Study trip to Scandinavia

GEEN draws experience from the best…

 

Sweden and Finland - leaders in the management of rich forest resources

 

Both Sweden and Finland are characterized by a high level of utilization of smart technologies, artificial intelligence and digitalization and are also known for their strong focus on achieving sustainable goals, low emissions, energy efficiency and the application of innovative solutions. Both countries have a large share of forest land, forests cover almost 70% of Sweden and even 75% of Finland. The representation of individual tree species is particularly interesting. As much as 83% of Swedish forest land is coniferous, while mixed forests make up 12% and deciduous forests only 5%. Specifically, it is represented by 40% spruce, 39% pine, 13% birch and only 8% other hardwoods.

Of the forests cut down in Sweden, about 47% of the wood goes to sawmills, 45% to the paper industry and 8% to firewood. However, wood is processed in favour of many products that are not usually associated with wood, such as food packaging, clothing, cosmetics and medicines. The Swedes are currently working on a wide range of innovative projects exploring new uses for wood, so the list of new high-tech wood-based materials, products and applications is growing rapidly.

 

Meeting with representatives of leading bioenergy associations in Sweden - WBA and Svebio

 

The journey began in Stockholm, home to a number of institutions and organizations that sustainably manage Sweden's rich forest resources. These include Svebio, the Swedish Bioenergy Association, and the WBA, the World Bioenergy Association, which held a joint meeting to discuss greater use of bioenergy and its role in protecting the environment and achieving sustainable and low-carbon goals. Gustav Melin, CEO of Svebio, told us that bioenergy covers almost 40% of Sweden's energy needs, with Sweden being at the very top of the European Union in terms of renewable energy use, with a share of up to 69.1%.

In addition to the meeting with Svebio and the WBA, a reception was held in Stockholm with the Croatian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden, Dr. Sc. Siniša Grgić and a tour of the Cederhusen complex in the city center of Stockholm was also interesting.

Finnish experience in achieving sustainability and strengthening competitiveness in forest-based industries

 

In Finland, the delegation continued with another professional program. By the way, Finland boasts the title of Europe's most forested country and the forest-based sector has traditionally played a key role in Finnish society. Today, it represents about a fifth of Finnish exports. It plays an important role in the national economy, offering many jobs and sustainable economic development in harmony with the nature. This sector directly employs about 42,000 Finns and indirectly further 100,000 Finns. These numbers are expected to continue to grow as demand for more sustainable products grows.

A meeting was held in Helsinki at the Finnish Forest Industry Federation, where participants learned about strengthening competitiveness and profitability in the sector, Finnish best practices in sustainability and new opportunities for timber and forests under the "EU Green Agreement". Furthermore, a meeting with Ambassador Josip Buljević took place at the Croatian Embassy in Helsinki, where one of the topics was the Finnish model of biomass and municipal waste incineration and participants had the opportunity to visit such a cogeneration unit in Lahti, which in 2021 was awarded the title “European Green Capital”.