FORSKNINGSRÅDET FÖR MILJÖ, AREELLA NÄRINGAR OCH SAMHÄLLSBYGGANDE

Their core work

Formas is Sweden's national research council for environment, agricultural sciences, and spatial planning — a government funding agency that co-finances transnational research programmes across Europe. Rather than performing research itself, Formas pools Swedish national funding with other countries' agencies through ERA-NET Cofund instruments to launch joint calls on topics like biodiversity, climate services, food systems, and water management. It acts as Sweden's gateway for aligning domestic research priorities with European research agendas, channelling over EUR 16.6M through 27 H2020 programmes spanning environment, food, marine, and urban development.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014–2017), Formas spread its ERA-NET participation broadly — energy technologies, smart cities, water infrastructure, animal production systems, and initial biodiversity programmes. From 2018 onward, the portfolio converged sharply toward the climate-biodiversity-food nexus, with new commitments in climate impact assessment (AXIS), food-climate security (FOSC), biodiversity-climate interactions (BiodivClim), and aquatic ecosystem health (AquaticPollutants). The coordinator role in ENUTC (2020) signals a growing ambition to lead rather than only participate, specifically in urban sustainability transitions.

Formas is narrowing from broad thematic co-funding toward integrated climate-biodiversity-food programming, and is beginning to take coordination roles — expect them to lead more ERA-NETs in future frameworks.

How they like to work

Formas operates almost exclusively as a participant (26 of 27 projects), which reflects its structural role as a national funding agency joining multilateral ERA-NET consortia rather than leading individual research projects. With 218 unique partners across 51 countries, it functions as a high-connectivity hub linking Nordic research priorities to pan-European and even global agendas (notably Africa and the Americas via FOSC). Working with Formas means gaining access to Swedish national research funding streams and their extensive network of co-funding agencies across Europe.

Exceptionally broad network of 218 unique partners across 51 countries, reflecting Formas's role as a national funding agency that joins nearly every major environment- and food-related ERA-NET. Geographic reach extends well beyond Europe through programmes like FOSC (Africa, Americas) and IC4WATER (international cooperation).

What sets them apart

Formas is not a research performer but a national research funder — partnering with them means accessing Sweden's public research funding pipeline for environment, agriculture, and spatial planning. Unlike universities or institutes that bring lab capacity, Formas brings co-funding commitment, policy alignment, and the ability to launch national calls that complement European programmes. For consortium builders, having Formas on board signals that Swedish national funding is aligned with the project's goals and that Swedish research teams can be mobilised through their calls.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BiodivERsA3
  Largest single project (EUR 1.67M) consolidating the European Research Area on biodiversity — a flagship ERA-NET that shaped EU biodiversity research programming.
• ENUTC
  Formas's only coordinator role across all 27 projects, leading an ERA-NET on urban transformation capacities — signals strategic ambition beyond participant status.
• FOSC
  Extends Formas's reach beyond Europe into Africa and the Americas, linking climate change with food and nutrition security across three continents.