The first stakeholder board workshop of the ForestNavigator project (Navigating European forests and forest bioeconomy sustainably to EU climate neutrality) has just taken place at IIASA premises, in Laxenburg (Austria), where actors from various fields have been engaged in a fruitful and participated discussion.

The core stakeholder group, composed of around 20 members representing different spheres of society, industry and policy, have been consulted on their opinions and preferences on forest policy goals and pathways, forest management practices and trends as well as implications for ecosystem services and markets.

ENEA, as a ForestNavigator project partner, contributed in organizing and structuring the workshop contents and moderated the session titled ‘Ecosystem services and management options, what role for cultural services?​’’.

The session, led by Melania Michetti and Fabio Eboli of the Department for Sustainability, have collected relevant information on stakeholders' preferences about forest management options and implications for ecosystem services, their synergies and trade-offs, by means of a short survey and a discussion stimulated in two focus groups.

A specific emphasis has been put on cultural ecosystem services, for which ENEA has the major objective of deriving their monetary value in the following project activities.

The workshop has allowed bridging together the most diverse positions and perspectives, to find solutions that are participated, scientifically sound, and concretely viable to enhance the EU forest and the forest-based sector contribution to the climate neutrality.