Sweden, September 25, 2023 — Project Forest 4.0, a visionary undertaking aimed at establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) within a six-year timeframe, is set to redefine the landscape of forest environmental monitoring, data collection, and analysis. This ambitious initiative seeks to harness data to construct a sustainable forestry ecosystem for the benefit of both the environment and industry.
Taking place on September 27th and 28th, 2023, Project Forest 4.0 will convene a high-level meeting, bringing together partners from Lithuania and Sweden in Tibro. The meeting will be held in conjunction with Möbelriksdagen, the Swedish furniture and interior design industry’s largest annual event. This unique gathering promises to catalyze a robust collaboration between academia and industry, underscoring the Forest 4.0 project’s commitment to innovation and synergy.
Participants in the meeting will leverage their collective expertise to illuminate pivotal trends and insights within the furniture industry. Crucial topics on the agenda include discussions on governance and infrastructure, the strategic direction of the CoE, and the advancement of scientific excellence and educational initiatives, coupled with the implementation of innovative business models.
Laimonas Butkus, CEO of the CoE, emphasized the significance of partnerships, noting, “Collaboration between universities, clusters, and businesses will ensure that the forthcoming Center of Excellence delivers the highest caliber research, directly applicable to businesses, for the testing and integration of emerging technologies into novel business paradigms.”
The business sector also recognizes the immense potential of this initiative, as the realm of forest technology remains underexplored. Innovative data collection and processing applications offer vast opportunities for the development of a sustainable bioeconomy firmly rooted in forests.
Project Forest 4.0 is led by a consortium of 6 esteemed partners: Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas University of Technology, Linnaeus University, Interior Cluster Sweden, AgriFood Lithuania, and Art21. The project has a budget of almost €20 million (€9.9 million from the European Commission and the same amount from Lithuania).