Koli Forum Association has decided to dissolve the Association, and thus close all its activities. This decision was done in the extraordinary meeting on 28 November 2023, where the current Board was granted the executive powers to dissolve the Association and move on with the liquidation proceedings.
During the meeting, it was noted that Koli Forum has been a forerunner and paved the way for many further Bioeconomy related events and initiatives in the region and elsewhere, also contributing to the development of the first Finnish Bioeconomy Strategy 2014. Koli Forum Association has also reached its initial goal: to initiate a high-level political and cross-sectoral dialogue and event, and to bring visibility to the region of North Karelia.
Koli Forum was established as an association in 2014 by ten founding member organizations: Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), Finnish Meteorological Institute, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, University of Eastern Finland, University of Oulu, Regional Council of North Karelia, Forestry Development Centre TAPIO, City of Lieksa and The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra.
The first Koli Forum event took place already in 2009. During 2009-2014, the Koli Forum events were organized by the secretariat hosted first by the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) and later by the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). Between 2015 and 2019, the secretariat was hosted by Tapio Oy. From 2020 onwards the secretariat was hosted at the European Forest Institute (EFI).
