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The European Wood Policy Platform (WoodPoP) High-Level Meeting gathered leaders from across Europe, spotlighting the wood sector as a frontrunner in Europe’s competitive transition.
The Wood4Bauhaus Alliance reaffirms the central role of the wood sector in driving Europe’s transformation and applauds the European Commission's intention to develop a European Strategy for Housing Construction as part of the upcoming European Affordable Housing Plan, a vital step to alleviate the housing affordability crisis. The WoodPop High-Level Meeting made a strong call to recognise the wood sector’s role and invest in skills and education for making Europe’s workforce fit for a more competitive future economy based on green resources and circularity.
With 17.5 million jobs linked to regional value chains, the wood sector is vital for rural and urban economies and boosts a strong innovation ecosystem that drives competitiveness and higher productivity in construction, leading the digital green transition in the building sector. Wood is the most important natural, renewable and climate-friendly material enabling to turn the building stock into a carbon sink. Timber buildings are showcases of long-term carbon sinks that boost health and wellbeing and are thus key to providing better housing and simultaneously cutting carbon emissions. The European wood sector is a global leader in resilient growth of innovative SMEs from domestic forest resources.
To create the right framework conditions for increasing the supply of both new and renovated housing across Europe, Wood4Bauhaus proposes the following three key recommendations to ensure that Europe can meet its affordability and sustainability imperatives:
1. Set in motion a wave of new and sustainable construction including natural, renewable and climate-friendly materials in Europe to generate transformative growth;
2. Accelerate the renovation wave and recognise the crucial role of new buildings in tackling the growing housing shortage;
3. Mainstream industrialised construction in conjunction with circular bio-based materials and skills development to enhance productivity and competitiveness of the construction ecosystem.
The European Commission should work to ensure that the Strategy for Housing Construction delivers not just more homes, but also sustainable construction, affordable homes and quality jobs for all workers. The European wood sector has unique strengths in biobased, circular, carbon-storing materials and efficient prefabrication systems for both new built and retrofitting.
It thus offers multiple opportunities for upscaling and growth in domestic and international markets, which can be further unlocked by the Strategy. To do so the Strategy needs to be closely linked to other initiatives such as the Quality Jobs Roadmap, Fair Mobility Package and the proposal for a Revision of the Public Procurement, among others.
1. Investing in Skills and Education: Developing a skilled workforce is essential for Europe’s green and digital transitions and requires closer cooperation between businesses, education providers and social partners. Key steps are to strengthen vocational education and training (VET) systems, to expand Erasmus+ opportunities for apprenticeships, and to promote lifelong learning for adult workers. Securing and enhancing Europe’s world-class skill and education systems through increased European collaboration and funding is a top priority.
2. Promoting quality jobs: Investing in attractive career paths and good working conditions supporting fair labour practices will enable the sector meet future challenges.
3. Support for Social Dialogue: Strengthening and encouraging social dialogue at all levels is key to ensuring inclusive decision-making.