- Create a Centre of Excellence of European significance in the field of forestry, wood processing and a pulp andpaper in cooperation with leading research organisations in the EU.
- Strategically transform Forest-based Industry in the Central-East European region towards innovation growth based on knowledge economy, and develop the sector towards the principles of Green Economy.
- Increase the efficiency of research and innovation within theForest-based Industry in the Central-East European and to utilise the existing knowledge and know-how for the benefit ofthe European Research and Innovation Area.
- Develop the long-term cooperation of the Centre of Excellence with companies in the field of wood production, processing and utilisation and to contribute to their development and innovation activities related to multi-purpose management of forests; enhanced biomass production; secured wood supply, forest operations and logistics; cascade use, reuse and recycling systems of wood and energy from wood.
- Develop a long-term perspective for the cooperation of the Centre of Excellence with international partners.
In the first year action (CSA) LignoSilva proposal closely follows the program topics by preparing the business plan for the long-term science and innovation strategy of the future Centre.
In the long-term (FPA) actions the project especially helps to overcome significant disparities between high and low-performing member states in the term of research and innovation performance by:
- Concentrating sufficient critical mass of science and creating a centre with sufficient competence in the forest-based sector;
- Reinforcing the infrastructure of science and research: completing and sharing of laboratories at NFC Zvolen and PPRI Bratislava;
- Ensuring the coordinated transboundary utilisation of scienific infrastructure of the CE;
- Ensuring the know-how transfer of excelent partners of the CE;
- Strengthening the excellent quality of research: creating the conditions for keeping topscientists and employing talented scientists to solve the topics of the CE;
- Developing a long-term horizon of cooperation between the CE and advanced partners by creating Joint Venture or other appropriate forms of cooperation.
Besides of meeting the WP topics, the focus of the new centre of excellence directly contributes to Europe 2020 Growth strategy and targets of 20-20-20 EU Strategy for green energy by 2020, especially by:
- enhancing SMEs’ innovation capacity by providing better innovation support from the CE to SMEs, to gain competitive advantage for them, to overcome their size and resource limitations,focusing on the market uptake (eg. through innovation vouchers);
- fostering responsible research advancement of the CE;
- promoting gender equality in the CE research and innovation;
- integrating and opening the CE research infrastructures of European interest;
- involving the CE in relevant cluster networks, based on organisational innovation and best practice transfers focusing on competitive, low-carbon energy challenges, based on the energy efficiency as one of the fastest and the most effective ways to reduce CO2 uptake in current research and innovation systems.
In addition, the CE reflects:
- the EU HORIZON 2020 Societal Challenges priority “Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine, Maritime and Inland Water Research and the Bioeconomy”
- international trends of developing a forestry and wood processing complex defined in the Revised Forestry Technology Platform Research agenda“ - FTP Vision 2030 and Strategic Research Agenda (SRA).
- the national priorities defined in the RIS3 SK.
All of the above steps are intended to support the implementation of the long-term vision and to meet the overall and specific objectives improving efficiency of production, processing and utilization of timber by maximizing environmental, economic and social benefits, and improving competitiveness of wood-based products and services.