The project is guided by five specific objectives:

• Improve the understanding of factors that shape decision-making behaviour by forest practitioners across Europe on adopting and locally adapting climate and biodiversity-smart forest management to inform policy pathways
• Develop advanced high-resolution monitoring methods of climate change related risks from forest disturbances to advance the modelling of future impacts on forest composition, structure, and carbon pools in Europe
• Assemble a next generation integrated assessment framework incorporating improved methods, models, tools and data to assess holistically the contribution of European forests, forest management and the forest-based sector in achieving climate, energy and biodiversity targets under future climate conditions
• Co-design, quantify and evaluate holistic forest-based policy pathways for climate change mitigation that consider climate change related risks, impacts and feedbacks of the forest socio-ecological system, as well as adaptive management practices, biodiversity goals, and the provision of ecosystem services
• Maximise ForestPaths’ impacts by fostering collaboration with universities, research institutes and intergovernmental bodies, and liaising with relevant networks and initiatives to promote synergies, integration and cooperation and facilitate knowledge exchange with targeted stakeholders Central to these objectives is the identification of feasible Climate & Biodiversity-Smart (CBS) management options across Europe and the analysis of their co-benefits and trade-offs. Through these efforts, ForestPaths seeks to provide a transparent and trustworthy knowledge base to support science-based policy decisions.

CMCC role
The Fondazione CMCC plays a pivotal role in the ForestPaths project, particularly by leading the effort to transform scientific modeling into practical policy action.

CMCC coordinates the co-design of holistic forest-based policy pathways, bridging the gap between stakeholder visions and climate targets. As the leader of WP6 the CMCC analyzes the “narratives” of these pathways, detailing the logical chain of outcomes, underlying assumptions, and the necessary enabling conditions required to achieve climate neutrality. This work ensures that the pathways are not just theoretical models but realistic strategies that account for regional barriers and socio-economic trade-offs.

Building on this, CMCC leads the synthesis of policy recommendations. By integrating quantitative results from next-generation models with qualitative insights from stakeholders, CMCC develops clear and actionable advice for legislators. These recommendations will be specifically designed to support science-based decision-making and are tailored to the diverse governances found across Europe.

Furthermore, CMCC acts as the Italian demo case leader, serving as a vital link between the project and the national territory. In this capacity, the foundation contributes to the implementation of local workshops and field visits, providing the regional expertise necessary to co-design “Climate & Biodiversity-Smart” (CBS) management approaches specifically tailored to the needs of Italy’s forests.

Activities
ForestPaths is built on several highly interactive pillars designed to help European forests and the forest-based sector achieve climate neutrality by 2050. One core activity involves advanced monitoring and mapping, where researchers use remote sensing and inventory data to create high-resolution maps of forest structure, composition, and natural disturbances. Parallel to this, the project works to understand management practices and practitioner behavior. By conducting surveys, interviews, and field workshops across four regional demo cases, ForestPaths identifies real-world barriers and enablers for adopting “Climate & Biodiversity-Smart” (CBS) forest management.

The scientific engine of the project is a next-generation assessment framework. This framework integrates advanced biophysical and socio-economic models to project carbon sequestration and ecosystem dynamics. It further incorporates Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) tools to quantify the mitigation potential of forest products and their ability to substitute carbon-intensive materials.

A central activity is the co-design of policy pathways. Through Policy Labs, stakeholders and scientists collaborate to create logical sequences of policy actions or “narratives” that align with climate and biodiversity targets. These narratives are then quantified to assess their effectiveness and analyze synergies and trade-offs.

Finally, results are translated into actionable policy recommendations and distributed via the CANOPY platform. This interactive online tool is designed to guide decision-makers through findings and support science-based policy implementation

Expected results

The expected results of the ForestPaths project are:

• Co-designed and evaluated policy pathways that comprehensively assess the climate mitigation potential of European forests and forest-based sector, while adapting forests to cope with climate change, conserving biodiversity and sustaining the provisioning of forest ecosystem services.
• Improved understanding of past, present and expected future changes in climate on forest disturbances and its implications on forest ecosystems and the potential for forests and forest-based sector to contribute to climate change mitigation.
• Next generation models: advanced simulation models for forest ecosystems and management, forest manager behaviour, earth systems, and integrated assessments that consider societal behavioural transformation and support policy coherence for effective climate & biodiversity-smart actions.
• New tools and data: OA life-cycle analysis data and tools that support policy coherence for effective climate & biodiversity-smart mitigation actions concerning European forest-based sector.

Partners

1. EFI – EUROPEAN FOREST INSTITUTE
2. ULUND – LUNDS UNIVERSITET
3. TUM – TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN
4. KIT – KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FUER TECHNOLOGIE
5. LUKE – LUONNONVARAKESKUS
6. WR – STICHTING WAGENINGEN RESEARCH
7. VITO – VLAAMSE INSTELLING VOOR TECHNOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK N.V.
8. PBL – MINISTERIE VAN INFRASTRUCTUUR EN WATERSTAAT
9. OEKO – OEKO-INSTITUT E.V. – INSTITUT FUER ANGEWANDTE
10. OEKOLOGIE
11. CMCC – FONDAZIONE CENTRO EURO-MEDITERRANEOSUI CAMBIAMENTI CLIMATICI
12. PI – PROSPEX INSTITUTE
13. UTBV – UNIVERSITATEA TRANSILVANIA DIN BRASOV
14. PENSOFT – PENSOFT PUBLISHERS
15. JRC – JRC -JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE- EUROPEAN COMMISSION
16. UA – UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN
17. UEDIN – THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

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