Metsän puolella funding for 15 new projects: raising forest awareness requires multidisciplinary understanding

New Metsän puolella projects will deepen forest awareness by examining the history, language, and administration of forests, both in the past and today.

In the sixth round of applications for Kone Foundation’s Metsän puolella initiative, a total of nearly €3.4 million in funding was granted to research, art, and projects combining research and art. In total, 305 applications were evaluated.

“When we understand the layers of forest history and recognize the structures of forest discourse, we can see more clearly the relationships and aspirations of different actors in forest related fields. The resulting forest awareness supports a more open forest debate and opens up the future for change. This is precisely the kind of understanding that Kone Foundation’s Metsän puolella initiative wants to strengthen,” says Mari Pantsar, Change Manager at Kone Foundation’s Metsän puolella initiative.

The newly funded projects take a deeper look at the forest debate. They approach the forest from new angles, examining the layers of the past, the diverse perspectives of the present, and the paths to the future.

Historical research sheds light on Finland’s path to becoming an international forest country

Forestry work had a decisive impact on Finland’s development during industrialization, and its effects are still felt today. Marika Hyttinen’s (€400,700) research project brings fresh perspectives to the history of forest work and labor during a period when forest work was at its most important in a modernizing Finland. The aim of the project is to investigate logging camps in northern Finland and their impact on the environment during the early industrialization period. The project will also organize workshops involving local residents, the results of which will be compiled into an exhibition combining research and art.

Although forests are part of the local identity, they are inseparably linked to Finland’s internationalization and development work. The project Global History of Finnish Forestry Expertise: FAO and Networks of International Development Cooperation and Forest Diplomacy, 1945–1994, led by Markku Hokkanen (€303,200) investigates the activities of Finnish forestry experts in the Forestry Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The study examines how Finnish forestry experts working at the FAO acted as emissaries of development aid and “forest diplomacy,” thereby influencing the globalization of the Finnish forestry sector. Based on extensive archival research, the study offers a new perspective on how Finnish forestry expertise became internationalized.

A broader understanding of forests from multiple perspectives

There are as many perspectives on forests as there are people. Forests and their inhabitants also have their own agency. Sanna Hukkanen’s (€86,400) comic books reverse the human-centered perspective: in a collection of stories in the Karelian language, other-than-human forest creatures observe humans.

Nature builds bridges between cultures in Faisa Qasim’s (€50,600) project explores the relationship between immigrants living in Finland and Finnish forests. In a documentary film, immigrants share their experiences of the forest as both a physical environment and a symbolic space where they can experience peace, safety, and a sense of belonging. The film also presents the interviewees’ own nature traditions and their cultures’ attitudes towards the forest.

Research on old-growth forests provides roadmaps for the future

Deepening our understanding of forests requires up-to-date and accurate information on the current state of our forests. The Natural Resources Institute Finland’s (Luke) LUONMETSÄ project (€300,000) studies the structure and species composition of Finland’s natural forests from sample plots established in the 1990s, where data on the amount and species composition of living and dead trees is collected and updated. The aim is to create reference values for the characteristics of natural forests, which will, among other things, support decision-making related to the protection of old-growth forests. The data from LUONMETSÄ will be openly published and will contribute to the public debate on the importance of natural forests and their impact on carbon sinks.

Together with their team, Jan Saijets (€700,000) will map Finland’s continuous and natural forests for the first time. Continuous forests are forests that have been spared from intensive logging from the 1950s to the present day. It is precisely these forests that can potentially be called old-growth forests. Similar work has been carried out by the authorities in Sweden for a couple of decades, and Saijets’ team’s contributions start off the process in Finland as well. The project will produce a map that is open to everyone.

In addition to these projects, funding was awarded to, for example, sound art inspired by underwater life, research into the changing meanings of forests in literature, and two films about endangered forest springs.

The Metsän puolella (“For the Woods”) initiative funds-in-depth, insightful, and bold projects on a wide range of forest-related topics. The aim is to increase the diversity of social debate on the many meanings of forests and to highlight nuances and voices that have not been heard in forest discussions.

Metsän puolella funding is available forest-related projects in the fields of art, research, journalism, and activism. Applications for the second round of funding in 2025 must be submitted by September 15. Funding decisions will be made in December 2025.

Read Metsän puolella Change Manager Mari Pantsar’s column: The forest speaks – are we listening?