Finnish-Swedish research projects granted funding to study forest value chains

The Tandem Forest Value programme promotes research collaboration between Finland and Sweden related to forest resources, the value chain of wood-based products, and wood construction. The results are now in for the programme’s TFV3 call (Tandem Forest Values 3): four Finnish-Swedish research consortia with twelve subprojects will receive just over a total of 3 million euros in funding.

The call is based on Sweden’s gift to Finland on the occasion of Finland’s centenary of independence in 2017. The funding granted in the TFV3 call is a continuation of two previous funding periods.

The Finnish call organisers were the Academy of Finland’s Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of the Environment and the Walter Ahlström Foundation. The Swedish funding agency is Formas.

The Tandem Forest Value programme provides funding for two-year consortium-based projects led by early-career researchers from Finland and Sweden. The research is very multidisciplinary and includes researchers from different fields. The programme includes projects in areas such as wood construction, forest industry processes and materials research.

Funded projects

Sampo Soimakallio (Finnish Environment Institute), Seppo Junnila (Aalto University, Finland) and Patrik Rohdin (Linköping University) head a project that aims to promote carbon-neutral construction. In addition, the project will examine obstacles to and drivers of wood-based construction.

Ali Mohammadi (Karlstad University, Sweden), Narasinha Shurpali (Natural Resources Institute Finland) and Reijo Lappalainen (University of Eastern Finland) study the conversion of forest residues into novel products. Their WoodPro project supports the bioeconomy policies laid out by the Swedish and Finnish governments as regards the transition to a low-carbon society and also contributes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Kerstin Jedvert (RISE Research Institutes of Sweden), Diana Bernin (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden) and Michael Hummel (Aalto University, Finland) head a project investigating carbon fibres produces from cellulose and lignin. Forest-based carbon fibres have great potential as replacements for commercial carbon fibres, which are currently fossil-based with both a high carbon footprint and a high price.

Per-Olof Syrén (KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm), Laura Tomppo (University of Eastern Finland) and Agne Swerin (Karlstad University, Sweden) aim to solve several problems related to the current generation and use of plastics. The objective of the joint research project is to synthesise renewable polyesters from wood-based raw material.