The project is partly funded by the Interreg III B Northern Periphery –programme. Sixteen partners from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Scotland are involved in the project. The Finnish partners are Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), Regional Forestry Center Northern Karelia and Forest Management Association Northern Karelia. Metla receives additional funding for the project from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Each country participating in the project has selected its own case study area. The experiences gained from the case study areas are shared through seminars, meetings and international exchanges. The ELAV project began in 2005 and will continue until the end of 2007.

In March 2006, Metla organized a seminar on forest planning in the five ELAV countries. In the seminar, representatives from European Forest Institute (EFI) and national institutes of the ELAV countries gave an overview of forest resources, forest policies guiding the use of private forests as well as inventory and planning systems. In addition, methods and challenges related to interactive and collaborative forest planning were introduced during the seminar. Finally, the ELAV partners presented the ideas and practical experiences related to their case studies. Presentations of the seminar are collected into a Metla Working Paper.

Publication: Nuutinen, T., Kärkkäinen, L. & Kettunen, L. (toim.). 2006. Forest planning in private forests in Finland, Iceland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden. Proceedings of ELAV seminar, 23-24 March 2006, Koli, Finland. Working Papers of the Finnish Forest Research Institute 38. 88 s.