Ponsse Oyj invests in increasing the interest in European countries in research and innovations contributing to the role of modern technologies in sustainable development by establishing a special fund. The Ponsse Fund awards mainly scholarships for PhD or post-doctoral studies at the European Forest Institute (EFI).From left: Risto Päivinen, Director, European Forest Institute; Jan Heino, Managing Director, Metsähallitus; Einari Vidgrén, Industrial Counsellor; Arto Tiitinen, President and CEO, Ponsse Oyj and Raimo Tammilehto, Director, OKOBANK
Ponsse Oyj is the Donor of the funds, the Fund is administrated by The Foundation for European Forest Research. The work will be conducted at the European Forest Institute (EFI). ‘Ponsse is known for its technical innovations and forest research community welcomes the support for research on the role of technologies in sustainable forest management’, asserts Risto Päivinen, Director of EFI.
The reason behind the establishment of the fund is that Forestry operations and environment related management are under continuous development. New technologies are needed to improve cost-efficiency and sustainability impacts of forest regeneration, silvicultural treatments, wood harvesting, and biomass collection for the generation of bio-energy.‘We believe that EFI and its member network will bring a substantial contribution to the innovations in forest management machinery and competitiveness of the European forest sector’, says Arto Tiitinen, Managing Director of the Ponsse Oyj.Research areas within the fund are
Development and transfer of new forest technologies to European and global conditions
Socio-economic and environmental impacts of applying high-tech in forestry operations.
Contribution of new technologies and logistical solutions to improve sustainability impacts of production of forest products and bio-energy.
Other grants will be given to, e.g., travelling expenses and publishing costs, prizes for achievements to support sustainable development.