EFI provides forest-related knowledge around three interconnected and interdisciplinary themes: bioeconomy, resilience and governance.

The Convention on the European Forest Institute has been ratified by total of 30 European countries[2] by the spring of 2022, namely Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

EFI conducts research Archived 2 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine and provides policy support on forest related issues.

EFI puts increasing emphasis on cross-sectoral approaches in its research and development activities.

It is thus in a good position to have efficient access to social, economic and environmental expertise covering all of Europe's bio-geographical regions.