Velux Stiftung | Forestry research program

In 2023, the Velux Stiftung launches its new Forestry program on climate change, biodiversity and forest products. A yearly budget of CHF 2 million will be dedicated to the program. One call for proposals will be published every year from 2022 to 2026.
Goals:

• Fostering a change of perspective in the use and value of forests and sustainable forest management addressing the pressing issues of climate change and biodiversity loss as well as society’s need for timber. The change of perspective shall be solution-oriented and based on interaction between science and practitioners.
• Developing financial innovation and improved framework conditions shall offer leverage to implement sustainable forest management providing forests which can maintain biodiversity, act as a carbon sink and supply forest products.

• Innovative, sustainable and integrative forest management to develop and provide solutions for adapting to or mitigating climate change, promoting biodiversity, providing resilient ecosystems services and supplying sustainable forest products
• Incentives for action and behavioural change by transforming theoretical and abstract values of forest products and services

• Research projects: Innovative, interdisciplinary, implementation- or transfer-oriented research projects with a high potential to foster change in practice
• Science-practice networks: Existing or novel interdisciplinary science-practice networks to co-develop or implement the thematic focus of the call

• Both individual researchers and research groups can apply.
• At least one applicant (e.g. professor, group leader) must be a permanent employee of a university or other permanent research entity anywhere in the world.
• Other partners can be forest owners, practitioners, consulting or (non)-governmental agencies, etc.

• Submission: 19 September 2022
• Decision: March 2023