The workshop focused on identifying the main proposals, priorities and difficulties in the public promotion of medium-rise wooden residential buildings, pre-industrialisation in the transformation of wood and the search for new products, technologies and efficient and competitive construction techniques.

It was organised by Baskegur and Xera, with the participation of 49 people from Portugal, Spain and France, the three countries that are part of the SUDOE Space.

The EGURALT project, in which 8 partners from the SUDOE area (Portugal, Spain and Southwest France) participate, held its first transnational workshop on July the 9th. With the aim of analysing the conditions and opportunities that could lead to a greater development of medium height timber buildings (as a reference, between 4 and 6 floors) in Southwest Europe, up to 49 participants from the three countries mentioned above met online.

The workshop, which lasted two and a half hours, was divided into an introduction to the project, the results of the pre-surveys, an explanation of how the workshop works, the realisation of the workshop, and the sharing of the results.

The central part of the workshop was for the discussion of the three main themes of the project: priorities and difficulties of the public promotion of medium-rise wooden residential buildings, pre-industrialisation in the transformation of wood and the search for new products, technologies and efficient and competitive construction techniques. To work on these issues, the participants were divided into three groups according to their interests in one field or another. For the analysis of these three central themes, the participants were subdivided into two groups per theme.

All groups approached the different subjects in the same way: first of all, proposals for improvement in each of the fields were specified, then priorities were discussed and finally a number of difficulties that complicate progress on the different issues were pointed out.

The event, which was a success thanks to the collaboration of all those attending, included an initial greeting and farewell by Ana Isabel Ariz Argaya, representative of the project leader, Nasuvinsa, and an introduction to the project by Óscar Azkarte, a member of Baskegur. The representatives of Xera, Manuel Touza and Montserrat Rodríguez were in charge, respectively, of presenting the previous surveys carried out and introducing the functioning of the workshop. The latter was also in charge of acting as moderator in the sharing of the different conclusions.

Results

The needs and priorities to face the four challenges detected were analysed: Promotion and policies, Training, Business strategy and R+D+i.

In terms of promotion and policies, the convenience of a regulatory framework that values the environmental footprint in construction, of improving training in the prescription of these environmental values, a tax policy that favours it and the elaboration of informative material on requirements and compliance, among others, were highlighted.

Regarding the training challenge, the convenience of training for trainers, continuous training, the adaptation of vocational training in wood construction and the improvement of the sector’s image, among other issues, was underlined.

For the challenge of the necessary business strategy, massive construction systems, combining elements and solutions, support for the adaptation of these solutions for local wood and investment as a green and strategic sector were highlighted.

As for R&D&I, the convenience of collaboration initiatives between the different research bodies, funding for research in groups and networks, and transfer of research results with guarantees (CE marking, quality seals, etc.) for good execution on site were highlighted.

 

The Eguralt project is part of the Interreg SUDOE Programme and has ERDF funding of €1,011,562.20.