Barents Forest Forum 2019

The registration is now closed, please contact RegistrationBFF2019@slu.se for any questions regarding your registration, and BFF2019@slu.se for any other inquiries. 

Accomodation at the Barents Forest Forum

Travel grant for young participants*

 * Now closed.

Preliminary Program

Location: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd 17.

Language of the conference: English and Russian.

Last day to register: October 7th, 2019

Click here for a more extensive program 

15 October - Pre-conference activity

Working for a future forest sector 

13.30 – 14.00  Coffee and registration

14.00 – 18.00  Pre-conference workshop (Moderated session)

Facilitated by

Fredrik Johansson, Business Director & Filip Hammarberg, Designer, Daresay, Sweden 

Lina Arnesson Ceder, Project Manager, SLU, Sweden

Introductions by

Herman Sundqvist, Director-General, Swedish Forestry Agency, Sweden

Bjørn Helge Bjørnstad, Project Coordinator, Forestry Extension Institute, Norway

Elin Olofsson, Business Developer, SCA, Sweden

Fredrik Gunnarsson, Head of the Labor Market Commission Unit, Swedish Forestry Agency, Sweden

Ola Carlén, Program Director of studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden

The aim of the workshop is to discuss the future forest sector from a labour perspective, emphasising the perspectives of young people in the region. Topics that will be covered during the workshop are education (focusing on forest-related education), equal opportunities, expectations on employers and on employees, and the challenges of labour supply in the forest sector. 

Participation of young persons with a keen interest in forests, from each country in the Barents region is essential. Therefore, if are you between the ages of 18-30 (approx.), from the region, you can apply for travel grants, email bff2019@slu.se for more information.  

18.00 - 20.00 Open Reception

16 October - Conference 

8.00 – 8.30  Registration

8.30 – 9.00  Welcome session

Moderated by

Staffan Norin, Chief Regional Forester of Region Nord, Swedish Forestry Agency, Sweden and, 

Camilla Widmark, Coordinator ForBioeconomy & Head of Department Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.

Opening speeches by

Magdalena Andersson, County Governor, County Administrative Board of Västerbotten, Introduction

Herman Sundqvist, Director-General, Swedish Forestry Agency, Sweden and, 

Göran Ståhl, Dean, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden, Welcome to Barents Forest Forum and SLU

9.00 – 11.30  Session I: The forest in the bioeconomy – opportunities of a bio-based society

Keynote speech, country specific talks by Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden as well as reflections by a panel of young and speakers of the session.

Moderated by

Malin Winberg, Moderator and Journalist, Sweden 

Keynote: Forest in the Bioeconomy Transformation

Sverker Danielsson, Program Manager Mistra Digital Forests, Swedish Forest Industries Federation

Country specific talks

Sustainable Bioeconomy in Finnish Lapland: Multiple Use of Forests

Tanja Lepistö, Project Manager, Smart Arctic Forest Network, Finland

Foods of Norway - from Wood to Feed

Gro Steine, Centre Coordinator, Foods of Norway NMBU, Norway

Sweden

Herman Sundqvist, Director General, Swedish Forestry Agency, Sweden

Possibilities for Forest Bioeconomy Development

Natalia Demidova, Deputy Director, Northern Forestry Research Institute, SevNIILKh, Russia

Panel discussion

11.30 – 13.30  Lunch and "walk-about" (SLU)

Lunch stations and short lunch talks about SLU activities

13.30 – 16.30 Session II: The forest in the bioeconomy – challenges and drivers in the transformation

Keynote speech, country specific talks by Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden as well as a panel consisting of high-level representatives of the forest sector, together with speakers of the session reflect on the discussions of the day. 

Moderated by 

Malin Winberg, Moderator and Journalist, Sweden 

Keynote: Climate Change Mitigation as Driver towards Bioeconomy

Pekka Leskinen, Head of Bioeconomy Programme, European Forest Institute, Finland

Country specific talks 

Sveaskog Drives Development towards the Bioeconomy

Hannele Arvonen, President and CEO, Sveaskog, Sweden 

What is Going on in Wooden Building Industry in Finland

Anu Nurkkala, Project Manager, Finnish Forest Centre, Finland  

Identifying Potentials from new Forest-based Products in Norway

Vegard Salte Flatval, Senior Economists, SØA (Economics Norway), Norway

Russian Approaches to Overcome Challenges on the Way to Forest Bioeconomy

Andrei Iugov, Head of sector, All-Russian Research Institute for Silviculture and Mechanization of Forestry, VNIILM, Russia

High-level Panel discussion 

Johanna Buchert, President and CEO, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Finland

Frode Lyssandræ, Director, Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Norway

Herman Sundqvist, Director-General, Swedish Forestry Agency, Sweden

Vladimir Dmitriev, Head of Department, Science and International Cooperation, Federal Forestry Agency of Russia, Russia

Conclusion and onwards 

Västerbotten Chair of the Barents Regional Council

Magdalena Andersson, County Governor, County Administrative Board of Västerbotten

Staffan Norin, Chief Regional Forester of Region Nord, Swedish Forestry Agency, Sweden

The Norwegian Chairmanship

Frode Lyssandræ, Director, Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Norway

Herman Sundqvist, Director-General, Swedish Forestry Agency, Sweden

16.30 – 18.00  Session III: Workshop on the report: The forest in the emerging bioeconomy in northern Europe

Open workshop for all participants and the purpose is to discuss an outline of a report on forests and bioeconomy to verify content of the report and discuss policy implications. 

Main authors 

Knut Øistad, Head of Research, Division of Forest and Forest Resources, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Norway

Pekka Leskinen, Head of Bioeconomy Programme, European Forest Institute, Finland

Camilla Widmark, Coordinator ForBioeconomy & Head of Department Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.

Maria Sokolenko, Deputy Head of Analytical unit, Federal Forestry Agency of Russia, Russia

19.30 -  Conference dinner

17 October - Excursions  

Please observe that the temperature here varies between about +5 and -5. It is likely that you will face rain, sunshine and perhaps even a bit of temporary snow. 

Click here for a more extensive program 

1. Bioeconomy in the Urban Region

This excursion aims to develop an understanding of how the challenges of the bioeconomy transformation affect the urban area close to Umeå city. We will combine outdoor visits in an urban forest area with indoor discussions on topics like innovation, sustainability, wood building and bioenergy. The excursion starts from downtown and ends at the airport for those leaving Umeå in connection to the excursion. It will be held in English with translation to/from Russian.

Please note that parts of the excursion take place outdoors.

Approx. time schedule: excursion starts at 8.00 and ends by 15.10 at airport (and 15.30 downtown).

2. Bioeconomy in the Region of Västerbotten

The second excursion focuses on the region of Västerbotten. The aim is to discuss how the local societies in connection to the urban area are facing the challenges of bioeconomy transformation. Innovation, sustainability, knowledge exchange, forest ecosystem services and wooden buildings are examples of the topics that will be covered through visits and short talks on the bus. The excursion starts in the city center of Umeå and will take us on a journey through the forest landscape, passing the Vindeln River, going back by the coastal area of Västerbotten (approx. 250 km). The excursion will be held only in English.

Please note that most of the excursion take place outdoors.

Approx. time schedule: starts at 7.45 and ends by 17.45 by the airport (and 18.00 downtown Umeå).