ForestValue2 JC2023 - Unveiling sustainable operating spaces for European forests (SOSFOR)

Managing European forests in a sustainable fashion requires a concrete understanding of the social, ecological, and economic boundaries to resource extraction and global change. Our project will identify and quantify these sustainable boundaries across a set of European forested landscapes. We explore the sustainable boundaries of forested landscapes through a combination of scientific methods. We will apply qualitative research approaches to identify the social demands of forested landscapes, connecting with quantitative research approaches to propose pathways that meet the social expectations. In the case study, we will engage with stakeholders to construct socio-economic pathways that can guide the generation of scenarios for landscape development. We will forecast the development of these landscapes to quantify their economic and ecological potential. The combination of qualitative and quantitative information will be used to: identify threats to ecological, economic, and societal needs; propose policy tools to guide forest management; and improve forest management practices.

SOSFOR delineates sustainable operating spaces for European forests, i.e. boundaries and thresholds for forests, management and value-chain to intertwine with environmental, social and economic sustainability. Over 3 years of transnational collaboration, SOSFOR gathers expertise from five universities (UMIL, UNITBV, UNIZAR, NMBU, UFR) representing Italy, Romania, Spain, Norway and Germany. SOSFOR maps driver, pressure, state, impact and response indicators; builds local socio-economic pathways and climate scenarios through participatory processes and co-design approaches; simulates future development (2050 and beyond) of forests, ecosystem services, social and economic aspects; draws sustainable operating spaces; provides response options to policy makers and stakeholders to foster forest-related sustainability in European landscapes. SOSFOR advances current research, policy implementation and operationalization of forest sustainability through: extending data and information on forest sustainability in Europe; quantifying the impact of socio-economic and climate drivers on forest sustainability; promoting bottom-up, multi-actor, participatory approaches in forest governance for sustainability; integrating climate and socio-economic drivers into forest ecosystem models. SOSFOR provides key recommendations for incorporating multiple dimensions of sustainability into practical forest management and planning at landscape scale (e.g. climatesmart forestry, ecosystem-based management). SOSFOR outcomes are relevant for EU Forest Strategy to 2030, Nature Restoration Law, Climate Action, and Rural Development and Cohesion Policies.