COST Domain on Forest
and Forestry Products:
overview and opportunities
Yves Birot
Chairman COST TC FFP
NFRIs meeting
Brussels, 12/11/2004
European COoperation in the Field of
Scientific and Technical Research
Objectives
• ensuring a strong position of Europe in research & technology
• co-ordination of nationally funded research through concerted
projects called COST Actions (= network of coordinated research
projects)
• COST’s profile : non-competitive research, pre-normative
cooperation, environmental & cross-border problems, problems of
public utility, sustainable development, etc.
• maximisation of European synergy through addition of value in
research cooperation
• tool for integration : Eastern Central European Countries and nonCOST member countries
NFRIs meeting
Brussels, 12/11/2004
COST : the most important platform
for scientific cooperation in Europe
• 35 member countries (+EC)
• nearly 200 Actions in 14 domains
• average participation 16 countries/action
• 40,000 of participating researchers
• annual volume ~ 2 billions €
• annual cooperation budget : 14 M €
NFRIs meeting
Brussels, 12/11/2004
17 TCs for 14 scientific domains (180 Actions)
Forestry is n° 3
NFRIs meeting
Brussels, 12/11/2004
The COST domain FFP over its 10 years of existence
• Topics covered by the FFP domain
Biophysical basis of sustainable forest management
Forest policies for people
Forest products and the environment
Forest products: properties and performances
Process engineering in wood based industries
• Organisational structure of the TC in 3 sector groups (forests, pulp
and paper, wood technology) + cross-sectoral actions allows the
possibility to address disciplinary as well as interdisciplinary issues
• the fast growth in number of Actions: 46 in 10 y, demonstrates the
relevance of the concept of a common research platform in the
forest sector
NFRIs meeting
Brussels, 12/11/2004
COST FFP and European Forest Research
• COST Actions in the FFP sector may involve up to 100
scientists and 25 countries
• 30 ongoing Actions in 2204 involving 1,400 forest
scientists
• Estimated average cost of research related to each
Action is 3.7 M. € annually - cost of coordination
averages 70,000 € (spent by COST) or 1.89%
NFRIs meeting
Brussels, 12/11/2004
Positioning of COST in the ERA and in future FPs (1)
Do not kill COST by too great expectations, but keep on its basic
role: to get good scientists together under light strategic guidance,
and let them work out their ideas
Preserve COST’s comparative advantages: small size, efficiency,
fastness, effectiveness and flexibility
COST’s value to the FPs = possibility of acting outside the strict
confines of the FPs
But COST, financed trough FPs, must find its place there; 3 options
(not mutually exclusive):
1.
2.
3.
NFRIs meeting
Horizontal ERA-cooperation & coordination of national RTD (as now)
A role in international cooperation funded by the ERC
A position in « International Science » as an element of foreign policy
Brussels, 12/11/2004
Positioning of COST in the ERA and in future FPs (2)
Objectives for COST
> coordination of research funded by sources in the Member States; COST has
anticipated the ERA-nets and should investigate parallel developments
> COST should anticipate and complement the activities of FP, both for NoEs &
IPs
> increase the coherence and synergy between COST and FP (bottom-up, driven
by priorities), which requires a better recognition of COST by the Commission
> COST should provide inputs regarding Community thematic research and on
horizontal European research policy issues
NFRIs meeting
Brussels, 12/11/2004
COST and forest & forestry products related research
Maintain the domain FFP
TC FFP could provide inputs in the development of new instruments ERAnet, Technology Platform
An opportunity to consider: the 4 years life span of an Action allows an
annual flow of 5 new Actions
Look for important scientific and technical topics not yet submitted to
COST such as: silviculture and forest management planning decision support
tools (modelling), logging techniques, wood based energy, etc.
Investigate the potential for cross-domains (within COST) Actions on
issues such as: water resources, biodiversity, climate change, social and
economic questions, chemistry (green chemicals), etc.
Explore the development of synergies with ESF
Improve the dissemination
NFRIs meeting
Brussels, 12/11/2004
Thank you for
listening!
