Forestry

Nearly one third of the planet’s land surface is covered with forests, and these need to fulfil many purposes: They provide society with goods such as timber, food and medicine. Forests play a crucial role in mitigating climate change and can protect biodiversity, soil and water quality as well as serve as places where people can enjoy nature. Wood has a lower environmental impact than many alternative materials and the increasing use of forest products can reduce the carbon footprint.

With the funding program in forestry, the foundation wants to contribute to this challenge by supporting solution-oriented research based on an interaction between science and practitioners.

The forestry program at a glance

Incorporating practice into research and using research to inform practice is essential to change and progress. Therefore, support is available for

Research projects:

Innovative, novel, outside-of-the-box research that has a high potential to change forestry practice. The project should aim to address topics of broad interest and employ a participatory approach that includes stakeholders. It can also be interdisciplinary. Additionally, it is mandatory to allocate 10% of the budget for knowledge transfer.

Science-practice projects:

Science-practice projects aim to facilitate collaboration between researchers and practitioners to improve accessibility and comprehensibility of specified forest management findings relevant to stakeholders. These projects should facilitate dialogue, knowledge exchange or co-production resulting in deliverables such as tools and resources or communication products. Applications must demonstrate the commitment of the collaborating parties and the continuity of the approach.

Program goals:

The overall objective of the funding program is to improve sustainable forest management that addresses the pressing problems of climate change and biodiversity loss as well as society’s need for forest products.

– The program shall contribute to a change of perspective in sustainable forest management and in the use and value of forests.

– The program shall contribute to the integration of evidence-based science into forestry practice.

– Financial innovation and improved framework conditions should provide leverage for the implementation of sustainable forest management, resulting in forests that can conserve biodiversity, act as a carbon sink and supply forest products.

Thematic focus:

– Innovative and integrative sustainable forest management to develop and provide solutions for adapting to or mitigating climate change, promoting biodiversity, providing resilient ecosystems services and supplying sustainable forest products.

– Incentives or tools for action and behavioural change towards sustainable forest management by transforming theoretical and abstract values of forest products and services.

Duration of program:

• 2022 – 2026
• One specific call for proposals every year.
• The 2025 call for proposals will be published in April 2025.

Next deadline:

• 22 September 2025 at 23:59 CEST,  with a final decision on proposals in March 2026

The call for proposals:

• The details of the current call for 2025 can be viewed here.

Selection procedure:

All applications go through a formal screening by the foundation management. The selection of the applications that will be presented to the board is performed by a scientific committee according to our funding criteria. The foundation board of Velux Stiftung will take the final funding decision. More information is available on our page about the selection procedure.

The priority is set on research addressing neglected issues whose results have a high potential to contribute to change. You can find examples of previously approved projects below or on this list.

If you are unsure about the fit of your application to the scope of the call after reading the call for proposals, please send an abstract to info@veluxstiftung.ch and state the reasons why you think your project fits the call.