Barents Forest Forum 2019 – Main conference

The Barents region in a biobased future

October 15-17, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

The Barents Forest Forum is a cooperation platform for forest sector stakeholders in the Barents region. Over the course of three days, participants from business, policy, research and development, and education will discuss the biobased future of Northern Europe with a particular focus on the Barents region.

The conference commences with a workshop focused on labor supply, equal opportunities and education. The conference continues with high-level practice-oriented presentations with focus on examples from Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden. There will be opportunities for networking and  practical demonstrations in forest-related excursions. The conference is open to all.

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,

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

Göran Ståhl, Dean, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.

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

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

Country specific talks

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

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

Herman Sundqvist, Director General, Swedish Forestry Agency, Sweden

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

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

Country specific talks 

Hannele Arvonen, President and CEO, Sveaskog, Sweden

Anu Nurkkala, Project Manager, Finnish Forest Centre, Finland

Maja Toften & Vegard Salte Flatval, Senior Economists, Economics Norway, Norway

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

Magdalena Andersson, County Governor, County Administrative Board of Västerbotten

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

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