PROJECT NEWS
Final BIOCONSENT event announcement
May 2025
A Science to Policy and Practice Conference on “Forest Biodiversity Restoration and Climate Change related Forest Disturbances” will take place on September 23, 2025, in Bonn, Germany!
Jointly organized by the LEARNFORCLIMATE and BIOCONSENT projects, a “Science to Policy and Practice Conference on Forest Biodiversity Restoration and Climate Change Related Forest Disturbances” will take place on September 23, 2025, in Bonn. The event will bring together a diverse set of keynote speakers, panelists and participants from EU institutions, national authorities, forest owner associations, environmental NGOs, certifiers, and other stakeholders as well as social and natural scientists. Key inputs that will be presented and discussed with stakeholders include an EU Policy Paper, thematic Policy Briefs, and practice-oriented recommendations for forest management. Key topics include forest biodiversity restoration, climate change related forest disturbances, policy and legal coherence between EU and national levels, forest management practices and allocation of responsibilities under different policy and socio-economic scenarios, trade-offs and synergies between modelled forest ecosystem goods and services (e.g., timber, carbon, biodiversity).
Scientific exchange between University of Ljubljana (LFC project) and University of Freiburg (BIOCONSENT and LFC project)
May 2025
On May 19-23 2025, Prof. Dr. Špela Pezdevšek Malovrh from the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) visited Ass. Prof. Dr. Metodi Sotirov and colleagues (Antonio Basilicata, Lena Riemann, Pascal Renaud) from the University of Freiburg (Germany) for a short scientific exchange. During this stay, they worked on the development and finalization of several joint research papers from the BIOCONSENT and LFC projects. Prof. Malovrh also attended the PhD workshop at the University of Freiburg. As part of this research exchange visit, three joint publications were discussed and developed further (i.) Systematic literature review and national actors’ assessments of key factors driving forest management responses to climate change related stress and disturbance in four European countries (WP3 LFC project); (ii.) Survey of forest owners and their behavioral responses to policy, market and societal drivers of forest biodiversity restoration and climate change related forest disturbances (WP2 BIOCONSENT and WP3 LFC); (iii.) Three decades of forest policy change in Slovenia with insights on into advocacy coalitions and policy outcomes (WP2 LFC).
BIOCONSENT contributes to High Level Science-Policy Dialogue on the Implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, Paris, France
May 2025
BIOCONSENT project coordinator (Ass. Prof. Dr. Sotirov) actively attended the Biodiversa+ Science-Policy Dialogue Event on Drafting National Restoration Plans and 14-15 May 2025 in Paris, France. The policy-science dialogue offered a platform for Member State representatives, who are currently developing their National Restoration Plans (NRPs), to discuss obstacles, share best practices, and learn from each other. Discussions were organised around two key themes, identified via a pre-event survey of Member States: Focus 1: Baseline and monitoring. How are habitat conditions being baselined, and how is adaptive monitoring of degradation or restoration trends being planned? Focus 2: Stakeholder collaboration and conflict management. How are Member States designing collaboration with stakeholders, and how are they addressing potential conflicts? Dr. Sotirov, together with other Knowledge Hub scientists supported break-out group discussions and presentations, and presented the Knowledge Hub’s work plan. Member State representatives then shared additional knowledge gaps, prompting fruitful exchanges with the experts on possible collaborations within the Knowledge Hub’s framework.
