The FOREST (European Partnership for FOrests, forestry, and the forest-based sector: REsearch and innovation for a Sustainable Transition) co-funded partnership was launched on 1 June 2026, with the aim of supporting research, development and innovation to accelerate the transition to a sustainable, circular forest-based bioeconomy.

The first joint call for proposals under the FOREST European partnership brings together 36 research funding organisations from 27 countries.  The following countries are participating in the 2026 call: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Denmark.

The total indicative budget for the calls for proposals under the project – including the EU contribution – exceeds 40 million euros. Hungary’s annual commitment to the partnership is 300,000 euros.

The 2026 call for proposals is seeking applications in the following areas: climate-resilient forest systems; adaptive and multifunctional forest management systems; sawn timber and innovative wood-based products; and forestry value chains and markets.

The first phase of the two-stage call for proposals opened on 15 September 2026 and closes on 2 December 2026.

Participation in the second phase of the call for proposals, which opens on 23 March 2027 and closes on 2 June 2027, is by invitation only, based on the scores achieved in the first phase.

Following this, on 2 October 2026, NKFIH will hold an online information session in Hungarian on the FOREST partnership: 
https://nkfih.gov.hu/horizontpentek10/forest2026.

The partnership’s website can be accessed here: https://forest-partnership.eu/

Further information on the call for proposals: https://forest-partnership.eu/jointcall2026/

Information page in Hungarian: 
https://horizonteuropa.nkfih.gov.hu/fokuszteruletek/gazdasag-zold-atmenete/forest