Afforest for Future is an Austrian NGO that was founded in 2016 with a mission to use dam sedimentation for soil creation and soil amendments as a means of restoring land and combating land degradation and desertification. This process was granted a patent from the Austrian Patent Office in 2018. In 2018, the organisation was recognized by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as one of their Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
From its inception, the organisation has collaborated with institutions such as Singularity University, NASA Ames, EU, Dubai Municipality, and the Dubai Future Accelerators. It has also won various environmental competitions across Europe, including ClimateLaunchpad Austria, Climate-KIC, INiTS, and Katreva.
Since then, Afforest for Future has transformed its mission to focus on utilising various solutions and methodologies for regenerative agriculture in deserts and arid environments to sequester as much carbon as possible and promote self-reliance and reassurance in terms of climate change mitigation. The organization uses a top-down and bottom-up approach with a parallel action strategy to restore degraded lands. This approach involves the active participation of local authorities, communities, and experts to ensure that the restoration is done in a way that benefits both local and global communities, while securing continuous profits for local people. The organisation emphasises that involving local people is the key to its success in restoring ecosystems. As of 2024 we have an SME registered in Serbia as well under our name and brand, with the same mission and vision. MISSION SOIL: Currently we are focused on GOV4ALL- Governance and business models for living labs: Rural regeneration hubs for tackling soil health challenges in the Mediterranean region. Afforest for Future, as part of the Thyrea team, collaborates closely with outstanding organizations such as NANG, the Academy of Entrepreneurs, Meraki People, Doliana Cooperative, NUKA, leveraging collective expertise to drive innovation and sustainability in the region and beyond.
Research wise, after partnering with hydrogen and algae experts, Afforest for Future has expanded its focus to include solutions for microalgae and freshwater aquatic plant cultivation and valorization, as well as biohydrogen production from dark fermentation. These solutions are based on the expertise and long collaboration with Dr. Kostas Kukaras from CERTH, and the organization’s previous work on soil creation and soil amendments. Hence our latest sci publications are focused on this topic. https://doi.org/10.2495/FENV110141 https://www.met.edu/uploadfile/researchjournal/pdf/MMR_JAN__2023.pdf
Afforest for Future has 2 branches NGO registered in Vienna, Austria PIC 883172100 SME registered in Brzece, Serbia PIC 876431861