Link: https://www.biodiversa.eu/2025/05/21/bridging-gaps-in-national-restoration-plans/
BIOCONSENT contributes to the Annual Meeting of BIODIVERSA+ BiodivRestore Knowledge Hub on Nature Restoration, Paris, France
May 2025
BIOCONSENT project coordinator (Ass. Prof. Dr. Metodi Sotirov) attended and actively contributed to the Annual Meeting of the BIODIVERSA+ BiodivRestore Knowledge Hub on Nature Restoration, held on May 15-16 in Paris, France. Marking one year since the Hub’s launch, this event brought together its expert members to review progress, align on strategic priorities, and plan the year ahead. This meeting was held back-to-back with a Dialogue Event on drafting National Restoration Plans (NRPs), creating synergies with evolving Member State policy needs. The Annual Event was the occasion to review Hub activities and deliverables, setting a clear timeline up to September 2026. As a Co-Chair of the Research and Innovation Task Force, Ass. Prof. Dr. Sotirov and all other scientific experts advanced several priority outputs, part of the Knowledge Hub work plan. This includes scientific papers (addressing topics such as adaptive management, societal conflicts in restoration, and knowledge gaps), policy briefs (on issues like business cases and risk mitigation in restoration), and guidance materials (supporting the implementation of the NRR); Thematic workshops and webinars (designed to inform scientific papers and policy briefs, while fostering meaningful stakeholder engagement). Communication and outreach activities (to promote synergies and visibility at the pan-European level), and Strategic event participation and collaboration (to strengthen cooperation with other networks and initiatives working on restoration topics).
Link: https://www.biodiversa.eu/2025/05/21/biodivrestore-knowledge-hub-meeting/
Forsest owner workshop in Harads and Luleå, Sweden
March 2025
From March 19 to 25, the Swedish BIOCONSENT and LEARNFORCLIMATE project teams organized Policy Scenario Workshops in Harads and Luleå, both located in Norrbotten County. Private individual forest owners as well as representatives of state- and private forest corporations gathered in small groups to discuss forest management responses to climate change disturbances and the policy options featured in three scenarios developed by the research team. The Harads forest owners shared their experiences with the large wildfire that hit the area in 2006 and its subsequent effects on their forest management.
Policy and driver scenarios of forest biodiversity conservation and restoration in Europe
March 2025
This recent publication explores policy and driver scenarios using foresight methodology from the BIOCONSENT project. The research supports decision-making for forest biodiversity conservation and restoration in Europe, focusing on trade-offs and synergies at the forest-biodiversity-climate-water nexus. It presents 15 scenario narratives and summaries, including three EU-level scenarios and three each for Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, and Sweden.
The full report is available here.
Policy Maps on Forest Biodiversity Conservation and Restoration in Europe
March 2025
The BIOCONSENT project has released the report "Policy maps of national forest biodiversity conservation and restoration related policy and implementation in Europe." This publication assesses the coherence between EU biodiversity conservation and restoration policies and national forest laws across the EU-27. The resulting policy maps provide valuable insights for decision-makers, highlighting synergies and gaps in forest policy implementation.
The full report is available here.
Report on improved forest models
February 2025
The project report "Report on Improved Forest models with enhanced representation of behavior and behavioral change of forest owners and conservation managers" has recently been published and is available for download.
Policy Workshop in Basel, Switzerland
December 2024
On December 2-3, 2024, Ass. Prof. Dr. Sotirov (University of Freiburg) and collaborators (Mr. Simon Fleckenstein) presented key findings from a scientific report “Policy maps of national forest biodiversity conservation and restoration related policy and implementation in Europe” (D. 1.2.1. BIOCONSENT project report) at a Policy-Science Workshop organized by the EU Horizon 2020 SUPERB project in Basel, Switzerland. The results were jointly drafted by the BIOCONSENT and SUPERB project teams at the University of Freiburg (Dr. Sotirov as principle investigator and project leader). The main findings about coherence and incoherence between the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and national forest laws were discussed with European and national stakeholders from policy and practice. Feedback on the practical relevance and clarity of the presentations was highly positive, contributing to the effective dissemination of the project deliverable’s key insights.
