Multispecies forests challenge anthropocentric thinking 

Over two and a half years, Kone Foundation’s Metsän puolella (“For the Woods”) initiative has funded over one hundred forest-related projects with more than 20 million euros in the fields of research, art, activism, and journalism. The goal is to accelerate the transition toward forest use within the limits of nature’s carrying capacity and to broaden understanding of the many meanings of forests. This also encompasses the intrinsic value of forests and nature. 

In the seventh Metsän puolella (“For the Woods”) funding round, 643 applications were received, and the funding requested was a record amount—over 80 million euros. Kone Foundation’s Board of Directors decided to fund 19 projects this time, totaling approximately 2.9 million euros. 

Competition for funding was therefore exceptionally fierce. Once again, 643 teams or applicants had considered how they could be for the woods! 

The project proposals emphasized multidisciplinarity, posthumanism and the rights of other species, correcting misinformation, popularizing science, and inspiring the broadest possible audiences to defend forests. 

Additionally, more applications than before combined research and art. This is very encouraging, because I personally cannot believe that scientific knowledge alone will bring about change in action. The message of research must also touch people on an emotional level. 

The applications clearly reflected an ongoing shift in thinking—that transitioning toward forest use within the limits of nature’s carrying capacity requires boldly questioning current practices. Alongside established concepts, images, and truths, a need has emerged to see beyond them and find new ways to understand forests. 

Forests are not only for humans and our economic system, but part of life’s complex network that is connected to water, the atmosphere, and other living and non-living nature. Forests are not merely an economic resource. 

In the Metsän puolella initiative, we welcome this shift in thinking, as promoting it has been one of our key objectives. Now, in the seventh funding round, challenging current practices is concretely visible in the funded projects. 

For example, the Vimma band, operating at the intersection of art, activism, and science, combines music, social influence, and environmental awareness, aiming, among other things, to correct misinformation spreading on social media. The Lusto 2.0 – Forest Movement in Support of Wildlife Corridors project, in turn, builds educational tours and communications campaigns, expands forest monitoring activities, and implements participatory events that concretize the significance of ecological corridors. 

Raakkukuningas (King of the Mussels) is a philosophical crime film that tells the story of one of Finland’s largest nature conservation crimes. The film is a tragicomic portrait of human actions and alienation from other living beings. 

A literary perspective is brought by Puiden aika (The Time of Trees), which examines humanity’s relationship with nature and old trees as witnesses and bystanders to human activity. The work highlights the long-term vitality and resilience of trees, which surpasses humanity’s short-sighted and destructive actions. 

The project Jokaisen metsä – Tieteen näkökulmia metsän erilaisiin rooleihin, omistajuuksiin ja arvoihin (Everyone’s Forest – Scientific Perspectives on the Diverse Roles, Ownerships, and Values of Forests) examines the many roles of forests and their associated values from a multidisciplinary perspective. It analyzes the social, economic, and ecological history and future of forests, as well as the challenges of current forest discourse. The goal is to build a new forest narrative that combines different disciplines—everyone’s forest. 

In the Metsän puolella initiative, we are eagerly following how the funded projects, together with the over 90 projects we have previously funded, bring out the diverse values of forests, influence the attitudinal climate—and inspire growing numbers of people to strengthen the shift in thinking and action.