Finland as a Model of Success for Maine's Forest Economy

The long-planned Finland-Maine Trade and Study Mission was kicked off virtually on Thursday, August 20th.  The trade mission, that was originally scheduled to take place in June and led by Maine’s Governor Janet Mills, was transferred to a virtual form due to COVID-19 pandemic. The trade mission’s intent is not only to learn from each other, but to create new transatlantic opportunities and networks in the field of forest bioeconomy. 

The focus of the first webinar was on Finland’s transition from traditional forest industry into a forward-thinking sustainable bioeconomy.  Webinar featured presentations from Finland’s government, research and innovation actors, and forest industry. 

You can listen to the recording and view the materials of the conversation on the website of Maine International Trade Center(Linkki toiselle web-sivustolle.).

Materials of the webinar:

Full program of the webinar as PDF

Presenters

Dana Eidsness—Moderator, Director, Maine North Atlantic Development Office at MITC

Jaana Husu-Kallio, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Forestry & Agriculture Finland

John Kettle, Director for Customer Solutions & International Relations, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

Ilmari Absetz, Director (Programs) Bio and Circular Economy, Business Finland

Juha Kiviranta, Division Packaging Materials’ R&D, Stora Enso

Jukka Seppälä, Professor & Vice Dean Aalto University, School of Chemical Engineering

Jari Voutilainen, Senior Vice President, Metsä Group

The second part of the study tour, webinar titled Maine Reinvents Its Forest Industry was organized on Tuesday, August 25.  The webinar introduced Maine’s partners in Finland to new opportunities in Maine. You can view the recording of the conversation here(Linkki toiselle web-sivustolle.).

Finland and Maine signed a  Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in October 2019.  In the memorandum Finland and the state of Maine committed to working together in the development of modern forest bioeconomy and sharing best practices. The virtual networking was launched already in May at the Forest Bioeconomy in Green Economy Transition webinar, organized by the Embassy of Finland.

The virtual study and trade mission is organized by the Maine North Atlantic Development Office (MENADO) at the Maine International Trade Center (MITC). 

 

The webinars were featured in the local media. Please click on to following links to find out more:

Bangor Daily News: Maine Forest Products to take spotlight at virtual trade mission(Linkki toiselle web-sivustolle.)

News Center Maine: Future of Maine's forest industry possibly lies in Finland(Linkki toiselle web-sivustolle.)