College in drive to boost forest skills

RESEARCHERS at Inverness College UHI are working with partners in Finland, Sweden and Ireland to help forestry service providers improve their staff’s skills and expand their business opportunities.

The three-year pan-European project, called Forest Business Innovation and Advancement (FOBIA), will see Euan Bowditch and Elspeth McDonald, part of the university’s Forestry Research department, work with forestry contractors, harvesters, and tree planters from the private sector in Scotland to identify knowledge gaps and new opportunities.

The partnership involves the University of the Highlands and Islands, the Natural Resources Institute in Finland, Swedish Agricultural University, and the Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland.

Skills assessments will take place in all four countries culminating in the creation of a digital education platform, which will include new training opportunities, examples of best practice, partnership working models and planning tools.

Mr Bowditch said: "This project will culminate in a tool which will enable forestry service providers to up-skill their staff, become more productive, expand their business opportunities and diversify."

They are working with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Norbord as well as other north forestry service providers. The Scottish School of Forestry, part of Inverness College UHI, supports growing research in the area of timber technology, forest biodiversity and forests and people.

The research team is developing postgraduate research and applied research with strong industry links and community engagements, and aims to raise awareness and participate in knowledge exchange to encourage a better future for our forests and landscapes.