University of Bozen (UNIBZ) will participate to the proposal with the Faculty of Science and Technology (FAST). FAST has a profile at the interdisciplinary level with focus on mountain ecosystems. The FAST has currently active collaborations with local and regional administrations to support the economical, technical and environmental sustainability of the mountain ecosystems management. The FAST currently hosts more than 60 PhD students. There has been a recent association with TUM through academic and research collaborations over the last years. The contacts with the UNIPD and SU are also established. Recruited ESR06 and seconded ESR03 and ESR05 will be in the condition to work with isotopic mass spectrometry (IRMS) and gas-exchanges analyser.

RWTH Aachen University is acknowledged as university of excellence in Germany. The Institute for Man-Machine Interaction (MMI) belongs to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology and was founded in 2006. The main focus of the MMI is to bridge the gap between fields of robotics and Virtual Reality in order to develop, implement and apply new concepts of advanced control, man-machine interaction and communication. The MMI has a strong background in forestry. Within the Virtual Forest project series, a new kind of GIS- and simulation-based forest management system has been developed in tight cooperation with partners from computer science, geo-informatics and forest sciences. This system is now the starting point for the development of new digitalization, networking and automation concepts for the forest sector in projects like ClusterWIS, Competence Centre Forestry 4.0 or iWald. Recruited ESR10 will be in the condition to work with the simulation-based forest management system with the support of the research group of RWTH. RWTH will offer its experience on computer science, robotics, geo-informatics, Industry 4.0 etc. to all the ETN Skill-For.Action partners

SGGW consists of 13 faculties with over 1,300 university staff. SGGW collaborates with 170 international partners from all continents. The Department of Silviculture (DS) is a part of Faculty of Forestry, focusing on: forest genetics and nurseries, spatial and temporal dynamics of regeneration in managed and unmanaged forests; growth, dynamics and structure of monoculture and mixed stands under the influence of different silvicultural treatments; dynamics and structure of virgin forests; optimization of silvicultural planning under climate change; close-to-nature silviculture for adapting temperate European forests to climate change. Recruited ESR03 and seconded ESR04 will be in the condition to access to experimental plots and to implement the growth modelling.

Forstliches Bildungszentrum (FBZ) belongs to the portfolio of the States Enterprise for Forestry and Timber Northrhine-Westphalia (Landesbetrieb Wald und Holz NRW). The main tasks are to manage the state forest and to provide forestry services.
The main activities of FBZ NRW are basic and further education as forest education centre for forestry in NRW and research and development in forest technical production. It is one of four training centres all over Germany for this kind of training. So they have excellent contacts to German machine entrepreneurs because of long and deep cooperation.

Partner Organization
to push research into practice

The Bavarian Research Alliance – BAYFOR is a private company, an organisation constituted under German Law as a private limited liability company but not geared towards profit, located in Munich (local branch in Nuremberg and in Brussels). Its main objective is to develop and to strengthen Bavaria as a competitive and innovative RTD-region in the context of the emerging European Research Area. BAYFOR is primarily engaged in providing assistance and coordination support to universities, SMEs and other local stakeholders in collaborative programmes funded by the EU. BAYFOR will provide Soft Skill courses in collaboration with TUM on Training in research funding, Training in intercultural communication and languages and Training in grant writing.

Scientes Mondium UG – SCIMOND is a German commercial scientific service provider with a strong expertise in forest research. Our international customers usually request our services if solutions have to be found for complex problems that requires a special expertise in computer application, algorithmic solutions or software development beyond the standard. We have a proven track record in forest and tree modelling, statistical analysis, CT scanning of wood property research as well as precision forestry and agricultural applications including the application of drones (UAVs) and terrestrial LiDAR. SCIMOND will provide Applied training courses UAV photogrammetric application for data acquisition in forestry in collaboration with TUM and SGGW; and Structure from motion (SfM) to 3D reconstruction in forestry in collaboration with SU

CdF is a private company specialized in communication and innovation in the forest and environmental themes. Since 1995 CdF is the Editor of “Sherwood – Foreste ed Alberi Oggi”, magazine and communication system addressed to forest stakeholders and scientists who wish to transfer their knowledge in practice. Silviculture, plantations, forest management, tree farming, wood technology as well as conservation, forest reproductive materials and nurseries, wood energy are the topics treated.
CdF will complement as non-academic partner UNIPD on providing the Soft Skill courses on Technical communication and dissemination in forestry and How to transfer research activity and into practice? CdF will organize a special issue (open access) with the ESRs activities and results to distribute by the European Forestry Magazine Network.

