Ingrid Petersson becomes a new member of the Mistra Digital Forest programme board

Ingrid Petersson, former Director General of Formas, has been appointed as a new member of the Mistra Digital Forest programme board.  

Ingrid Petersson has broad experience from the public sector, where she has worked at SIDA, the Ministry of Finance, the Prime Minister's/ Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Social Affairs. She has also been Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture. She subsequently worked for five years with Public Affairs, in AstraZeneca's global research organisation.  For the past nine years, she has been Director General of Formas, before leaving the position in autumn 2022 to take on investigations, work on boards and consultancy engagements. 

Aiming to be a cog in the machine 

As Ingrid takes up her new position as a member of Mistra Digital Forest's programme board, her expectations are high. She hopes to play an important role in creating knowledge that can help make forests sustainable in all three dimensions: ecological, social and financial. Ingrid aims to be a cog in the machine helping to drive research and innovation forward. She is familiar with the research landscape and understands the politics of research, which she believes can be an asset in her new position. She also hopes to contribute to the discussions regarding how the two equal goals of forest policy (production and environment) can be reflected in Mistra Digital Forest. 

According to Ingrid, one of the biggest challenges of digitalisation in forestry is that there are numerous small private forest owners, which can make the dissemination of new methods and applications difficult. However, she believes that digitalisation and robotisation will continue into the future, enabling more precision work as well as avoiding dangerous procedures. 

Finally, what is your personal relationship to the forest like? 

- I grew up on a small farm in Småland, where my father managed the forest. Consequently, I lived in and close to the forest where we played, picked mushrooms or berries and would be given a deer or a hare by the neighbours. I have now taken over the farm after buying my siblings portions. I'm keenly interested in the sustainable use of this forest, but most of the practical work is done by Södra.