EU forestry research partnership opens first funding call, with CDTI grants for Spanish firms

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FOREST, a European partnership for forestry and the forest-based sector co-funded by the EU under Horizon Europe, has opened its first joint call for transnational research and innovation projects. The goal is forests that cope better with climate change, and an industry around them that runs on more knowledge and less waste. Projects fit four themes: climate-resilient forest systems, adaptive and multifunctional management, wood and new wood-based products, and forest value chains, markets and governance. Consortia need partners from at least three participating countries.

CDTI, Spain's innovation agency, will give grants to Spanish companies whose projects win the international selection. Amounts are set case by case, within aid ceilings of 60% for small companies, 50% for medium ones and 40% for large ones, rising to 70% for everyone if CDTI's budget allows.

The process moves at roughly the pace of its subject. Pre-proposals are due by 13:00 CET on 2 December 2026 and full proposals by 2 June 2027. Spanish companies seeking CDTI money must also file a preliminary application, with a technical report in Spanish, through CDTI's online office before the December deadline. An online partner-finding session was set for 6 October. CDTI says it provided €2,423 million to Spanish companies and start-ups in 2025.