5th Edition of the Forest Innovation Workshop “The role of innovation in managing new challenges in the forest-based sector at regional level in the EU”

Bioregions Facility on November 24, 2022

Started in 2014 as a joint initiative of European regions and forest sector organizations, the 5th edition of the European Forest Innovation Workshop devoted to Inform-Prioritize-Collaborate: Cooperation of Regions on Innovation in Forest Management, Use of Wood and Forest-related Services, has taken place on 18 January 2023 (full-day workshop) at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union in Brussels.

The role of innovation in managing new challenges in the forest-based sector at regional level in the EU.

Documentation of Plenary and Break-out Sessions

Main objectives of the event

  • Understanding the new framework for regional innovation policies addressing the forest-based sector in Europe
  • Presenting relevant innovations from different European regions that are helping address key European policy ambitions
  • Connecting experts and practitioners to speed up knowledge flows
  • Encourage public and private collaboration at EU and regional levels to foster innovation

Download the programme

Participant list

Photos from the event

Dissemination letter

Themes

The event provided an opportunity to learn about the most recent updates on European initiatives and connect with a selection of innovative cases, presented during the 2 rounds of breakout sessions.

The themes addressed in the workshop are:

  1. Carbon market, bioeconomy, climate smart forestry and rural development
  2. Forest degradation and nature restoration
  3. Ecosystem services and better integration in forest management

Digitalization and social innovation are cross-cutting aspects contributing to the above themes.

Presentations

Plenary

Introduction to Regional Authorities Round-Table Discussion on priorities for innovation

Breakout Table 1: Carbon Market, Bioeconomy, Climate Smart Forestry and Rural Development

Breakout Table 2: Forest Degradation and Nature Restoration

Breakout Table 3: Provision of Ecosystem Services

Past editions

Experts gathered to debate sustainable forest management models and complementary foresty in Bizkaia

Bioregions Facility on November 18, 2022

The Department of Sustainability and Natural Environment of Bizkaia organized on November 15 and 16 a conference that discussed the models of sustainable forest management and complementary forestry. The event examined the European context, the new trends in the field, and several practical examples of efficient management of forest resources.

These meetings, which had the collaboration of the UPV/EHU (The University of the Basque Country) and the USSE (Union of Foresters of Southern Europe), opened with a series of talks given by international experts, including Bernhard Wolfslehner, the representative of Forest Europe who opened the day by giving a vision of the European context in the field of sustainable forest management.

This presentation was followed by conferences on sustainable forest management of private forests and public forests, as well as on management closer to nature. Inazio Martinez de Arano from the Bioregions Facility, together with speakers from the European Confederation of Forest Owners (CEPF), Eustafor (European State Forest Association) and ProSilva participated in the round table “The forest as the green engine of the bioeconomy”, in which he mentioned the challenges and opportunities of using forest resources to support the bioeconomy. He highlighted: “Forests have an important role in supporting the circular economy through the potential of biomaterials and their low carbon footprint. We also need to learn how to use biological elements in cities, not only in construction but also taking into account the ecosystem services that they provide, it is crucial to take care of the forests for purposes such as tourism.”

Watch the video here

The conference continued with the presentations of practical examples of sustainable forest management in Sweden, Italy, Central Europe, and Southern Europe by experts from the Federation of Swedish Family Forest Owners, Etifor, Mayr Meinnol Forst and the Arume Foundation. In other round tables, experts debated topics such as: models of sustainable forest management, ecosystem services, and adaptation to climate change and risk management.

Wood in Construction – 25 cases of Nordic Good Practice

Bioregions Facility on November 10, 2022

Building with wood has an untapped potential to transform the construction industry and create the next generation of low-carbon and healthy buildings. The Nordics, with an abundance of sustainably managed forest resources and a long history of building in wood, are well placed to lead in this construction revolution. Across the wood in construction value chain, from forestry and processing, through production and design, to construction and decommission, the Nordic region is innovating to build bigger and more sustainably with wood than ever before.

