2025 General Assembly

13-15 May, Kastoria, Greece

The InnovaWood General Assembly 2025 took place from 13-15 May 2025 in the beautiful city of Kastoria, Greece!

This years InnovaWood General Assembly took place from 13 to 15 May 2025 in Kastoria, Greece, hosted by the Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia. The dynamic three-day event brought together 70 participants from 38-member organisations representing 20 countries.

The agenda included networking activities, workshops, keynote speaches, innovation pitches and the introduction of new members. The common enthusiasm for wood research, innovation and education sparked an active exchange of ideas and collaborations. Participants also visited the charming region of Western Macedonia. InnovaWood kindly thanks the whole team of the CLUBE – Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia, for their generous hospitality and warm welcome to Greece.

In this article:

• Keynote presentations
• Networking activities
• Activity report and Executive board
• Workshop sessions
• Company visits and social programme
• Resource section

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Keynote presentations

This year focus was set on the bioeconomy and how wood research, innovation, and education can drive its future.

• The EU bioeconomy – state of the art and outlook | Oliver Zobell, European Commission, Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking, presented the EU perspective on the bioeconomy and the role of the CBE JU in the wood sector. | Presentation : zenodo.org/records/15881592

• Role and impact of CluBE regional bioeconomy and environment cluster : Yannis Fallas, CluBE, Presented forestry in Greece, Wood industry in Greece, National forest strategy, Policy suggestions, the Department of Forestry, Wood Sciences and Design | Presentation : zenodo.org/records/15881529

• A business perspective on the wood sector and the bioeconomy | Electra Papadopoulou, Chimar Hellas SA, highlighted the CHIMAR strategic focus on green technology and diverse bio-materials in applications, including biomass and lignin products, tannins and cellulose | Presentation : zenodo.org/records/15881624

• The BioGlue-Centre – strategic setup and activities, Stergios Adamopoulos, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, introduced the BioGlue-Centre, outlining its goals, collaborative setup and actions for the next years. | Presentation : coming.  

• Forestry, wood and the bioeconomy sector in Greece : George Ntalos, University of Thessaly. | Presentation : zenodo.org/records/15881382

Networking activities

In response to members’ consistent requests, networking activities have reached the next level and are a cornerstone of InnovaWood General Assembly. During the General Assembly key networking formats used are:

• Poster Hall – a dedicated space highlighting members’ research and innovations.
• Speed Networking Session –  for rapid introductions and new connections.
• Research and Innovation Results Pitches – 11 participants delivered concise 2-minute presentations of their work in a moderated contest-style session. The pitch block was followed by individual talks in front of the presenter’s posters.
• Fishbowl Discussion – a participatory format encouraging open dialogue and active listening.
• The Power of Questions – deep networking format focused on orchestrated individual question-answer dialogues between participants.
• Unconference – needs-based working groups aimed at developing follow-up collaborations – resulted in 5 different ad-hoc organised workshops by the participants.

Company visits & social programme

Participants deepened their understanding of the region of Western Macedonia and its economy through direct engagement with local companies focused on bioeconomy and circular economy. Visits to Alpha Wood Group and Chliapas AEBE highlighted fibre board production and manufacturing of doors and flooring . The social program in Kastoria included a guided tour around the old town and its surroundings, a visit to the open-air Museum of the Neolithic Lake Settlement of Dispilio, an official conference dinner in Limneon Resort & Spa and dinner at Old Town restaurant.

Activities report

In his report, Uwe Kies, Secretary General of InnovaWood, summarised the previous year’s activities, projects, and outcomes and provided a perspective for the following years. The main aspects include:

• Secretariat: The team has grown in recent years and currently has 9 employees representing 6.3 full-time equivalents. Each team member brings specialized expertise to the organisation, including roles focusing on communications or working on project-specific publications. The Secretariat operates with flexibility, offering various models of collaboration. This strong and versatile team ensures the effective delivery of activities and the successful organisation of events.

• Network and membership: InnovaWood’s network has continued to grow steadily. Since 2017, 32 new organizations have joined, and in 2025 we proudly count 70+ organizations across 30 countries. This diverse community includes a strong mix of organisations, including research and technology organisations, universities, VTEs and clusters. This growth demonstrates continued interest in and support for InnovaWood’s mission across the sector.  With only five withdrawals over several years mainly due to internal personnel changes or reduced engagement, our retention rate remains high. We actively encourage members to deepen their involvement through thematic collaborations and joint initiatives, reinforcing collective impact and innovation.

• Strategic Approach: Connect – Share – Influence : InnovaWood’s strategic approach is centered around three core actions that guide our work across projects, partnerships, and policy: Connect, Share, Influence.

InnovaWood Executive Board

Erik Larnøy stepped down from the position of President of InnovaWood, joining the Executive Board as a regular member. We are very grateful to Erik Larnøy for his valuable support of the network and Secretariat over the past years. The General Assembly elected Mike Burnard for the position of President of InnovaWood and Višnja Košćak for the position of the Vice-President of InnovaWood for the period of two years. Congratulations! 

This years General Assembly workshop sessions focused on specific areas of collaboration among IW members :

• Workshop 1 – Bioeconomy and circular economy in the wood sector, moderated by Erik Larnøy, NIBIO and Yannis Fallas, CLUBE. The workshop offered a platform for deep discussions and brainstorming among IW member organizations into the opportunities and challenges moving towards a bio-based and circular economy in the wood sector.

• Workshop 2 – Wood education, increasing its attractiveness and links to NEB Academy, moderated by Oliver Jancke, InnovaWood and Mike Burnard, InnoRenew, aimed to assess the main goals, challenges and solutions/strategies for increasing the recruitment of new students  and competent staff for wood science and research.

• Workshop 3 – Bio-based glues – exchange on ongoing research, moderated by Christian Hansmann, WoodKplus, and Ingo Mayer, BFH, fostered exchange on ongoing research and included a brainstorming session addressing the development of bio-based glues and infrastructure across the membership to support future collaboration.

• Workshop 4 – Connect-Share-Influence – priorities for IW members, moderated byUwe Kies, Vanesa Baño, Florence Kuijl, InnovaWood, encouraged members to share their needs and engaged them in brainstorming on the development of the InnovaWood network and services to facilitate future collaboration.

Membership

This year, four new organisations  joined the network. Notably, Lithuania appears on our membership map for the first time. Welcome to InnovaWood network to:

• Filière Bois Wallonie (FBW), Belgium
• Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), the Netherlands
• Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry (LSIWC), Latvia
• Lithuania Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (LAMMC), Lithuania

New members posers are available in the resource section below. The full list of InnovaWood members is available here.

Resource section