An 84.5-meter-tall wooden tower, medicines, food additives, and flavorings made from lignin, textiles made from forest materials, and wooden car parts… A paradigm shift is underway. Concrete, steel, oil, and coal will soon no longer be in demand, as the younger generations—who now have a say in the matter—intend to impose a vision of the economy where success is measured not only by people’s well-being but also by respect for natural capital.
This new economic model, based on these emerging values, places energy efficiency and the use of renewable materials at the heart of the system. This does not mean a step backward or a return to the past, nor does it preclude further innovation in our daily lives—quite the contrary.
In this context, wood—and especially locally sourced wood from Swiss forests that meet the world’s most stringent environmental standards—is really coming into its own. And if wood is emerging as the ideal substitute for fossil fuels, it is because it offers a wide range of properties and numerous applications, most of which have yet to be explored.
French-speaking Switzerland, with its vast forested areas and its wealth of research institutes, universities, colleges, and businesses, provides a fertile ground for study.
It is against this backdrop that the next edition of the Rencontres Woodrise, now renamed rencontresromandesdubois’21, will take place. For while the technical and regulatory barriers that have hindered the use of wood are gradually being removed by researchers, engineers, and architects, the material’s new applications are still largely unknown to policymakers, investors, and the general public.
The Rencontres Romandes du Bois ’21 thus serves as a prime venue for cross-disciplinary exchange and a space for dialogue between professionals and the general public. It is expected to help make this material—so familiar and yet so little understood—fully accessible to everyone.
Philippe Nicollier, President of Lignum Vaud and of the organizing committee for Rencontres Romandes du Bois ’21