University of Forestry has more than 85 years of tradition. It has an institutional accreditation to provide education in 3 degrees – Bachelor, Master and Doctor. At present the UF is an educational and research centre for applied life sciences with six faculties:

• Faculty of Forestry
• Faculty of Forest Industry
• Faculty of Ecology and Landscape Architecture
• Faculty of Agronomy
• Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
• Faculty of Business Management

The UF has well-developed scientific infrastructure and equipment, for ensuring the conduct of modern research: information and communication centre, consisting of rich library in thematic areas of the UF, computer centre; publishing house, research information centre; research laboratories, university clinic for small animals, two experimental and training forest enterprises, botanical garden, training and experimental field etc. (www.ltu.bg).

The research activities of the UF are in the field of management and sustainable use of bio-resources i.e. ecology and environmental protection; landscape architecture; forestry; woodworking and furniture production; engineering design; industrial management; veterinary medicine; agriculture and plant protection.

The UF has a significant scientific and expertise capacity, which covers almost all aspects of management and sustainable utilization of biological resources in forests, agriculture and urban areas.

The UF actively participates in national and international scientific programs and projects, funded by national and international scientific funds - COST program, bilateral collaboration, the Fifth, the Sixth and the Seventh Framework Programs of the EU etc. The total number of scientific projects executed in the UF over the past 5 years is more than 200. The results of the applied research projects were put into practice.

The UF is the first University in Bulgaria, which before more than 35 years began to educate specialists in Ecology, restoration and protection of the environment. The Department of Ecology, Protection and Restoration of the Environment was established in 1974. Research and teaching activities of the Department cover a wide range of disciplines and fields in ecology, conservation and restoration of the environment. With the modern and comparable to national and international criteria curricula our bachelors, masters and doctoral students receive thorough theoretical knowledge and practical skills for career success. Scientific interests and contributions of the the department are aimed at solving current problems in sustainability, preservation and restoration of the environment. Some of the scientific projects developed by the academic staff of the Department are: International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests, Methodology on Calculation of Emissions/Removals of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) from LULUCF and the Kyoto Protocol, Risk Assessment of Atmospheric Pollutants Effect on Forest Ecosystems, Land use, land-use change and forestry sector in the Third National Action Plan on Climate Change for the Period 2013-2020, etc.

The staff of the Department provides teaching in Biodiversity Protection, Climate and Bioclamate Changes in Urban Areas, Erosion and Torrent Control, Management of Land Resources in Urban Systems, Sustainable Tourism, Environmental Management Systems, Urban Ecology, Chemicals and Environmental Risk, Fundamentals of Environmental Prevention Control, Air Pollution and Impact on Ecosystems, etc.

The financial management of the grant money in the University of Forestry is provided by the Research and Development sector in accordance with the regulations for the structure & activities of the research and development sector at the University of Forestry. A separate bank account is designated exclusively for the grant and the funds are spent exclusively by the purpose of the grant.

Role of UF in the project:

• Contribute to the mapping exercise in Bulgaria.
• Write a case study for the leading practice publication.
• Assist in the development of an online platform of resources as well as get familiarised and review the online tool.
• Contribute to the bi-annual newsletters.
• Provide feedback to the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework.
• Contribute to the dissemination and exploitation of the project outputs, outcomes and future network activities.
• Participate and actively contribute to the discussions generated in regional and annual meetings, seminars and conference.

Operational and financial management:

• The project team will coordinate the above administrative and academic project activities.
• Financial administration will be handled by project team who will liaise internally with the institution’s finance department.