1st LOCAL WOOD Summit

? Fri. 20th – Sat. 21st of November 2020

? Online event

Join the trailblazers of the local wood movements (AMS, BXL, AN) for what will be the first ever LOCAL WOOD summit organized in Europe! Let’s build a LOCAL WOOD network around sustainable carpentry, novel forest management, local wood networks, and local wood architecture & design.

The program

Fri. 20/11/2020 – Towards the first LOCAL WOOD chapter

✉️ On invitation

On Friday the 20th we build the first chapter of the European Local Wood Network. We will address:

This challenge concerns decision-making and communication about felling/not felling trees and making use of its local value.

Some statements to kick-off the discussion are:

  • Trees in the city are even more precious and it should be avoided that they are being cut down in order to support the urban ecology at maximum and in respect of their strong emotional value.
  • When trees are being cut, we should avoid them to end up as burning wood. It is a waste of this valuable resource and we should use their potential to stock CO2.
  • There are some absurdities in the permit regulations concerning the cutting down of city trees (example Antwerp, unclarity in Brussels).

This challenge concerns the management of our local forests and their role and position in the economic and spatial ecosystems they take part in.

Some statements to kick-off the discussion are:

  • Different new forestry actors are looking for new economic models to reinforce sustainable forestry.
  • A significant amount of the wood from our local forests is being exported. We should keep this valuable resource local.
  • It is time to look beyond the local ‘value chain’ and think in terms of developing ‘valorization ecosystems’ that develop around local actors.

Sat. 21/11/2020 – LOCAL WOOD How to?

? open registration

Saturday the 21st of November, we invite our emerging European Local Wood Network to come and explore our window to the world. We have picked up -and are still learning about- many inspiring initiatives around local wood. Sustainable carpentry, novel ways of managing local forests, inspiring design and architectural innovation, and setting up resilient ecosystems around local wood…

With the leading question ‘How to?’ we are asking some of the pioneering actors in the local wood world to introduce us to their work.

Registration

Want to join the LOCAL WOOD movement?

Would you like to find out how forest managers, woodworkers, designers and entrepreneurs are finding sustainable business opportunities around local wood? Would you like to explore and get inspired by what can be done with/through local wood?

? Register for the LOCAL WOOD ‘How to?’ event on Saturday November 21 2020

Would you like to actively take part in the driving team behind the LOCAL WOOD network? Are you interested to contribute to the discussion on the challenges we face around urban wood and local forest management?

Do you have a pioneering and sustainable approach related to urban wood or local forest management that you would like to show to the world?

✉️ Contact Hanne to join the discussion on Friday November 20 2020

hanne@sonianwoodcoop.be

Building up a LOCAL WOOD Network in Europe

We got inspired by the Urban Wood Network, based in the United States. The Network brings together different organizations and individuals who have projects around local wood and are working to make the most of this valuable resource. The Urban Wood Network was born out of the need to bring together the different types of actors involved in this demarche (woodworkers, sawmills, wood wholesalers, public administrations…) and to make a link between the different stages of wood extraction and processing. By bringing all these actors together in a network, we now hope to strengthen this movement in Europe by sharing knowledge and know-how and supporting start-up initiatives. The European LOCAL WOOD Network is being born.

In order to create this network, we are organizing the very first LOCAL WOOD Summit in Europe. The event will bring together the trailblazers of the local wood movement in cities including Amsterdam, Brussels and Antwerp. It will be held on November 20-21 2020.

Connecting Nature platform

With the support of the Connecting Nature project we have already started the creation of the LOCAL WOOD network on their online platform: the Connecting Nature Enterprise platform.

We are facilitating this platform’s Sustainable Forestry page to support the development and visibility of the LOCAL WOOD community.

The intention is to announce as many European initiatives as possible that are active within this theme and to bring them into contact with each other.

It seems to us an enormous added value if our participants register as local wood entrepreneurs on the platform. If you are interested, you can register via this link at ‘sign up’:

www.naturebasedenterprise.eu/

We believe in the added value that can be generated by making as many sustainable wood initiatives as possible visible and bringing them into contact with each other. So be sure to share with your network.

Behind the scenes

This first Local Wood Summit is being organized by the Sonian Wood Coop, the Urban Ecology Centre, Osmos and the EU-funded Connecting Nature project. It is co-financed by a grant from the Véolia Foundation.