This publication features 25 Nordic cases from across the value chain working with wood in exciting and innovative ways. These projects demonstrate the benefits and drivers for building with wood, and provide inspiration for architects, land managers, city planners, designers, suppliers and many more. The 25 cases point to five trends within Nordic wood in construction that paint a picture of where the industry is headed: 1) multifunctionality; 2) saving time and costs; 3) investing in scalability; 4) pushing the boundaries; and 5) circular design.

The team behind this report – the Nordic Wood in Construction Secretariat – is an initiative commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Swedish Government, and hosted by EIT Climate-KIC. The secretariat’s aim is to support and accelerate the use of wood in Nordic construction through a portfolio of projects, fostering greater dialogue, knowledge-sharing and collaboration between stakeholders from the private sector, public sector, and academia.

Read the publication

Collaborative map of wooden buildings

Bioregions Facility on November 10, 2022

TOCA MADERA – SOUNDS WOOD has created an interactive collaborative map of wooden buildings that gathers more than 800 projects with more than 15 parameters of classification.

This tool aims to register and share information useful for researchers, professionals in the sector that want to discover new references of wood buildings, and for private companies that want to expand their networks at a global scale. This is also an interesting tool that can support the dissemination and awareness raising in the wood construction sector, showing what is already happening with wood near the users and around the world.

The map is accessible in google maps, and if you are interesting in collaborating adding information to it, you need to subscribe to Toca Madera newsletter and have a google account. More instructions here.

Survey on students’ perceptions of bioeconomy entrepreneurship

Bioregions Facility on November 8, 2022

Ensuring the success of the EU Green Deal requires information about how the public understands different bioeconomy solutions. To understand the viewpoints of young citizens and future professionals, our team at EFI’s Bioregions Facility has developed a survey on students’ perceptions and attitudes towards bioeconomy and entrepreneurship.

The Bioeconomy Perceptions Survey targeted at students is an important tool to help regions learn more about their own bioeconomy ecosystem. It aims to provide insights into how students of higher education perceive the role of entrepreneurship in the field of bioeconomy, as well as related opportunities and challenges.

Are you a student? – Participate now in the Survey!

Everyone has a role to play in reducing environmental impacts: from the private sector, to governments, international organisations, and even individual consumers, our choices can help propel the transition to more sustainable systems. Share your voice to help shape the future of sustainable development in your region!

By filling in this survey on bioeconomy perceptions, you can enter into a competition to win a EFI wood-based t-shirt. Follow the registration link that is unlocked upon completing the survey! The survey is open until 16.2.2023.

Do you work at a higher education institution? – Launch the survey now in your higher education institution!

Bioregions Facility will provide the survey link along with an invitation letter for easy deployment. All you have to do is inviting the students in your study programme or educational institution to participate in the survey. High-level researchers at the European Forest Institute will analyse the survey results and deliver a European-wide final report.

For questions or to launch the survey in your higher education institution, write an email to venla.wallius[@]efi.int.

Survey target outcomes

  • Understand students’ perceptions of bioeconomy and entrepreneurship
  • Get insights on the available training and support for entrepreneurship at educational institutions
  • Engage universities into the forest bioeconomy discussions and open up new collaboration opportunities

Forestry Speed Dating: Use of recovered wood in construction

Bioregions Facility on November 3, 2022

EFI Bioregions Facility is continuing its virtual Forestry Speed Dating series on Bio-based solutions for sustainable construction. During the third event of this series, taking place on 22 November 2022, one research project and two companies will show their advances and results on sustainable innovations using recovered wood in the construction sector. After the presentations in plenary, attendees can connect and seek for collaborations with the presenters and fellow attendees in breakout rooms.

Presentations

Challenges and experiences reusing wood in building structures – By Karin Sandberg, Senior Researcher at RISE. 

