Results of Foresterra Work Package 2 “Mapping and information exchange” already available
The objective of WP2 is the mapping and characterization of the existing forestry funding programmes and forestry research capacities of the countries participating in the FORESTERRA Consortium, which brought together 12 Mediterranean countries. The mapping survey was performed using two procedures: i) dedicated questionnaires addressed to funding bodies and scientific organizations and ii) an ad-hoc poster session aimed at exchanging information and validating the preliminary results, attended by delegates from participating countries. This poster session took place on October 2013, in a workshop organised in Rome with the aim to discuss the preliminary results of the mapping exercises with all partners. The final structure of the final report was also approved in this workshop.
See the Minutes of the Rome Workshop
A Mediterranean forestry research framework database was generated from the information gathered from 81 questionnaires (i.e. 48 from scientific organizations, 13 from funding bodies and 20 forestry programmes financed by funding bodies). This is an open database and will be progressively updated during the course of the project.
To identify complementarities, overlaps, gaps, strengths and weaknesses in forest research a country matrix analysis was performed; the data from questionnaires were organized in order to select eleven indicators as follows: (i) staff involved in forestry scientific organizations; (ii) ISI papers published by forestry scientific organizations; (iii) top five most utilized forestry journals; (iv) top nine most prestigious journals (with highest IF); (v) overall forestry research budget; (vi) budget financed by funding bodies for forestry projects; (vii) budget of forestry projects; (viii) number of forestry projects; (ix) inventory of infrastructures dedicated to forestry research; (x) budget of forestry project per topic area; (xi) most promising forestry research lines.