Chair
Tandem Forest Values Committee
Since ancient times, forests have been part of the Finnish and Swedish soul. Forests have shaped our countries, cultures and communities. They provide resources for jobs, sustainable growth, construction, recreation, biodiversity, climate action and much more. Forests may be the one thing that unites our countries more than anything else. In an EU-perspective, the two countries are completely dominant in terms of forest areas. One third of the total forest area in the EU is in Sweden and Finland.
This was the background behind Sweden’s official gift to the Republic of Finland in 2017, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. The gift was intended to strengthen the two countries’ cooperation on forest research. It was named Tandem Forest Values, which means that Sweden and Finland together will safeguard their forests through joint research and knowledge exchange. The gift consisted of twelve postdoctoral positions, and to promote deeper collaboration, these positions were divided between the two countries.
The cost amounted to 24 million SEK and the project was financed by the Swedish government in collaboration with private foundations in Sweden. The Swedish-Finnish Cultural Foundation was the initiator and driving force behind the initiative.
Tandem Forest Values has later evolved in two additional application rounds, which focused on research projects rather than postdoctoral positions. The application rounds were funded by both Sweden and Finland. Thus, the gift turned into a joint effort. The projects in the third round will be finalised by 2024.
A total of 94 million SEK was allocated from 2017 to 2023. This sum should be interpreted as a positive sign for more collaborative research between the two largest forest nations in the EU. Additionally, the Formas Research Council in Sweden and the Finnish Academy plan to issue a fourth call for proposals in 2024. This has made the gift become a gateway for long term investments.
At the same time, the gift became a wakeup call. It highlighted the fact that research on forest and forest industry are relatively small areas of cooperation between our countries’ governments. This is notable considering the importance of forests for our countries and the EU’s interest in forest-related issues.
The key outcome of Tandem Forest Values was the establishment of an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding between the Swedish and Finnish governments. Therefore, in June 2022, a declaration of intent was signed, which initially extends until 2027 and applies regardless of any changes of government.
The declaration consists of three parts and summarises the lessons learned about the collaborative policies in the Tandem Forest Values project. The first part of the declaration focuses on encouraging the responsible governmental authorities, institutes and other equivalent entities, in the respective countries, to regularly announce bilateral calls for proposals. The idea is for the declaration of intent to act as a lever, allowing the countries to jointly optimising their existing national resources for forest research. While this may seem obvious, however, we have learned that it hasn’t been the case so far. In times when the countries’ budgets are becoming increasingly limited, and the demand for cutting-edge research is growing, they will be compelled to rethink and increasingly coordinate their national research funds.
The second part involves keeping each other informed during the development of national programmes related to forestry issues and research, and considering whether any initiatives could be carried out bilaterally to achieve greater impact. Tandem Forest Values has made it increasingly clear that forests must meet a growing number of socio-political needs. This is not only the case in Sweden and Finland but also for a European perspective. In the future, new national forest programmes will be developed in Sweden and Finland. Therefore, a bilateral consensus on forest research is both natural and necessary. We have understood that it will become even more important for the countries to coordinate, and cooperate, with each other within the EU to address the importance of forest research when it comes to address future needs and challenges.
The third part of the declaration of intent is that the countries should mutually address significant issues that hinder expanded research cooperation between universities and institutes in Finland and Sweden. Sometimes, there is an overestimation that the bilateral and Nordic cooperation have eliminated all border barriers. Tandem Forest Values has showed is that there are still practical problems with a bilateral exchange when it comes to research staff.
The natural progression would now be for the intergovernmental declaration of intent to evolve into a more concrete bilateral cooperation plan. Ideally, this could be decided at the upcoming joint government meeting between Sweden and Finland in 2024.
For more information about Tandem Forest Values, see https://kulturfonden.net/projekt/tandem-forest-values/