Category: Factsheets

Description

Woodknowledge Wales’ vision is the transformation of Wales into a high-value forest nation. Currently, the focus has been on housing and construction as two related areas with big impacts on the planet and people. These areas have a massive potential to support Wales’ transition to a socially just low-carbon society.

Work categories

• Knowledge creation and exchange (e.g., research, technical support, communities of practice, events and communication).
• Advocacy (e.g., national and local policy development, government consultations and participation in working groups).
• Strategic interventions (e.g. collaborative innovation projects, feasibility studies, application of research findings in exemplar housing and manufacturing projects).

Activities engaged across four objectives:

1. Increase the markets for higher-value sustainable timber products

• Work with demand-side stakeholders (e.g. social housing, retrofit, self-procured, developer-led, non-domestic and non-construction) to identify, quantify and communicate how timber can help to meet their current and future needs (e.g. low carbon, high performance, affordability and social value).
• Provide guidance and technical support for customers in the use of timber.
• Advocate for policy change to drive growth in demand for sustainable timber products.

2. Increase the scale, value and purpose of the timber manufacturing sector

• Create manufacturer groups (e.g. joinery and timber frame) to raise ambitions and enhance the sector’s response to opportunities.
• Identify and implement strategies to improve the manufacturer’s offer to customers (e.g. contractors, clients and their consultants).
• Provide technical support to manufacturers to enable the adoption of higher (common) standards and the use of homegrown timber to better address markets in Wales and England.
• Advocate for policy change to support an increase in scale, value, resilience and purposefulness of the timber manufacturing sector.

3. Increase the area, productivity, value and purpose of the forestry sector:

• Identify and promote timber species, forest management and industry practices to support the production of high-value timber for high-value markets.
• Promote and support the use of homegrown timber to manufacturers and their customers.
• Encourage expansion of the area of high-value forest by identifying potential land (location and ownership) for afforestation and by identifying and developing new financial options for landowners (e.g. local authorities, farmers) and other value-adding investors (e.g. Welsh pension fund, Welsh carbon offset model).
• Advocate for policy change to provide a more supportive legislative framework for the development of tree planting, forest industries, land-use change and the use of homegrown timber.

4. Promote a high-value, collaborative and more purposeful wood culture in Wales:

• Implement a communication programme to raise awareness and raise the level of ambition in Wales.
• Development strategies for the delivery of the education, knowledge and skills necessary to support the transformation of Wales into a high-value forest nation.
• Create a collaborative culture, joining dots and breaking down silos, linking networks throughout the United Kingdom, promoting participatory and citizen science approaches and knowledge sharing to help overcome silo thinking, to support wide participation and increase public good outcomes.

Organised by

Woodknowledge Wales is a Wales-based not-for-profit community benefits society with members from across the entire wood value chain and a close working relationship with the Welsh Government.

Objectives

The aim is to develop a Thriving Forest Economy serving a socially just society that acts within planetary boundaries, is proud of its forest and grateful for the ecosystem services these provide.

Purposes:

• Purposeful Growing: How to best manage these forests for better resilience and climate change mitigation?
• Added-Value Processing: How to make the best use of the timber harvested from this precious resource in our processing?
• Low-Carbon Manufacturing: How to manufacture better-performing construction products from our processed timber?
• Net-Zero Construction: How to build better buildings with these products?

For these four elements to come together, there’s a need to work towards an enabling wood culture.

This is in part about helping the different circles to see themselves as part of a whole, a living ecosystem to which they actively contribute.

This is also about shifting our own practices and industry culture as part of the overall culture and identity of our society.

Innovation support services

• Finance/funding access (e.g. pitching to investors, project proposal brokerage).
• Business development support.
• Capacity building and skills training.
• Mutual learning and community building through communities of practice.
• Networking and partnership brokerage.
• Technical assistance.
• Visibility and communication support.

Innovation stages

Key assets

Strong relationships with various government departments that help facilitate connections across silos and find technical and political support and funding for specific initiatives within our work across the wood value chain.

Strong relationships with trade organisations, leading voices and technical experts across the wood value chain.

Recognition as an independent project enabler.

Other information

Current flagship projects include:

• Home-Grown Homes Project
• Regenerative Materials First

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Description

Forest & Wood Pays de Brest (Forêt Bois Pays de Brest) brings together private and public actors around a common strategy and collective projects to transform the local wood sector into a concrete solution for a more resilient territory and a low-carbon economy.

Forest & Wood Pays de Brest was launched in 2022 with the support of Europe (LEADER), in partnership with Fibois Bretagne, an inter-professional association, and local companies in the timber sector.

A steering committee brings together stakeholders from upstream to downstream, including foresters, sawyers, traders, builders, carpenters, architects, training establishments, and local authorities.

