The leading partner of the project is the Pannonian European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (Pannon EGTC), which has been an active participant in cross-border economic development and climate adaptation initiatives for many years. The other partners of the project are the Development Centre of Murska Sobota (Slovenia), the Croatian Forests Ltd. (Croatia), Mecsekerdő Zrt. (Hungary), the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (Croatia). The professional work of the project is also supported as a strategic partner by Future Forest GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), one of Europe’s first knowledge centres specialising in sustainable forest management and climate-based innovations, and the Slovenian Forestry Service (Slovenia).
The aim of Pannon Future Forest is to strengthen the competencies of entrepreneurs, landowners, forest managers and business development organisations in new areas such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity-based economy, carbon storage, ecosystem services market or regenerativetourism by establishing a mentor network and knowledge centre.
At the opening event, the hosts, the representatives of Pannon EGTC and Mecsekerdő Zrt. gave a welcome speech, and Viktorija Dobravec, program officer on behalf of the Central Europe Program, also joined in an online form, who presented the goals and strategic importance of the program. As part of the professional program, Future Forest GmbH & Co. KG from Germany was also introduced, which is one of Europe’s first innovation centers specifically specializing in sustainable forest management and climate technology solutions.
During the thematic day of the event, the participants reviewed the professional logic and work plan of the project, and together they started the preparation of the international Benchmark Study, which serves to map good practices and innovative business models. As part of the afternoon program, a field trip was also carried out in the area of the Mecsek Discovery Center, where participants could get to know the good examples of nature-based education and attitude formation.
The project is of particular importance for the Hungarian-Croatian-Slovenian border region, where outstanding natural values can be found, including the areas of the UNESCO Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve, but at the same time, they are often peripheral areas from an economic point of view. The goal of Pannon Future Forest is to ensure that nature conservation and economic development in these regions do not appear in opposition to each other, but reinforce each other.
Within the framework of the project, mentoring programs, international hackathons, pilot actions, and a sustainably operated knowledge center (Knowledge Hub) will be established in the next two years, which will help to exploit the opportunities inherent in the green economy in the long term.
The Pannon Future Forest is not only a professional project, but also the beginning of a new approach: it proves that climate protection, the preservation of biodiversity and the economic strengthening of rural areas can be achieved at the same time, through joint thinking and international cooperation.