On Friday May 15th an FTP Joint Partnering Event took place in Austria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, in Vienna. The focus of the event was on the FP7 topics expected in the work programmes to be published this summer. Additional information concerning the open calls in the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme and the SET Plan was also provided.

DG ENV is planning to launch its 2009 call for proposals for LIFE+ projects on May 15th, 2009. The 2009 applications package will be made available on the LIFE+ website on that date.

The InnovaWood General Assembly 2009 was held in Valencia, Spain, from 27 – 28 January, hosted by AIDIMA, - Furniture, Wood and Packaging Technology Institute.

The Schweighofer Prize awards innovative ideas, technologies, products and services concerning the whole value chain in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the European Forest Based Sector.

The Schweighofer Prize has been being presented every second year since 2003. It is endowed with total prize money of € 300,000 before tax. The prize is divided into one Main Prize and several Innovation Prizes.