Organised by

Pays de Brest is a public organisation that brings together local authorities and promotes cooperation and shared public policies. Located in Brittany, France, the Pays de Brest territory has 425,000 inhabitants and 103 municipalities.

Objectives

• Intensify forest management with private forest owners.
• Support local authorities in the management of public forests and wooded heritage.
• Promote hardwoods and relocate timber.
• Promote wood and biosourced materials for construction.
• Direct middle- and high-school students towards wood and forest training.

Innovation support services

• Capacity building and skills training.
• Networking and partnership brokerage.
• Provision of grants.
• Visibility and communication support.

Innovation stages

Forest & Wood Pays de Brest does not directly support businesses, but instead, carries out collective actions for the wood sector.

Key assets

• Cooperate and act for the wood sector by bringing together private and public actors around a shared strategy and collective projects.
• Establish a bottom-up logic closer to the field to build collective actions that meet the needs of the timber sector.
• Foster partnerships with local companies and authorities, Fibois inter-professional association, and forestry stakeholders.

Other information

Examples of action in 2025-2027:

The Pays de Brest supports eight local authorities on citizen forest plantation projects and management of existing tree heritage (public forests, trees in cities).

A territorial dynamic surrounding the tree is driven by local public policies, which aim to address environmental, economic, social, and cultural issues.

A travelling exhibition is planned to highlight the local wood formations. The exhibition is aimed at middle and high school students, as well as their parents. The exhibition furniture will be crafted from local wood by students, highlighting their expertise and promoting the use of hardwood species.

The partner, Fibois, plans to launch a mission with local companies to promote local timber and support local project leaders from design to implementation (e.g., manufacturing office furniture from local oak).

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Description

The Reuse of Wood initiative focuses on transforming old furniture, pallets, and demolition wood waste into valuable resources within the circular bioeconomy framework, reducing landfill dependency, lowering carbon footprints, and supporting sustainable forest management.

The innovation developed advanced sorting technologies to identify and classify demolition wood by quality, species, and treatment history. The process continues by removing all hazardous additives, such as varnishes, and upcycling the materials into high-value products, including glued-laminated timber (GLT), cross-laminated timber (CLT), particleboards, pellets, and briquettes.

Organised by

The Department of Forestry, Wood Science & Design at the University of Thessaly, in Greece, offers an integrated 5-year master’s programme. Students acquire scientific knowledge in new and innovative subjects, contributing to the sustainable management of natural environments.

Objective

• Produce value-added wood product innovations.

Innovation support services

• Capacity building and skills training.
• Facilities for prototyping/piloting (e.g., FabLab).
• Networking and partnership brokerage.
• Technical assistance.

Innovation stages

Key assets

• Defined production line for different kinds of wood-glued products.
• Equipment necessary for testing.

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Description

The Forestry Hub of Catalonia (Mediterranean Forestry Hub – Centre de Biotransformació del Mediterrani) is an initiative aiming at enhancing landscape resilience by fostering circular bioeconomy through innovation across forest value chains.

The facilities support research, development, technology transfer, facilitation, and training activities focused on wood for construction, textiles and chemistry, aromatic and medicinal plants for pharmaceutical and cosmetic uses, and truffles and other non-wood forest products (NWFP) for food applications.

The Forestry Hub’s objective is to enhance the sustainable use of forest resources through collaborative innovations, leveraging the transformation of vulnerable landscapes into environmentally and socio-economically sustainable bio-based circular models that are resilient to natural disturbances, such as wildfires.

The Forestry Hub actively supports scaling up innovation through its technical office by offering a comprehensive catalogue of services.

These include:

• The promotion of best practices across the entire value chain, from cradle (forest management) to grave (reuse, repair and recycle).
• Provision of diversified and high-quality training programmes to equip stakeholders with the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully address emerging challenges.
• Promotion of the development and implementation of new technologies, practices, and solutions to improve the sector’s competitiveness.
• Use of the facilities for testing and launching emerging projects with the potential for an impact on a large scale.
• Investment advice and promotion of relevant projects.
• Advise and comprehensive support to all stakeholders.

Organised by

The Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC) is a public research institution in Solsona, Lleida, Spain. CTFC’s mission is to make science relevant to sustainable forest management, biodiversity and the circular bioeconomy.

The centre employs over 100 professionals, including researchers, engineers, and administrative staff, and operates with an annual budget of approximately €13 million.

Research at CTFC is organised into four main research and transfer programmes:

• Multifunctional Forest Management,
• Biodiversity Management and Conservation,
• Landscape Dynamics and Planning, and
• Bioeconomy, Health and Governance.

CTFC serves as a pivotal institution in advancing sustainable forestry and environmental stewardship in Catalonia and beyond.

