FUTUREFOR

Project Description

FUTUREFOR integrates a new generation of digital services based on Earth Observation (EO), forest data, and advanced analytics to support forest management, climate resilience, and territorial safety.

The project responds directly to the European Commission’s proposed Regulation on a monitoring framework for resilient European forests (November 2023), which builds on Copernicus and existing national data to provide better information for decision-making and policy implementation across EU Member States. FUTUREFOR addresses key challenges from the proposed law by providing accurate and timely forest data for Europe, exploring the feasibility of innovative Copernicus-based datasets, and developing three commercial business applications to demonstrate the business opportunities arising from open forest and EO data.

The project also supports Ukraine in adopting EU forest legislation as part of its EU accession pathway, and investigates innovative aerial platforms collecting sensor and image data from the stratosphere.

LINKS Foundation Activities

LINKS Foundation is a key partner contributing expertise in AI, big data analysis, and advanced analytics applied to forest monitoring and Earth Observation data pipelines.

AI & Advanced Analytics for Forest Monitoring

Application of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning techniques to process and analyse large-scale Copernicus and complementary forest datasets, enabling:

• improved detection of forest health, disturbances, and biodiversity indicators
• automated processing of multi-source EO data streams
• enhanced accuracy and timeliness of forest monitoring outputs

Digital Services & Data Integration

Contribution to the design and development of digital service workflows that integrate Earth Observation data with in-situ forest measurements and national datasets, supporting:

• forest carbon removal monitoring and ecosystem services assessment
• climate resilience indicators for forest management
• territorial safety and early warning for forest-related hazards

Funding & Dates

SDGs — Sustainable Development Goals

🌳 Goal 15 — Life on Land

🌍 Goal 13 — Climate Action

Key Technologies

🛰️ Earth Observation & Copernicus

Exploitation of Copernicus satellite data streams and innovative new datasets for large-scale, high-frequency forest monitoring across Europe, aligned with the EU Forest Monitoring Regulation.

🤖 AI & Big Data Analysis

Machine learning and advanced analytics pipelines for automated processing of multi-source EO and in-situ forest data, enabling accurate detection of forest change, health indicators, and ecosystem dynamics.

🚁 Innovative Aerial Platforms

Investigation of stratospheric aerial platforms collecting high-resolution sensor and image data to complement satellite observations in areas requiring finer spatial or temporal detail.

🌐 Digital Service Workflows

Interoperable data workflows integrating Copernicus, UAV, and national forest inventory data to produce harmonised, policy-ready forest monitoring products for EU Member States.

Project Partners