Exploring Future Forestry Scenarios and Skills for Resilient Forest Management with Focus Group #2

On 10 June 2026, the CO-FOREST project brought together forestry professionals, researchers, educators, policymakers, forest owners, and sector stakeholders from Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, Bulgaria, and the wider international forestry community for its second stakeholder focus group. Conducted online, the session aimed to validate future scenarios for forestry development and identify the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to prepare forestry professionals for emerging environmental, technological, economic, and societal challenges. 

Building on previous discussions on forest resilience, 55 participants examined three future development scenarios for their respective countries, reflecting climate adaptation, governance effectiveness, technological innovation, and ecosystem resilience. Discussions focused on likely future developments, preparedness gaps, and implications for forestry education, training, and innovation. 

Shared Challenges Across Europe 

Despite significant differences in forest ecosystems and management contexts, participants identified several common challenges likely to shape the future of forestry across Europe.  Many participants expressed concern that current management systems and institutional structures may not be sufficiently prepared to respond to these rapidly evolving environmental conditions. 

Beyond environmental pressures, stakeholders highlighted governance and coordination challenges, including fragmented decision-making, rigid regulations, limited stakeholder cooperation, and communication gaps between forest managers, policymakers, scientists, and society. Several groups stressed that the success of future adaptation efforts will depend not only on technical solutions but also on stronger collaboration, trust-building, and adaptive governance. 

Key Knowledge and Skills Needs 

A strong consensus emerged regarding the competencies required for future forestry professionals. Participants identified several priority competence areas, including: 

• Climate adaptation and resilience planning; 

• Risk assessment and disaster preparedness; 

• Remote sensing, digital monitoring, GIS, and data interpretation; 

• Biodiversity management and ecosystem restoration; 

• Communication and stakeholder engagement; 

• Cross-sector collaboration and adaptive governance; 

• Business innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable forest-based economic development. 

Many participants also noted that future forestry specialists will need to operate in increasingly complex environments where ecological, social, and economic objectives must be balanced simultaneously. 

Communication, stakeholder engagement, and trust-building emerged as one of the most important cross-cutting themes of the focus group. Participants from several countries emphasized that many forestry challenges are not caused by a lack of technical knowledge alone, but by insufficient dialogue and coordination between forest owners, practitioners, policymakers, researchers, industry representatives, and the wider public. Stakeholders highlighted the need for stronger communication skills, negotiation capabilities, public awareness efforts, and participatory decision-making processes. Building trust among different interest groups and improving society’s understanding of sustainable forest management were identified as essential prerequisites for successfully implementing climate adaptation measures and strengthening long-term forest resilience. 

Looking Forward 

A final interactive reflection exercise revealed broad agreement that future forestry education must move beyond traditional technical forestry knowledge. Participants highlighted systems thinking, climate adaptation, biodiversity expertise, digital competencies, strategic decision-making, communication skills, and socio-economic understanding as essential elements of forestry resilience. 

The insights gathered through the discussions will directly contribute to the development of CO-FOREST learning modules and training solutions, helping to equip current and future forestry professionals with the competencies needed to support sustainable, adaptive, and climate-resilient forest management across Europe.