📅 Date: December 4th, 2025
🕧 Time: 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM CET
FOREST4EU Webinar Bridges Forests to the Fork:
Highlighting Innovation in Agroforestry and Non-Wood Forest Products
This webinar was a great success, connecting the vital role of forestry and agroforestry directly to the “From Farm To Fork” strategy. With the FOREST4EU project nearing its successful conclusion this December, the event served as a platform to showcase pivotal findings, particularly from the project’s Innovation Topic Hubs (ITHubs) focused on Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFP) and Agroforestry.
Key Insights for a Sustainable Food System:
- Innovation & Supply Chains: as an innovation partnership network, FOREST4EU has shared innovations from Operational Groups (OGs) across Europe. These innovations cover valuable products like chestnuts, truffles, flour, and berries, as well as integrating livestock into agroforestry systems. A crucial takeaway is the need for support to build resilient supply chains and increase market consumption for NWFPs and agroforestry products, making them a more sustainable alternative to traditional crops.
- The Experience Economy: presenters emphasized viewing forests as accessible “farms” for the bioeconomy. To significantly boost the value of NWFPs, the Experience Economy model is key. This involves combining products with memorable and practical experiences allowing small businesses to succeed by being flexible, authentic, and experience-driven rather than commodity-driven.
- Certification for Credibility: sustainability is non-negotiable. Third-party schemes, like PEFC, provide crucial assurance by certifying sustainable management practices beyond legal compliance. Certification is vital for all aspects, including packaging and Trees Outside of Forest —a category encompassing agroforestry systems—adding market credibility and supporting rural economic development.
- Resilience through Agroforestry: the AF4U project highlighted agroforestry as a powerful tool for achieving the environmental, social, and productive goals of the CAP. The project defined and monitored three key practices (Silvo-pasture, Silvo-arable, and Agro-silvo-pasture), developing essential resources like advisor training modules and a Decision Support Tool (DST). This DST helps farmers define value chains and optimize their business models based on comprehensive sustainability criteria.
All of FOREST4EU’s capacity building materials, policy briefs, and innovation summaries are open access and available on the project website.
Presentations
Francesca Giannetti (University of Florence, FOREST4EU project coordinator)
Arianna Oggioni (PEFC International)
Stojan Ivanovic (BOKU University)
Mosquera Losada Maria Rosa (University of Santiago de Compostela, AF4EU project)