Swedish research and innovation
Swedish strategies and processes on research and innovation are dependent on EU-wide policies and funding instruments.
The current political priorities, promoting resource efficiency and a transformation of society towards a biobased economy, create a golden opportunity for the forest-based sector to take a leading role in that process. The demanding challenge for the forest-based sector is to speed up the transformation of research results into innovations. To succeed in that the private sector has to play a leading role.
European funding increasingly important for R&I
The forest-based sector tries to take advantage of the growth in EU funding for Research and Innovation (R&I) through its Forest-Based Sector Technology Platform. This Platform is supported by more than 20 National Support Groups, most of which have developed their own National Research Agendas. The Swedish National Support Group is industry driven in a joint venture with the major national funding organisations. The Swedish National Research Agenda has primarily been developed to meet and prioritise the R&I demands of the Swedish forest-based sector.
A new bill on Research and Innovation is being prepared
The Swedish government is currently preparing a bill on Research and Innovation, which will be presented to Parliament in the autumn of 2012. In this process, the government has asked a large number of organisations to give their views on the development of society and the R&I needed to meet future demands. The Royal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry submitted a report, “A bio-based economy for the sustainable development of society” (in Swedish), supported by more than 20 stakeholder organisations representing the whole biobased sector. The input from the forest-based sector was mainly based on the content of the Swedish National Research Agenda.
Please find more information about the conference and SIFI:s postletter 8 which summarizes the day here.
Text: Kaj Rosén, Research Manager, the Forestry Research Institute of Sweden
Photo: Kaj Rosén speaking at the conference on the transformation process in Canada and Sweden. Emma Berglund