• Address:
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• Tel.: +32-2-533 38 00
• Fax: +32-2-533 38 90
• e-mail: office@cost.esf.org
• http://cost.cordis.lu
NFRIs meeting
Brussels, 12/11/2004
COST : principles (1)
Encourage bottom up, à la carte, flexible Actions
through a loose organisation
• any researcher in any COST country can propose an Action ;
any COST country can also initiate an Action
• participation is open to and voluntary for COST member states
• no domain is prohibited and no priority within domain
COST is quality driven: evaluation of Actions
ex ante, mid-term, final
COFORD - Forest Research & Development in Ireland 2004
Tullamore, 20-21/09/2004
COST : principles (2)
• COST does not fund research but organises research
cooperation on the basis of Actions and pays for
cooperation costs for European participants such as:
• Science management meetings (MC and WG)
• Scientific workshops and seminars
• Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs)
• Training Schools and Research Conferences
• Evaluations and Studies
• Dissemination
• new options
• Research is home funded, coordination is shared
COFORD - Forest Research & Development in Ireland 2004
Tullamore, 20-21/09/2004
COST characteristics
• Networking & Coordination
• Pan-European
• “Non-competitive”
(prenormative; environmental and
cross-border problems; public
utility)
• National Financing of
Researchers – national
responsibility
COFORD - Forest Research & Development in Ireland 2004
• Bottom-up / Flexible
• “A la carte” participation
• Multi-disciplinary: wide
range of disciplines
covered
• Open to wider
cooperation
Tullamore, 20-21/09/2004
List of Actions in the TC FFP
Biophysical basis of sustainable forest management
Forest tree physiology research EUROSILVA ( E6)
European Forest genomics network GENOSILVA (E28)
Woody root processes (E38)
Bark and wood boring insects in living trees (E16)
Long term forest ecosystem and landscape research (E25)
Contribution of forests and forestry to the mitigation of greenhouse effect (E21)
Chestnut multidisciplinary research (G4)
Growing valuable broadleaved tree species (E42)
Harmonisation of national inventories in Europe (E43)
COFORD - Forest Research & Development in Ireland 2004
Tullamore, 20-21/09/2004
List of Actions in the TC FFP
Forest policies and people
Forestry in the context of rural development (E3)
Forest reserves research network (E4)
Urban forests and trees (E12)
National forest programmes (E19)
Protected forest areas in Europe (E27)
Economic integration of urban consumer’s demand and rural forestry
production (E30)
Forest for recreation and nature tourism (E33)
Forests, trees and human health and well-being (E39)
European Forest externalities (E45)
COFORD - Forest Research & Development in Ireland 2004
Tullamore, 20-21/09/2004
List of Actions in the TC FFP
Forest Products and the Environment
Wood durability: mechanisms and improvement with environment friendly methods (E2)
High performance in wood coating (E18)
Environmental optimisation of wood protection (E22)
Towards zero liquid effluent in paper making (E14)
Effective solutions to reduce the impact of waste arising from the
papermaking process (E26)
Life cycle analysis: from forest to end of life (E9)
Recovery wood management (E31)
Sustainability through new technologies for enhanced wood durability (E37)
Innovative utilisation and products of large dimensioned timber including the
whole forest wood-chain (E40)
COFORD - Forest Research & Development in Ireland 2004
Tullamore, 20-21/09/2004
List of Actions in the TC FFP
Forest products: properties and performances
Timber-frame building systems (E5)
Mechanical performances of wood and wood products (E8)
Wood properties for industrial use (E10)
Characterization methods for fibres and papers (E11)
Wood fibres wall structure (E20)
Reliability analysis of timber structures (E24)
Innovative timber and composite elements/components for buildings (E29)
Characterization of paper surfaces for improved printing paper grades (E32)
Fracture mechanics and micro-mechanics of wood an wood composites with
regard to wood machining (E35)
Analytical tools with applications for wood and pulping chemistry (E41)
COFORD - Forest Research & Development in Ireland 2004
Tullamore, 20-21/09/2004
List of Actions in the TC FFP
Process engineering in wood based industries
Multi-phase flows in paper-making (E7)
Advances in the drying of wood (E15)
Paper recyclability (E1)
Wood adhesion and glued products (E13)
Microbiology in paper making (E17)
Biotechnology in the pulp and paper industry (E23)
Bonding of timber (E34)
Modelling and simulation in papermaking industries (E36)
Wood processing strategy (E44)
Improvements in the understanding and use of de-inking technology (E46)
COFORD - Forest Research & Development in Ireland 2004
Tullamore, 20-21/09/2004