International developments in the administration of publicly-funded forest research: A review

A significant amount of forest-related research funding comes from the public sector, either awarded competitively through research granting agencies, or discretionally through the funding of universities and government research institutes. In line with international developments in public research policy, a number of important changes have been occurring in the administration of publicly-funded forest research programs. These include the privatization of government research functions, a move towards more collaborative research partnerships with community and industry, and an increased demand for research competition and evaluation based on key performance measures. Through these actions, governments are embracing the need for publicly-funded forest research to be framed as an applied endeavor, capable of delivering public value through industry innovation, education and sustainable forest management. This paper presents an overview of the recent trends in publicly-funded research and development and forest research internationally, and reflects on some of the issues facing forest research policy and governance drawing from the collection of papers in this Special Issue.