Objectives

• Promote forestry bioeconomy value chains from Catalonia.
• Achieve a change in perception based on science.
• Become a leading centre in Southern Europe.

Innovation support services

• Finance/funding access (e.g., pitching to investors, project proposal brokerage).
• Business development support.
• Capacity building and skills training.
• Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) assessment.
• Facilities for prototyping/piloting (e.g., FabLab).
• Market fit assessment.
• Networking and partnership brokerage.
• Technical assistance.
• Visibility and communication support.

Innovation stages

Key assets

A major focus of the Forestry Hub is innovation in laminated engineered wood products for the construction industry. It has an industrial-scale production line dedicated to manufacturing and testing new products and processes.

Additionally, the Hub houses a biorefinery pilot plant designed for the extraction and production of high-value products from diverse Mediterranean agroforest biomass, targeting food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Facilities also include specialised equipment for drying and distillation of plants in the aromatic and medicinal plants and mycology laboratory, along with a showroom featuring a cooking demonstration area.

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Introduction

Across Europe, a wide range of organisations are driving innovation in the forest and wood-based sector by supporting start‑ups, SMEs, researchers, public authorities, and value‑chain actors working toward a more sustainable, resilient, and circular bioeconomy.

These initiatives foster new technologies, stimulate regional development, promote knowledge exchange, and help accelerate the transition toward climate‑smart forest management and wood transformation.

This collection of factsheets showcases some of the leading organisations and programmes that provide innovation support across different stages, from early ideation to close‑to‑market solutions. Their activities include business development, technical assistance, networking, funding access, skills training, and many other services that strengthen the forest-based sector and its contribution to society.

These initiatives are also connected through a growing Forest & Wood Innovation Community of Practice, which brings together practitioners and experts to exchange experiences and jointly advance innovation ecosystems across Europe. If you are interested in joining the Community of Practice or would like more information, feel free to get in touch via email at bioregions@efi.int.

Description

La WoodTech is a network of Xylofutur dedicated to fostering the growth of start-ups in the forest wood-based sector, by providing a platform for young companies to gain visibility and access to resources that enable faster growth.

Through this network, start-ups benefit from mentorship, networking opportunities, and strategic support tailored to their needs. La WoodTech gathers with start-ups, business advisors, public authorities, and financial partners committed to developing scalable, sustainable solutions across the value chain, from forest management to wood transformation.

Organised by

Xylofutur is the national innovation cluster for the forest-wood-based sector in France, bringing together around 250 members (academia, companies, forest owners, and local authorities), and covering the whole value chain, from forest management to any wood-based applications and digital-driven innovation for the sector.

The forest-wood sector offers significant advantages at the economic, ecological, and industrial levels, and the main role of Xylofutur is to support its members in their commitment and development in this sector.

The cluster brings together academic and economic stakeholders to develop innovative collaborative projects, thus supporting the development and growth of its members.

Xylofutur also supports the development of European activities, allowing its members to access new markets and apply for new funding schemes.

Objectives

• Overcome environmental and sovereignty challenges.
• Foster collaboration, mutual support, and communication.
• Contribute to driving sector development.

Innovation support services

• Finance/funding access (e.g., pitching to investors, project proposal brokerage).
• Business development support.
• Networking and partnership brokerage.
• Technical assistance.
• Visibility and communication support.

Innovation stages

Key assets

Designed for start-ups and professionals in the forest and wood sector, La WoodTech offers assistance for business growth, accessing funding, and gaining greater visibility. It provides a strategic advantage by tracking trends and innovations, helping companies turn insights into growth.

Through Cafés Techniques, members meet with experts to explore technical topics and expand their knowledge. Peer-to-peer meetings are facilitated, where entrepreneurs share experiences, tackle challenges, and learn from each other’s successes and failures.

Additionally, the programme facilitates access to public and private funding, offering tailored guidance and direct connections with investors. Members benefit from a strong mentor network, gaining access to experienced professionals for strategic advice and entrepreneurial support. A curated provider pool ensures access to trusted experts in finance, marketing, and management, while strategic consulting sessions help fine-tune business strategies and uncover growth opportunities.

La WoodTech helps its members build strategic relationships and connect with funders and partners. Members can also request targeted matchmaking to accelerate their outreach.

La WoodTech also boosts the digital presence of its members through social media campaigns, newsletters, press releases, and custom visual content. Physical visibility is strengthened via dedicated La WoodTech spaces at trade shows, exclusive events, and key industry meetings.

Finally, members gain access to exclusive advantages and savings, including negotiated discounts (e.g., up to 60% off exhibition costs), pooled resources, personalised promotions, and active support in securing public or private funding, all of which drive growth and strengthen the market position.

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