The DecisionES strategic vision is to develop an innovative interdisciplinary synthesis of the multidisciplinary expertise available in the network to address research and innovation areas (RIAs) that have been identified as key to unlocking the potential of the forest-based sector and ensuring its future competitiveness by the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda 2020 of the Forest-based sector Technology Platform and the EU Green Deal. Project activities will a) contribute to excellent science by bringing together multidisciplinary research (ranging from environmental science, ecology, ecosystem modeling, management, socio-economic analysis, social sciences, climate science, operations research up to software engineering); b) build the interdisciplinary synthesis needed to develop IT tools that contribute to ensure sustainable provision of ecosystem services, promote a low-carbon economy and promote industrial leadership and c) provide the knowledge framework needed to address key societal challenges. The DecisionES network strategic vision thus addresses and supports the EU Nature Directives, EU Biodiversity Strategy, the EU Water Policy, namely the Water Framework Directive (WFD) for all European countries to reach good ecological status in water bodies and the Strategic Implementation Plan of the European Innovation Platform for Water (EIP Water). It is also aligned with the 7th Environment Action Programme, and the EU Strategy on adaptation to Climate Change and it contributes to protection, restoration and enhancement of natural capital in line with the work of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
The DecisionES network general objective is to enhance forest management planning and policy analysis by evolving an integrated and multifunctional ecosystem services supply approach thus effectively contributing to delivery of services under climate change. Further, an innovative dissemination and communication approach will be used to transfer of technology and knowledge to enhance forest management planning and policy analysis. DecisionES plans to realize its strategic vision and general objective through the integration of complementary state-of-the-art multidisciplinary expertise available in its beneficiary and partner institutions. Specific objectives of DecisionES are the generation of knowledge 1) to project forested landscapes and the provision of ecosystem services under different management regimes and scenarios of global change (WP2), 2) to integrate ecosystems management planning and policy processes to effectively address concerns with the sustainability of the provision of ecosystem services (WP3), 3) to develop computer-based tools to encapsulate all the models and methods for ecosystem management planning generated by the project (WP3) and 4) to develop a communication and dissemination platform to facilitate the utilization of new decision support tools by stakeholders in each country/geographical regions (WP4). These objectives will be achieved by integrating knowledge and tools developed under the work organized in the different work packages. DecisionES will contribute to a consistent worldwide quality reference for addressing the delivery of ecosystem services, with products being made available to public administrators, forest owners, and industry for enhanced integration of adaptive strategies in forest management planning and policy analysis in the context of global change.
The DecisionES project is based on a four-year joint programme involving 120 researchers and over 195 secondments and 522 person months, with exchange periods ranging from 1 to 12 months. It builds from the experience of past bilateral cooperation between beneficiaries and partners of different countries to reinforce long-term research co-operation within a coherent framework. It will provide exceptional opportunities for collaboration among researchers to help develop the multilateral and multidisciplinary framework and the interdisciplinary synthesis needed to address the current management planning and policy analysis challenges in the forest sector in the EU, Costa Rica, Canada, United States, Brazil and Chile.
The DecisionES work plan is structured into one management work package (WP1), one communication and dissemination work package (WP4), and two research work packages to ensure consistency of the multidisciplinary build-up needed for the interdisciplinary synthesis envisaged by the project (WP2 and WP3).
WP 1. Coordination
WP2. Innovative forest ecosystems services models and simulators
WP3. Advanced methods and computer based tools for forest ecosystem management planning
WP4. Ecosystems Services Supply Learning Platform.