On July 10, a technology transfer workshop was held in Galicia (Spain), within two European Projects, MySustainableForest and TopWood.

MySustainableForest, under grant agreement No 776045 of the H2020 research and innovation program (European Commission), aims to phase increased use of Earth Observation into forestry realm to ensure a more sustainable use of our woodland. This innovation initiative is an 11-member consortium which is being led by the technology multinational GMV. Julia Yagüe, project manager, presented the advantages and key points to actors involved in the property and forest-management of the Galician mountains.

Various research, development and innovation entities and technological companies showed the edge-cutting methods that allow determining wood quality and its technological properties as well as optimizing the wood supply chain and its industrial use.

The workshop focussed on a round table entitled "From knowledge to applications", coordinated by Ricardo González, manager of the local wood cluster “Madeira and Deseño de Galicia”; the speakers at the round table represented the full range of wood experts, from forest managers to added value industries.The topics discussed tackled the quality standards required by the processing industry in order to classify the wood for the various possible uses; industries and forest managers should be better aligned to identify and evaluate wood quality under the same standards throughout the supply chain, a practice that would aid to boost the sector..

The dialogue counted on the contributions of Federico Ruiz of ENCE, Javier Silva of FINSA, Ana Orons of FEARMAGA, Jacobo Feijoo of ASEFOGA, Francisco Dans of AFG, Azahara Soilán of CIS Madeira, Esther Merlo of Madera Plus, Juan Picos professor of the University of Vigo, Alejandro Matínez-Meier senior researcher at INTA (Argentina), and Jean Paul Charpentier senior researcher at INRA (France).

Other entities present at the workshop were the INTASA Group, specialized in the production of wood planks and floors; Molduras del Noroeste, a manufacturer of solid wood panelling for walls and ceilings; PEMADE, a technological platform for structural wood engineering at the University of Santiago de Compostela; the Mediterranean Delegation of the European Forest Institute, EFI; the association of forest owners of Navarra FORESNA-ZURGAIA; and the Forest Institute of the Mendel University at Brno, of the Czech Republic.

To find out more information about the workshop, click here