The first workshop of the GW4 research community on the Circular Economy of Timber Buildings was successfully completed on 12th July.

A detailed summary of the themed group discussions can be found here.

A few key take-aways can be listed below.

• The government should implement afforestation strategies and we need to understand how planting the right trees in the right place affect UK climate policies.
• We need to rely more on local resources and sawmills.
• Addressing pressing questions related to timber buildings requires an effective collaboration between the academic, industrial and community sector and a multidisciplinary approach.
• Modern Methods of Construction can be challenging regarding affordable house units. Imported MMC and modular timber house units from other European countries (e.g., Estonia) create no value to local communities and local economy. We need to focus on training the local community and tackle skills shortage.
• Affordable timber housing should be defined in terms of local incomes and not market.
• UK might be better at maintaining and improving current timber supply chains considering current UK woodland coverage.

It is is time for action ! What we can do right now ! It is more about incremental changes and less about innovation.