Link: https://forest-restoration.eu/advancing-forest-restoration-governance-in-the-final-superb-conclave/ (including photo featuring Sotirov from BIOCONSENT and SUPERB)
BIOCONSENT Participatory Scenario Workshop in Bonn, Germany
October 2024
Exploring Forest Management Responses to Policy and Socio-Economic Scenarios
On October 10, 2024, the BIOCONSENT and LEARNFORCLIMATE projects hosted a stakeholder workshop in Bonn, jointly organized and carried out by the European Forest Institute EFI Bonn Germany (Marcus Lindner, Marie Haase, Mats Nyberg) and the University of Freiburg – UFR (Antonio Basilicata, Pascal Renaud, Metodi Sotirov), with support from Wald und Holz NRW. The event targeted forest owners and practitioners in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Western Germany). The morning session featured a guided thinning exercise at a Marteloscope site, led by a local forest manager from Wald und Holz NRW. In the afternoon, participants engaged in discussions on the three German policy and driver scenarios (1. “Biodiversity first”; 2. “Multifunctionality”, and 3. “Bioeconomy First”), and collaboratively identified and assessed forest management options for their implementation.
Project meeting in Solsona, Spain
October 2024
Recent project progress and upcoming publications were discussed with all consortium members during a 3 day conference in Solsona, Spain.
BIOCONSENT Participatory Scenario Workshop in Freiburg, Germany
September 2024
Exploring Forest Management Responses to Policy and Socio-Economic Scenarios
On September 23, 2024, a regional workshop was held in Freiburg as part of a collaboration between BIOCONSENT and the LEARNFORCLIMATE project. Organized by the University of Freiburg – UFR (Metodi Sotirov, Antonio Basilicata, Pascal Renaud) and EFI Bonn Germany (Marie Haase, Marcus Lindner), and supported by the Chair of Silviculture at the University of Freiburg, the event brought together forest owners and managers from the federal state of Baden-Württemberg (Southwest Germany). In the morning, participants engaged in hands-on on-site and virtual forest management exercises at a Marteloscope site, guided by the Chair of Silviculture. The afternoon focused on presenting and discussing the German policy and driver scenarios (1. “Biodiversity first”; 2. “Multifunctionality”, and 3. “Bioeconomy First”). In small groups, participants explored practical implementation strategies - such as tree species selection, rotation periods, set-asides, and regeneration methods, and assessed their effectiveness under the different scenarios.
BIOCONSENT @IUFRO2024 World Congress
June 2024
It is important to improve the representation of forest owners' and managers' behaviour in forest models in order to provide a better decision support system. Modelling on this issue is one of our research topics in BIOCONSENT and less than two weeks ago, Yasmin Imparato Maximo presented her work at #IUFRO2024. Hans Verkerk, Chief Scientist and work package 3 leader from BIOCONSENT moderated the session (08.07.24).
BIOCONSENT at the International Forest Policy Meeting in Helsinki
June 2024
Yasmin Maximo, Hans Verkerk, Antonio Basilicata, Stefan Sorge and Mireia Pecurul Botines (BIOCONSENT) presented current research findings on biodiversity and climate change as part of our sister project LEARNFORMCLIMATE.
BIOCONSENT project coordinator (Ass. Prof. Metodi Sotirov) appointed as Co-Chair of the Biodiversa+ BiodivRestore Knowledge Hub on Nature Restoration, Paris, France
May 2024
Since May 2024, Ass. Prof. Dr. Metodi Sotirov – BIOCONSENT project coordinator - from the University of Freiburg has been appointed and served since then as Research and Innovation Task Force Co-Chair of the BIODIVERSA BiodivRestore Knowledge Hub. The BiodivRestore Knowledge Hub aims to provide policy relevant evidence to support the implementation of the EU’s Nature Restoration Regulation.
The Knowledge Hub brings together 52 experts from various disciplines, including biodiversity, ecology, social sciences, political sciences, and land management. They come from BiodivRestore funded projects, but also from other Biodiversa+ projects and EU Horizon funded initiatives. In this role, key findings from the BIOCONSENT and SUPERB projects are being integrated - particularly insights into societal conflicts and conflict resolution strategies in ecological restoration, as well as on. This engagement is expected to enhance the impact of BIOCONSENT’s research in both policy and practice.
