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Final funding opportunity for innovative forest digital tools under the FORWARDs project

February 11th, 2026

Up to €150,000 to develop applications and data systems for the ForestWard Observator

Forest research organisations, digital developers and innovators have a last opportunity to apply for funding under the EU-funded FORWARDS project. The final grant call, titled Knowledge to Practice: Develop applications and AI solutions utilising the ForestWard Observatory, is now open and offers up to €150,000 per project.

The deadline for submitting proposals is 3 April 2026.

The ForestWard Observatory is a pan-European monitoring and evaluation tool designed to assess the impacts of climate change on forests and to support evidence-based forest management decisions across Europe.

The call invites proposals for projects that develop applications using or enriching datasets from the ForestWard Observatory, as well as systems for forest data collection that can be integrated into the Observatory. Projects may include, for example, web-based applications that rely on ForestWard Observatory data to support the dissemination of practical knowledge and best practices for forest adaptation and mitigation strategies, including biodiversity-related synergies, targeting practitioners and other end users.

Since its launch in 2022, the FORWARDS project has introduced five grant call themes to establish the ForestWard Observatory and support climate-smart forest restoration pilots through third-party projects. Managed by the European Forest Institute (EFI), these calls have resulted in 13 grant calls and attracted over 320 proposals from across Europe. A list of third-party projects funded under previous FORWARDS grant calls is available here.

This final call marks the last funding opportunity for third-party projects under FORWARDS.

How to apply

Full details on eligibility criteria and application requirements are available in the grant submission guidelines at: https://efi.int/grants-training/grants/G-01-2026. Applicants should also consult the EFI grant rules, available at: https://efi.int/grants-training/grants/efi.grant-rules.

Contacts:

Project coordinator: Professor Ruben Valbuena, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), coordinator@forwards-project.eu

Communication Manager:

Costanza Danovi, Fondazione ICONS costanza.danovi@icons.it

Project website: https://forwards-project.eu/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/forwards-project/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/forwards-project.bsky.social

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Citation: Final funding opportunity for innovative forest digital tools under the FORWARDs project (2026, February 11) retrieved 11 February 2026 from https://sciencex.com/wire-news/532268274/final-funding-opportunity-for-innovative-forest-digital-tools-un.html

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