The research project was intended to make a well-founded contribution to securing competitiveness, environmental protection and employment in companies in the forestry and timber industry value chain.

The project focussed on the question of how new sales opportunities for the product wood and new business areas for companies in the timber and forestry industry could be opened up through new stakeholder cooperation and innovative forms of customer integration. It was investigated how these could be successfully organised in terms of sustainable development. A central task of the project was the development of a turnaround scenario for wood utilisation (analogous to the energy or food turnaround). The aim was to analyse developments in the forestry and timber industry from the perspective of sustainability in an integrated manner for the first time.

In the practical part of the project, the central challenges of opening up future markets for the forestry and timber industry were addressed, focussing on demand-oriented development of the timber market in the construction sector. With a consumption share of 60 per cent, the construction sector was the key area for domestic timber sales, although there was still considerable untapped potential for value creation and application. Co-operations, networks and alliances are increasingly being formed in this area and are becoming more and more important for innovations.

More info