A conference to promote Europe’s wood sector as a driver for green and digital transition of the built environment will take place on 7th November in Brussels. The conference is organised by Wood4Bauhaus Alliance, Bioregions, woodPoP European Wood Policy Platform and Holzcluster Steiermark.
The conference will highlight the vital role of the wood sector as a key driver of future competitiveness in housing and the climate debate, encouraging greater recognition and support from the new EU Commission and EU Parliament.
It will showcase the latest state-of-the-art in building design with wood and how the public sector can support more biobased construction to combat climate change.
Members of the European Parliament and their staff, EC staff and experts, policy makers, and advocacy organisations have been invited to join the policy discussion and networking event, in which about 150 participants will attend.
European wood policy
The European wood sector represents a combined direct and indirect economic weight of 17.5 million jobs, €1,114 billion turnover and 7 per cent of GDP (FHP 2023).
It is a major opportunity to strengthen a competitive, domestic sector: European companies are global leaders in sustainable construction products and buildings, pushing the limits of engineering with tremendous versatility.
Wood architecture offers solutions for all types of buildings and decisive advantages for affordable housing and social benefits, in rural and urban areas. A pan-European policy coordination is needed.
Transforming cities into carbon sinks
The conference will highlight the important role of the wood sector for the Clean Industrial Deal, Europe’s ambitious policy goal towards becoming the first climate-neutral continent.
Wood products are one essential lever to decarbonise the built environment. Forests/trees sequester carbon into durable material, which is engineered into long-lived building products (structural elements, furniture, flooring, windows, etc). Installed into buildings, these store the carbon for decades up to centuries. Their production and use save significant emissions compared to conventional, energy-intensive materials.
By upscaling wood construction, cities will be turned into large-scale carbon sinks, and the construction chain will become a carbon pump to extract GHG from the atmosphere. Through circular solutions and cascading use of materials, the carbon storage can be further prolonged.
Fully aligned with the New European Bauhaus principles, building and renovation with wood brings together beautiful architectural design, sustainable use of materials, and inclusive renewal of urban spaces and communities.
Registration closes on October 31st