More value with forest and wood
Gstaad as a pioneer: innovative ideas for sustainable forest management
Last Friday, October 18, Impact Gstaad and the innovation office planval brought together leading players from the forestry industry and climate protection in Gstaad. The workshop “More value with forest and wood” aimed to develop new ways of increasing the added value of forest and wood while taking climate change into account.
Stakeholders in constructive dialog
“The workshop provided participants with plenty of food for thought and impetus for concrete courses of action. It showed how important the exchange between different stakeholders is,” says Andreas Wandfluh, Operational Director of Impact Gstaad. “The combination of the concrete observation of the local tree population and the ideas of the various experts creates a promising basis for the sustainable management of our forests.”
Thomas Probst, project manager at planval, adds: “The dynamism and creativity that we experienced during the workshop were impressive. The participants developed concrete approaches on how we can make the value chains in the forestry sector climate-friendly and reconcile economic and ecological goals.
"Design Thinking" method
The all-day workshop took place at the Bach & Perreten carpentry workshop and used the design thinking method. This innovative approach to problem solving focuses on the user and quickly leads to practical solutions through creative collaboration. Participants from various sectors, including forest owners, companies in the timber industry, research institutions and authorities, worked together to develop solutions for two specific use cases: the forest in the Bernese Oberland and a forest in Thuringia acquired by Swiss Post.
Regionally anchored, nationally networked
The workshop was part of the “Natural Climate Protection Community” initiative, which is managed by planval on behalf of the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection. At the same time, it formed a building block in Impact Gstaad’s Deep Dive series, which deals with forward-looking topics in the region. As Climate Captain of the Saanenland Site Development Strategy (SES), Impact Gstaad gives high priority to the forest in its work, as it is particularly affected by climate change.
Impact Gstaad and planval plan to explore the results of the workshop in greater depth over the coming months and initiate specific projects to implement the ideas developed.
