The National Forestry Centre (Národné lesnícke centrum – NLC) in Zvolen has achieved exceptional success in international competition and has been awarded €15 million from the Horizon Europe Teaming call. It will automatically receive a further €15 million from a call launched by the Ministry of Education and will develop its center of excellence to reach the level of other top European research centers, supporting national and regional innovation and partnerships between businesses, public bodies and knowledge institutions.

This achievement is not only beneficial for the NLC but for the entire region of Banská Bystrica, as it involves collaboration with local schools, universities, and companies. The project is expected to establish the NLC and the region as a significant presence on the map of leading scientific and research institutions.

The NLC was successful in a competition of 116 projects from all over Europe and will work with two partners – the Slovak company The Pulp and Paper Research Institute and the German research institution Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research. The partnership seeks to leverage its technological infrastructures to develop innovative processes and innovations for wood and cellulose recovery, generating higher added value.

The project also includes the processing and utilization of wastes arising mainly from paper production and wood energy utilization in a newly built research and semi-operational line. The processed waste will be tested in the Central Forestry Laboratory and Seed Control Laboratory of the NLC with a view to their utilization in the form of fertilizers and fertilizer admixtures in forest nurseries and agroforestry systems.

A unique paper machine within the NLC, designed as part of the project, can model the production of up to three-layer paper packaging materials, including surface treatment. This machine is the only one of its kind in Europe and offers significant potential for innovation.

Local companies stand to gain from investments in the NLC, as the center of excellence provides a space for simulating and testing optimized production processes on demonstration lines, reducing risk for entrepreneurs and boosting added value, domestic wood processing, and sector competitiveness.

The NLC’s achievement has garnered praise from the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Jozef Bíreš, who recognized its potential to benefit not only the agro-resort but also the broader Banská Bystrica region and the national timber industry.

National Forest Centre is a state-owned public-benefit corporation, which is governed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic and methodically guided by the section of forestry economy and treatment of wood. Institutionally it provides forestry science, research, and development in Slovakia within the Department of Agriculture.  The National Forestry Centre – Forest Research Institute Zvolen (NLC-LVU Zvolen) is one of the forestry institutions with the longest history.

Published on 06.11. 2023, slord