Link: https://www.biodiversa.eu/engagement/biodivrestore-knowledge-hub/
BIOCONSENT's presentation at the German Forestry Council in Berlin, Germany
March 2024
On March 20, 2024, Ass. Prof. Dr. Metodi Sotirov presented preliminary results from BIOCONSENT’s Work Package 1 (Policy Maps) and Work Package 2 (Policy Scenarios and Forest Owner Typology) at the regular meeting of the Working Group on EU Policy (Fachausschuss für Europapolitik, AfE) of the German Forestry Council (Deutscher Forstwirstchaftsrat - DFWR) in Berlin. The expert talk focused on EU nature conservation policies and their implications for the German forestry sector.
Link DFWR, AfE: https://www.dfwr.de/ueber-uns/fachausschuesse/ausschuss-fuer-europapolitik/
BIOCONSENT keynote talk at a EU Policy Workshop in Brussels, Belgium
February 2024
On February 15, 2024, the University of Freiburg team (Ass. Prof. Dr. Metodi Sotirov, Simon Fleckenstein, Antonio Basilicata) contributed to a Policy-Science Workshop in Brussels, organized by the EU’s Horizon 2020 SUPERB project. In the morning session, Dr. Sotirov (from BIOCONSENT and SUPERB projects) gave a keynote presentation on the coherence and incoherence between EU nature conservation policies and national forest laws, based on preliminary results from the BIOCONSENT and SUPERB projects. The session included further presentations followed by an expert discussion with stakeholders. In the afternoon, Dr. Metodi Sotirov and Mr. Antonio Basilicata (BIOCONSENT and SUPERB projects) facilitated break group discussions among experts from international and EU organizations, national public authorities, forest owners, forest industries, environmental NGOs, and scientists on how to avoid policy conflicts and enhance policy synergies between biodiversity, climate and forestry strategies, policies and laws in Europe. Overall, the event received outstanding positive feedback and helped validated key scientific results from the SUPERB and BIOCONSENT projects.
BIOCONSENT meeting and high level policy-science presentation at the University of Forestry in Sofia, Bulgaria
January 2024
On January 29, 2024, BIOCONSENT team members from the University of Forestry Sofia (Prof. Paligorov, Ass. Prof. Ivailo Ivanov, Ass. Prof. Stanislava Kovacheva, Ass. Prof. Elena Dragosova, Ass. Prof. Momchil Panayotov) and the University of Freiburg (Ass. Prof. Dr. Metodi Sotirov) met in Sofia to discuss progress in the BIOCONSENT project. At this occasion, Ass. Prof. Dr. Metodi Sotirov (BIOCONSENT project leader, alumnus from the University of Forestry in Sofia) gave a keynote presentation in the Aula of the Forestry University in Sofia, Bulgaria. The public lecture was attended by more than 50 participants including the Rector and Vice Rector and various leading faculties of the University of Forestry, current and former ministers of agriculture and forestry, current and former forestry professionals, forestry students, and journalists. The public lecture, entitled “The forest policy in Europe: issues and challenges” was very well received and sparked very interesting discussions among academics and practitioners. Among others, the keynote presentation shared preliminary results from BIOCONSENT’s Work Packages 1 and 2. The talk was acknowledged by an award of appreciation by the host University and focused on EU forest policy and its effects on Bulgarian forestry. The lecture was followed by a practice-oriented publication in the “Bulgarian Forest Magazine” that further disseminated the findings to relevant audiences.
BIOCONSENT project meeting in Ljubljana
November 2023
In November 2023, the project members of BIOCONSENT and its sister project LEARNFORCLIMATE met in Ljubljana to discuss current progress, challenges and future tasks of both projects and to create further synergies between them.
BIOCONSENT Kick-off Meeting
November 2022
The project BIOCONSENT had its Kick-off Meeting in November 2022 with all project partners participation (consortium).
Forest Biodiversity Conservation and Restoration Policy and Management in Europe
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