A large amount of innovation, sustainability and knowledge transfer, with a view to managing and valorising the forest, the sustainable development of the rural world and the reduction of major forest fires.
We spoke to Carlos Fonseca, Chief Technology Officer at CoLAB ForestWISE, a Collaborative Laboratory that since 2018 has established itself as a benchmark for innovation and integrated forest and fire management, driving and promoting strategic collaborations and transformative projects.
“CoLAB ForestWISE is a private, not-for-profit association with a clear focus on promoting forest sustainability through (co)research, development and knowledge and technology transfer activities, acting as an interface between industry, academia and public administration with impacts on the forest and fire domains and on society,” says the CTO of this CoLAB. “We bring together the main private, public and academic players in the country, namely some of the most important companies in the forestry and energy sectors in Portugal (Altri Florestal, Amorim Florestal, E-Redes, DS Smith Paper Viana, REN, Sonae Arauco and The Navigator Company), with common interests in the management and valorisation of forest spaces; institutions from the National Scientific and Technological System, such as the Universities of Aveiro, Coimbra, Évora, Lisbon (Instituto Superior de Agronomia), Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro and INESC TEC; and three leading public organisations: the Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires (AGIF), the National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV) and the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), he adds.