ETIFOR is a spinoff that provides international consulting services to public and private organizations to help them grasp the full value of services and products provided by nature. It operates in three defined areas of intervention:Through its “Responsible management” unit the company has robust research, consultancy and training experience in the field of forest certification, supply chain risk and management, biomass traceability, wood product due diligence systems and market analysis. Through the “Sustainable investment” unit the company has professional experience in the field of forest projects and investments that help addressing the climate crisis challenges and are beneficial to investors, society at large and environmental resources. ETIFOR will complement as non-academic partner UNIPD on providing the applied training courses on Technical and business elements for low carbon emission and carbon positive wood supply chains and Due Diligence Systems and Certification for wood biofuels: standards, procedures and practices

Polanów Forest District (PFD) is located in northern Poland and represents the State Forest Enterprise. PFD provides many trainings (see our website) and also an excellent ground for pursuing the principles of forest management which integrate varies goals such as the sustainable utilisation of forest resources, nature protection, and participatory management of forests as a public resource. For last 20 years PFD cooperates with universities and research institutions in Poland within various and many projects, including direct testing of the innovative forest management concepts as an outcome of the mentioned collaboration.

It is well-known research-innovative enterprise among Polish foresters. TAXUS SI is determined to put to use the good practice and knowledge that we have gained over this time. It develops IT products that facilitate the work of foresters, ecologists, officials and field workers. TAXUS SI roots are in forestry, which is why we understand the needs of institutions involved in forest management. TAXUS SI will provide the applied training course on UAV photogrammetric application for data acquisition in forestry and Advanced course on spatial analysis by open source GIS software

Merensky Timber is an integrated timber company o Hans Merensky Holdings (HMH). HMH owns four sawmills and leases/owns/manages 65 000 ha of forestry land planted mainly to Pine but also to some Eucalyptus sawlogs. The company is FSC certified. It funds and participates in collaboratively funded forestry and sawmilling research across the value chain. In-house research is focussed on tree breeding. There is an interest to more clearly understand the impact of climate change on the portfolio of forest products from a portfolio modelling perspective. HMH will provide the applied training course on Forest planning in practice and related technical services in collaboration with YORK and SU

York Timbers (Pty) Ltd is an integrated forestry company located in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. York owns 64 000 ha of pine plantations which supply its four saw mills and one plywood mill. All operations are FSC certified. York continues to invest in new technologies , systems and machinery across all disciplines having recently commissioned a new plywood mill and mechanised its in-house harvesting. It is committed to optimise its wood resource and to this end it is funding a PhD study on wood properties and growth site interaction at British Columbia University in Canada. York has completed an in-depth study of site/environment interaction as well as adjusting sites for future climate change so as to align the tree breeding program to the future.
YORK will provide the applied training course on Forest planning in practice and related technical services in collaboration with HMH and SU

AGRESTA is a SME operating that has a broad technical and human infrastructure with 35 experienced professionals. AGRESTA is focused on providing services, technology and innovation services in the forest sector. Our products and services are: forest carbon consulting, LiDAR technology applied to forest resource management, Natural Environment Engineering, Geographic Information System & GPS.
AGRESTA will complement as non-academic partner UNIBZ on providing webinar on carbon cycle in forest and INIA on providing webinar on applied tree physiology provide the applied training course on Carbon cycle evaluation in forestry: how to measure carbon in forests and data analysis in collaboration with INIA

It is based in Soria and Barcelona and founded by two PhDs in forest modelling with a wide background in research and strong links with universities and research centres. The main working areas are: i) assessment of forest resources: innovative forest inventories using LiDAR technology, development of forest models (growth and yield, site index, taper, etc.) and new tools for modern forest planning and management, among others, ii) forests and global change: carbon footprints, forest carbon budgets, carbon offsets through forests, carbon consulting, etc., iii) technological innovation: sensorization in forests and industry, new tools and apps for enhanced forest management, forest visualization with drones, etc. FORA will complement as non-academic partner UVA on providing the webinar on inventory and modelling forest ecosystem. FORA will provide the applied training course on use of LiDAR technologies in innovative assessment of forest resources.

FBB is managing 3666 ha of own forest land and 377 ha of entrusted forest land. With these more than 4000 ha FBB is one of the larger forest owners in Switzerland. Own machinery is used for harvesting operations. Priority functions are “wood production”, recreation, ecology, conservation and sustainable use of natural forests and protection of endangered species. Every priority function defines the kind of forest measures, which have to been taken. With the exception of some ecology forests (reserves), all forests are exploited sustainably and the regeneration is effected mainly by natural regeneration. All of the forests are used for recreation purposes.

Who we are

A group of 10 academic partners and 12 non-academic partners working together for a contamination of “ideas” between the domains of forest growth and forest operating efficiency

Project boards