A research program on digitalisation for sustainable development in the forestry sector.

M I S T R A D I G I T A L F O R E S T 2 0 2 5 H I G H L I G H T S

Preface

with Sverker Danielsson, programme manager

When Mistra Digital Forest was launched, the forestry sector was at a crossroads. Technological development was accelerating rapidly, new data sources were becoming available, and the ability to analyse complex processes in the forest was taking decisive steps forward. So, the programme came at exactly the right time – at a period when machine learning, sensor technology, remote sensing and increasing computing power were all developing rapidly, and when the forestry industry was ready to take advantage of them and adapt them for its own purposes.

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Sverker Danielsson Foto Johan Olsson
Sverker Danielsson. Photo: Johan Olsson

220MSEK

The total budget of the program for years 1-8

153

Number of deliverables during Years 1–7 of the programme

1888

Number of LinkedIn followers

We in the program

The programme is directed by the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, and the programme partners are Billerud, Holmen, Kopparfors Forests, SCA, Stora Enso, Sveaskog, Södra, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Skogforsk and Umeå University. Mistra Digital Forest is funded by Mistra and the participating organisations.

Photographer: Johan Olsson

“Plenty of opportunities for AI in forestry”

In just a few years, AI has changed how we work and make decisions. For forestry, this development brings major opportunities as well as new risks. Kristina Knaving, senior AI expert at RISE, shares her perspective.

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Kristina Knaving 2

Digital traceability links the forest value chain together

Every plank carries a story — from where the tree stood and how it grew to the finished product. With digital traceability, that story follows the timber, enabling a more automated, efficient, knowledge-driven forestry industry.

––We are a consortium building digital infrastructure for smarter resource use, safer work and more efficient processes, says Johan J Möller, a specialist at Skogforsk.

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From opinion to insight: how digitalisation is transforming forestry

In her column, Maria Wetterstrand argues that the forest is not a problem to be “solved,” but a living system to be managed over time.

Read the column

The Digital Forest

Listen to our podcast (In Swedish)

From idea to results: digital advances in forestry

How has Mistra Digital Forest developed over the lifetime of the programme? What progress has been made in digital forestry, and how have new collaborations between academia, research institutes and industry contributed? These questions are discussed in this episode of Den digitala skogen (The Digital Forest).

Featured guests:

  • Henrik Persson, active researcher in the Forestry Information Systems work package, SLU/Skogforsk
  • Maria Nordström, Work Package Leader for Decision Support, Skogforsk
  • Martin Servin, Work Package Leader for Automation, Umeå University

From research to real societal benefit – what is needed?

What role do the Mistra programmes play in societal development? How can digitalisation and research contribute to a sustainable transition, and what role does politics have? Maria Khorsand and Maria Wetterstrand discuss these questions in this episode of The Digital Forest.

Featured guests: 

  • Maria Khorsand, CEO of Mistra
  • Maria Wetterstrand, member of the Mistra Digital Forest programme board

Interdisciplinarity in practice – summarising a research programme

What has Mistra Digital Forest actually achieved during the programme period? How do you summarise interdisciplinary results and lessons learned for both forestry and society? Camilla Sandström and Per Edström discuss the synthesis work in this episode of The Digital Forest.

Featured guests:

  • Camilla Sandström, Professor of Political Science at Umeå University and Process Lead for Social Sustainability, Mistra Digital Forest
  • Per Edström, Professor of Mathematics and Deputy Programme Director, Mistra Digital Forest

Listen to previous episodes

Blog

In our blog, key people in the program write about what happens in their work.

Program conferences and events

Below, you can access materials from our own program conferences and other events where Mistra Digital Forest has participated.

Synthesis project paves the way for the continued digitalisation of forestry

After seven years of research, innovation and collaboration, Mistra Digital Forest is entering a synthesis phase in which the programme’s projects are woven together into a coherent whole. ‘We are highlighting the links between the digital ecosystem and practical forestry, all in order to facilitate the sector’s continued digitalisation,’ says Camilla Sandström, Professor of Political Science at Umeå University and the person leading the synthesis work.”

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Digitalisation – the key to a competitive Swedish forest industry

Torgny Persson, Director of Research and Innovation at the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, explains why digitalisation enables us to see the forest in new ways, make better decisions, and create value in ways that were previously unthinkable.

Read the column

Deliverables

Take part of the deliverables from the program (Swedish and English)

To the deliverables

Program Board and Management

Skogsindustrierna is the program host. Additionally, the program has a program board, an industrial council, and a program management.

Program Board and Management