The transformation to make the construction sector more circular is a very large task that requires new data. Therefore, cooperation is needed to overcome the many obstacles that exist, especially regarding quality assessment, standardisation, and regulation. RISE, Research Institutes of Sweden, would like to continue in this research area and is open to leading or participating in new projects. The presentation will focus on the obstacles of reusing timber structures based on past experiences, including a study on deconstruction and reconstruction (re-building) of six timber buildings, among other experiences. 

Upscaling of construction with waste wood – a mass production approach – By Miikka Kotilainen, CEO Puuartisti.

Puuartisti aims to reduce waste in the construction industry by acquiring wood construction waste and upscaling it into surface materials. Puuartisti designs and manufactures unique pieces of furniture and interior installations from solid wood, and is currently in the pilot phase of production of wood structures using recycled wood, for which Puuartisti is looking for potential pilot customers, investors and collaborators.

Upcycling windows and doors into furniture, panels and micro-architecture – By Benjamin Verger, CEO 100détours. 

100détours seeks to find a second life for the wood of old doors and windows that once removed, were being incinerated or buried in France. This wood, with excellent qualities of durability, resistance and aesthetics allow many reuses. The proposed solutions range from interior and exterior furniture, glued-laminated panels, acoustic panels, claustras and sunshades, up to micro-architecture: garden sheds, bicycle shelters, and playgrounds. 100détours’ mission is to invent qualitative implementations, aesthetically and technically; and has the ambition to participate in the spread of this practice in France. 

More information and registration

Bioeconomy business opportunities presented at Intergune 2022

Bioregions Facility on October 26, 2022

NEIKER’s general manager presented the interesting business opportunities offered by the bioeconomy in Europe during her speech at Intergune 2022, a conference on Internationalisation organised by SPRI Group, the Basque Business Development Agency.

The event brings together and details all the services, financing and aid that the Basque Government makes available to companies and entrepreneurs in the Basque Country to start or expand their activity abroad.

Egurtek closes its 9th edition confirming the value of wood as a material of the future

Bioregions Facility on October 25, 2022

Egurtek, the International Forum of Architecture & Construction in Wood, has closed its 9th edition. The main objectives of the forum are gathering all the advances in the wood construction & architecture field and promoting new synergies. The event reconfirmed the value of wood as a sustainable material for the future with exceptional qualities for construction. Nearly 1,300 professionals attended the event, confirming the solidity of the event and its suitability as a meeting place.

Bittor Oroz, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Policy of the Basque Government opened the Egurtek event on 19 October: “Wood is a material for the future. Egurtek is not a forum that only promotes the use of wood, but one that plays a very important role because it reflects the entire value chain. It is not limited only to design and construction, but to forest management, technicians… it refers to all the links”.

In addition to the large congress room, Egurtek offers their visitors also the opportunity to join the Technical conferences, the Speaker’s corner and the Expo area. At the Technical conferences, Bittor Oroz Izagirre, Vice-minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Policy of the Basque government, and Leire Barañano, general manager of NEIKER BRTA, both mentioned the EFI Bioregions Facility as key actor to support the transition of the Basque Country towards a circular, territorial-based bioeconomy. The Technical conferences also provided a stage for projects to present their ongoing work: Basajaun, BEHS and Eguralt.

Visitors interested in innovative solutions and the latest trends in wood construction were satisfied to see more than 50 exhibitors in the Expo area, representing the latest innovations in wood construction. The Expo area also featured a Speakers’ Corner, a space where exhibitors gave dynamic and agile presentations about the main innovations which they represented at the forum.

