CoLAB ForestWISE announces the appointment of Luís Rochartre as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO), taking over the leadership of the organisation at a time marked by the strengthening of its national and international profile and the consolidation of its role as an interface institution between science, industry, public administration and society.

The appointment of Luís Rochartre reflects a strategic commitment to strengthening CoLAB ForestWISE’s capacity to address emerging challenges in the fields of forests and wildfires, fostering innovation, knowledge transfer and the development of solutions with tangible impact on territories and organisations.
A Forestry Engineer with postgraduate qualifications in Sustainability from Stanford University and Harvard University, Luís Rochartre brings over 30 years of experience in sustainability, forestry, consultancy and business management. He is also an Industry Fellow Professor at Católica Porto Business School and a Guest Professor at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management (ISEG). Throughout his career, he has led complex transformation and change management programmes across multiple sectors, contributed to improving the financial performance of several organisations, fostered the development of multicultural and multidisciplinary teams, and participated in governance and oversight processes as a board member and strategic advisor.

“Portuguese forests face complex challenges that require strong alignment between knowledge, innovation, implementation capacity and cooperation among different stakeholders. I take on this challenge with a deep sense of responsibility, seeking to strengthen CoLAB ForestWISE’s role as a reference partner in the development of innovative solutions that contribute to more resilient and sustainable forests while generating value for territories and society,” states Luís Rochartre.

This appointment comes at a particularly significant moment for CoLAB ForestWISE, which has established itself as a national and international reference in promoting integrated forest and wildfire management through applied research, innovation, technology transfer and capacity-building initiatives.
Under this new leadership, CoLAB ForestWISE aims to strengthen its capacity to generate impact, expand cooperation with national and international partners, and accelerate the transformation of scientific knowledge into practical solutions for the challenges facing forests and wildfires.