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."

Mediterranean forests play a pivotal role for local economies by providing a large array of ecosystem services and goods. Despite its potential, the sector is facing significant challenges at many levels, including: low profitability of slow-growing timber, niche markets for Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs), and a wider context of aging rural population, farmland abandonment and scrub encroachment, leading to an increase in the occurrence of megafires, which is further aggravated by climate change. A sustainable, inclusive, smart bio-based economy centred on multipurpose trees and NWFPs can be part of the solution, if triggered by an improvement in knowledge exchange channels between NWFP practitioners and scientists, and among regions. The purpose of INCREdible is to address the existing research and innovation knowledge divide in relation to NWFP-service systems of the Mediterranean basin. In particular, INCREdible aims to link knowledge and foster collaboration among different groups of stakeholders, developing innovative business models and enhancing the expertise of rural regions towards the development of inclusive economic strategies. To achieve these objectives, INCREdible will developan Innovation NETworks (iNets) around crucial lines of Mediterranean NWFPs: cork, resins, aromatics, and edibles. Each iNet will aim to gather best practices (both practical and science-based) related to NWFP production, transformation and trade channels. Particular attention will be drawn to cross-cutting sectorial issues such as: (i) innovative business models and value chains, (ii) innovative access to finance, (iii) innovative marketing and digital tools. Lastly, INCREdible will collect information and knowledge arising from iNets into an interregional online platform, which will function both as deposit and exchange system of information among partners, existing networks and organizations, for raising awareness of existing success cases and cross-fertilization.