Network to innovate: Innovative solutions in forestry

Bioregions Facility on October 24, 2022

On 1st of November 2022, starting at 9:30 CEST, The National Rural Networks of Estonia, Finland and Latvia will organize the workshop “Network to innovate: Innovative Solutions in Forestry”. The workshops give an opportunity to meet other actors in the field, exchange knowledge and possibly even form new partnerships. The workshop will cover three inspiring examples of innovations in forestry: 

1)  The innovative procurement of the Finnish Forest Center – Digitalization of inspection activities | Lauri Haataja, The Finnish Forestry Center

2)  Testing the sweet cherry propagation methods and selecting superior clones for plantation cultivation of sweet cherry for timber in climatic conditions of Latvia | Dagnija Lazdiņa, Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”

3)  SWEETWOODS – Creating the future for wood industry | Fibenol OÜ, Estonia

The main aim of the event is networking and knowledge exchange on projects and enterprises from Nordic-Baltic countries. All interested participants are welcome, regardless of their country. The working language of the workshop is English. The webinar will be held via Zoom.

Registration

Agenda

EU Bioeconomy Conference 2022

Bioregions Facility on October 14, 2022

The European Commission held the first Bioeconomy Conference on 6-7 October as a hybrid event.

The Conference discussed the progress in the implementation of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, and the importance of the bioeconomy for future economic growth and to face challenges such as pandemics and the current energy crisis. It gathered different stakeholders ranging from policymakers, companies, researchers, to the new batch of Bioeconomy Youth Ambassadors, who emphasized the call for action.

It was discussed, how in the past years, bioeconomy has dynamically evolved being integrated into different sectors’ strategies, as well as the increase of countries and regions implementing bioeconomy strategies. In the session “The bioeconomization of the regions”, speakers discussed the importance of defining regional roadmaps according to specialized value chains, and the need for stronger alliances and synergies among regions to promote a strategic use of the resources. The existence of different clusters at the European level was also mentioned as a key to fill strategic gaps.

In the context of an ever-changing environment, the need of redefining priorities and of tackling trade-offs (e.g. in the use of biomass) was one of the most important conclusions of the event. Among the different calls for action and further steps to take, panelists mentioned: cooperation and exchange at a regional, country and global level; tackling inequalities; more large-scale private investment; and more resilient approaches in strategies.

Photo: FAO

Researcher position open in Sustainable Building

Bioregions Facility on October 14, 2022

InnoRenew CoE is an independent research institute established in 2017 through the H2020 InnoRenew project. Research targets renewable materials and sustainable buildings, specifically innovative approaches to wood and its use, with the goal of transferring scientific knowledge into industrial practice.

Sustainable Building with Renewable Materials (SBRM) group at the InnoRenew CoE invites applications for a full-time Researcher position in the area of sustainable structural systems. The appointment is expected to begin on January 1, 2023, or soon thereafter.

Candidates must have a background in structural engineering and demonstrate research excellence in ideally one or more of the following areas: timber engineering, mass timber, sustainable structural systems, advanced timber structural systems, hybrid timber structural systems, tall timber buildings, seismic and wind design, engineered wood products, timber connections, timber building code development. Additionally, relevant experience in one or more of the following areas is required: structural testing (small-scale and large-scale), advanced numerical modelling, programming skills.

The successful candidate will be expected to pursue innovative research at the international level and to apply for externally funded research and industrial funds. The successful candidate must also demonstrate excellence in research as evidenced primarily by a record of and quality of published papers in top-ranked and field relevant journals and participation on in relevant conferences.

Application is open until 7th November 2022

More information

Call for projects: Circular economy project accelerator Bourgogne-Franche-Comté 2022

Bioregions Facility on October 14, 2022

ADEME and the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region are offering financial support to accelerate the identification and setting up of projects related to the Circular Economy in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

The following themes can be supported:

  • Territorial circular economy approaches;
  • Eco-design of goods and equipment or services;
  • Economy of functionality and cooperation;
  • Extension of the duration of use – reuse, reuse, repair and reconditioning;
  • Prevention, collection, sorting, reuse and recycling of construction waste;
  • Packaging and containers – eco-design, substitution/reuse, bulk.

Application is open until 09/12/2022

More information