Open Call Analysis: FORWARDS - Knowledge to practice

FORWARDS - Knowledge to Practice: Develop Applications and AI Solutions Utilising the ForestWard Observatory

Funding for the development of applications and AI solutions based on the ForestWard Obervatory and its datasets to strengthen the outreach of practical knowledge and best practices regarding forest management.

About FORWARDS

The FORWARDS project has launched its eighth call: “Knowledge to Practice: Develop Applications and AI Solutions Utilising the ForestWard Observatory”.

FORWARDS is prototyping the ForestWard Observatory, which is a pan-European tool for monitoring and evaluating climate change impacts on forests. It compiles several types of forest data from different programs to provide guidance on Climate Smart Forestry (CSF) and restoration management.

The ForestWard Observatory is the data collection tool of the FORWARDS project. It is a geospatial database that gathers tabular, raster and laser scanning data. Additionally, it collects the reports and instructions of the project on forestry management.

The program plans to fund around 50 projects according to the following five themes:

Pilots of long-term climate impact forest monitoring sites.
Characterisation of European forest disturbances.
Establishing CSF and forest restoration pilots in Europe.
Citizen and stakeholder engagement in CSF and forest restoration.
Knowledge to practice -where the current open call sits.

This call will grant projects that develop applications and AI solutions related to the ForestWard Observatory, either that utilize or enrich its datasets or integrate additional systems for data collection. The application must be integrated as a part of the data pipeline, as an addition to the existing frontend or as an API integration.

Technically, the backend of the ForestWard observatory is based on a GeoDjango solution with a PostGIS database, while Celery is used to schedule tasks.

The solution must be developed in ten months from the start of the project, ideally June 2026.

Why Apply to FORWARDS?

This call offers funding for two projects, with a total sum of €150,000 per project. The grant disbursement scheme will be composed of three lump sum instalments (fixed sums):

1. 35% when the grant agreement enters into force (up to €52,500).

2. 25% upon approval of the interim technical report (maximum of €37,500).

3. the last 40% after the final technical report is approved (limit of €60,000).

No other additional benefits will be provided, besides the spread of the results and work done and visibility among the members of the program.

Success Stories from FORWARDS project

During the FORWARDS program, already seven open calls have awarded funding for 27 projects developed individually and through consortia. So far, they have been related to piloting, disturbance characterization and stakeholder involvement.

Examples:

MONIMATSCH (Eurac Research, Italy): Integration of data-collection forest sites into the ForestWard Observatory and addition and improvement of tools and methods to improve and broaden the resulting datasets.
iSINK (Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania): Investigation of efficient forestry and reforestation management techniques that potentially limit catastrophic effects of climate change.
MIMONTE (Fundación Desert Leaves, Pego Viu and Egenerastudio SL; Spain): Promotion of the Climate Smart Restoration and management of Mediterranean forest in 4 degraded areas of easter Spain through the empowerment of local actors and the knowledge dissemination.

Who Can Apply?

Applications can be submitted either by single legal entities or consortia of legal entities. By the submission deadline, the applicants must be a legal entity (legal person) and be eligible for funding under the European Union Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Program.

Non-eligible legal entities are the following:

Beneficiary or associated partner of the FORWARDS project.
Entities subject of EU restrictive measures.
Israeli entities.
Public interest trusts established under the Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity maintained by such a public interest trust.
Those established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government-controlled territories of Ukraine.

How to Apply?

Applications must be submitted only by the applicant (coordinator) via e-mail to grants@efi.int.

The subject line of the e-mail must contain only the following headline: “G-01-2026, Knowledge to Practice: Develop applications and AI solutions utilizing the ForestWard Observatory”.

Important Dates

Submission of questions Deadline: 13 March 2026
Publication of questions and answers: 27 February 2026 (questions until 18 February 2026) and 20 March 2026 (questions until 13 March 2026).
Application Deadline: 3 April 2026 at 21:00 UTC +2

Proposal Requirements for FORWARDS

The application’s structure is as follows, separated into 2 PDF documents:

a) Administrative information. Application Form Part A (Annex 1 in Guidelines for Applicants).

b) Technical Description.

Application Form Part B (Annex 2 in Guidelines for Applicants).
Maximum of 14 pages submitted in one single PDF document (excluding the instructions and guidance from Annex 2).
Must be written in English.

Evaluation and Selection Process for FORWARDS

Three criteria will be used to select the beneficiaries:

Excellence (A1): clarity and relevance of the objectives and soundness of the proposed methodology.
Implementation (A2): work plan’s quality coherence and effectiveness, appropriateness of risk management and if the necessary expertise is brought by the consortium.
Impact/legacy (A3): Time sustainability after the project and/or impact and legacy creation.

A score from 0 to 5, including half points, will be given to each criterion. A minimum of 4 points per criterion is required and the overall threshold is 13 points out of 15.

Prioritization in case of equal scores will be the highest points under criteria A1, then under A2 and thereafter, under A3 (if the draw persists, gender balance in primary tasks will be the prioritizing factor).

Final Thoughts

This call under the FORWARDS project entails an interesting opportunity for companies, research institutions, universities and other organisations that master the software development of AI and digital solutions and applications specialized on dealing with datasets intended for forestry management.

Furthermore, it is a great chance to broaden the portfolio of software solutions able to develop and the amount and type of data able to work with. Also, the project is an access door to an ecosystem of project stakeholders that could become potential partners or even customers.