Innovation networks on Mediterranean Non Wood Forest Products

Non Wood Forest Products(NWFPs) are important resources for rural economies. Highly regarded food products are collected from Mediterranean forests, such as nuts, berries, mushrooms and truffles, as well as aromatic and medicinal plants. Other NWFPs, such as resin or cork, can play a role in the circular bio-economy, providing sustainable alternatives to fossil-based raw materials. However, achieving fair levels of profitability for all actors throughout the value chainis still a challenge. Existing hourglass-shaped monopsonystructures need to be resolved and market accessto local producers must be strengthened. Furthermore, it is important to promote greater consumer awareness and willingness to pay for the sustainable, ‘wild-collected’ nature of these goods. The European thematic network INCREDIBLE (Innovation networks on Non-Wood Forest Productsin the Mediterranean basin) brings together the main actors associated with NWFP with the aim of sharing knowledge, expertise and experience. Sharing information helps to identify the challenges and requirements of each NWFP value chainso that profitability and sustainability can be improved. The objective of Open Innovationis to bring together innovative ideas of actors from different organisations, thus making the best use of their respective areas of competence in order to create an effective innovation ecosystem. INCREDIBLE facilitates open innovationby establishing and operating Innovation Networks ( iNets) for different NWFPs. The social, technologicaland silviculturalchallenges and requirements for innovation in each iNetare identified and different approaches to addressing these are explored by the various actors involved in accordance with their areas of competence.