Europe's green transformation in policy, industry and society discovers wood science and innovation. Keynote presentation.

The climate crisis is the largest global challenge of all times. The New European Bauhaus (NEB) is a co-creation movement launched by the European Commission, which calls for a new narrative for building with biobased materials to reduce our carbon footprint. Wood, the main climate-neutral or climate-negative building material, can thus contribute to rethink cities as carbon sinks and become a main lever for climate restoration. The Wood4Bauhaus Alliance is an open platform for sharing, co-creation, skills and policy development in the European wood sector and has developed recommendations and research needs for the transformation of the built environment. 

Forests are true carbon pumps and a key ecosystem in the climate equation. Building with wood can deliver long-life products for the construction sector. Key fields for further research and innovation are i) circularity of wood products, addressing resource-efficient use of wood raw material and design for disassembly and deconstruction of buildings, and ii) develop new transdisciplinary programs to respond to skills and education needs in the sector. Additional policy support and incentives are needed on national and European scale, to foster the 'timber (r)evolution' in the built environment.

wood4bauhaus.eu/news/wcte2023