Joint initiative by Finland and Sweden

The Forest Academy for EU Decision Makers is a joint venture between Sweden and Finland, that has been co-organised by the Finnish Forest Association and the Swedish Forest Agency.

The key idea of the Forest Academy for EU decision-makers is to offer opportunities to connect with other key decision-makers and to share insights into the potential that forests can offer to society.

The Forest Academy for EU Decision Makers is an invitational discussion forum that focuses on the role of forests and the forest value chain in the development of a sustainable, circular bioeconomy. It is an intensive three-day programme with thematically linked site visits that demonstrate the effects of policy on the forest sector.

The forum is largely built up on the Forest Academy communication concept, created by the Finnish Forest Association. The association is a non-governmental, non-profit cooperation and communication body serving all major forest-related interests. In Finland, the communication programme has been running successfully since 1996 and some 1,600 top-level decision-makers from different sectors of society have participated in the forums.

The concept was piloted during the first two Forest Academy events in 2018 in Finland and in 2022 in Sweden. Third forum was organised in Finland in 2023 and the next one is planned to take place in Sweden in 2025.