Innovation is a key priority for the private forestry(F) and agroforestry (AF) sector, and nationally/locally funded EIP-AGRI Operational Groups (OGs) can play a key role in driving innovation at the EU level. However, the results of the OGs in F and AF have not been disseminated to all EU countries because the various local/national OGs have not been linked to the experiences of other countries and the knowledge generated has only been shared locally. In order to disseminate the knowledge generated by the OGs in F and AF to all EU regions, FOREST4EU will set up multi-actor innovation interregional transversal Hubs dealing with 5 innovation topics ('Wood mobilisation', 'Forest adaptation to climate change', 'Improving approaches, models and tools for sustainable forest management and ecosystem service provision to improve economic, environmental and social benefits for rural areas', 'non-wood forest products', 'Agroforestry') to facilitate interregional transfer of knowledge generated by the OGs. FOREST4EU will collect, share and disseminate knowledge related to innovations from F and AF OGs. This will be done by providing tailored and understandable dissemination materials accessible through existing platforms, as well as capacity building materials developed according to identified regional needs and transferred to where the innovation can be applied. FOREST4EU will also discuss and present the benefits of OGs relevant to the Green Deal to EU policy makers. In addition, FOREST4EU will establish connections with policy makers working with CAP and innovation at the local level, particularly in countries where OGs dealing with F and AF are not funded, to promote new initiatives and a greater geographic balance between different EU regions.

"Background informationThe forest owners’ profiles and practices are nowadays in full evolution, all over Europe: how to meet their needs, thanks to the new information and communication technologies? This is the key question that structured a first eforOwn project (2012-2014), and revealed that these owners expect simple, attractive and modern self-training tools; in the same time, the trainers and teachers wanted to see their pedagogical approaches evolve and use the same type of tools to support their tasks. It is in this context that the eforOwn+ project was born.Objectives of the projectThe main objective of eforOwn+ was to provide forest owners in France, Belgium and Spain with free access to educational resources on the Internet. These resources were intended to be and were designed to also serve the needs of forestry students, as well as teachers and trainers who wish to integrate them into their technical and pedagogical practices. Number and profile of participating organizationsSeven organisations were involved in eforOwn+, two in Spain, two in Belgium and three in France: in each country one forest development organisation and one educational institution were partners ; in France was also added as partner a public organisation in charge of e learning in the agriculture and forestry sector, that supported the whole partnership, on pedagogical and editorial engineering issues. Description of the main activities implementedThe main activity of eforOwn+ has been the production of educational resources: slideshows, fact sheets and videos for three levels - or their equivalent at the European level: A (novice owner, level 4- upper secondary), B (intermediate owner, level 5 - bachelor) and C (expert owner, level 6 university). Of the 85 resources planned, 75 have been produced and are available on line, accessible to all on the the project partners’websites . These resources include 28 slideshows, 39 fact sheets and 8 videos. The list of resources evolved during the project in order to best meet the target audience’ expectations and to avoid redundancies between several resources. Of the 75 resources, 69 are available in French, 23 in Spanish and 10 in Catalan (as of 23.07.2019, Rosa's translations are missing, see with her what she can do by 1 September). Two resources are also available in English to allow for a wider dissemination and to interest future partners in joining the project. Results and impacts achievedAt local, regional and national level, the impact for the beneficiary audiences is essentially, for forest owners, a better appropriation of the knowledge and know-how necessary for the implementation of sustainable forest management, and, for students in the forest sector, the improvement of their learning and future professional practices; for the target audiences (trainers and teachers), the improvement of skills in the design and use of distance resources.Long-term benefits The ""eforOwn"" brand has been registered with the European certification body EUIPO and is awaiting validation (approximate date of registration and publication of the brand: 10/10/2019). A post-program charter has been drafted and signed by all partners in the eforOwn+ project. This charter sets out the post-programme action modalities ensuring the long-term anchoring of the partnership, as well as the common process of production and dissemination of resources: the resources produced during eforOwn+ will be monitored to be regularly updated; new resources may be produced and will benefit from the eforOwn brand, following the decisions of the eforOwn Liaison Committee which will meet once a year. Other partners may join the Liaison Committee and use the brand, in accordance with the terms specified in the post-program charter and following the decisions of the Committee members."

ROSEWOOD4.0 builds on the well-established ROSEWOOD network of Regional Hubs connecting multiple actors along the forest value chain to reinforce the sustainability of wood mobilisation in Europe. The new action will especially reinforce and enlarge the links with Eastern Europe by creating a new Eastern Hub including new countries (Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine). Secondly, the action puts special emphasis on digitalisation (forestry industry 4.0) and digital tools (social media, platforms, e-learning) for training and coaching, enabling practitioners to share know-how with much wider impact. The focus on ICT addresses the two main challenges in wood mobilisation: 1) better access to resources through defragmentation of forest owners and 2) increased volume to the market and higher transparency. The project’s extensive dissemination of best practices, technological and non-technological innovations and research results feeds directly into national and regional Agriculture Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) in forestry and builds an efficient interface with the EIP-AGRI and the EIP Raw Materials, supported by the European networks EFI and InnovaWood. The multi-actor action closes knowledge gaps, connects and transfers tangible knowledge and best practice between forestry practitioners across the whole Europe. In an open innovation environment, the coordination of Regional Hubs facilitates also new opportunities for exploitation of near to market innovations and fosters business partnerships between stakeholders, aligned with local and regional development plans, to complement existing or initiate new Operational Groups within the EIP-AGRI. ROSEWOOD4.0 will contribute to enhanced competitiveness of the forest industry and to vital development in rural areas within the European Bioeconomy by responding to the imminent need for broader sharing of ICT-driven solutions in forestry.