Vienna, Austria — The European Wood Policy Platform (WoodPoP) will be returning to the 30th International Wood Construction Conference (DE: International Holzbau Forum) to host this year’s Prologue V. Organised this time around by the Technical Working Group on Innovation and Research, with support from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), Luxinnovation GIE, and the Forest Fund Austria.
Under the title “R3 — Roots, Rooftops & Renewal“, the event will focus on driving innovation and research to market by bringing projects, funders and stakeholders together.
The session will address the role modern timber construction can play in the shift to climate-neutral buildings, and how new technologies, digital planning and circular concepts can accelerate that transition. Speakers and participants will include representatives from industry, planning, research, public authorities and policymaking.
Event details
Date: Wednesday, 2 December 2026
Time: 13:45 to 18:30 CET
Venue: Congress Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Sponsored day pass
Participants who register through the WoodPoP registration form will receive a day pass sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management.
Register here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/tXcbas3phN
For further information, please contact the WoodPoP Secretariat at contact@woodpop.eu
Programme
also available at the International Wood Construction Conference Official Website: https://events.forum-holzbau.com/IHF/Programm.php
Reception of attendees
Welcome and Overwiew
Elfriede Moser, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management, Vienna (AT)
The project: pan-European Wood Innovation Network
Alfred W. Kammerhofer, FOEN, Bern (CH)
Keynotes: current initiatives and programmes for Research and Innovation
European Housing Alliance and affordable housing
Stefan Moser, Head of Unit of the Housing Task Force in the EU Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, EU Commission, Brussel (BE)
European FOREST Partnership
Dr. Kari Korhonen, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland (FI)
Good practice examples: a closer look at what meeting this demand means in practice for sustainable, low-CO2 buildings
The Timber Truth
Pablo van der Lugt, Technical University Delft (NL)
Case study – HORTUS: energy-positive after around 30 years
Johannes Eisenhut, Senn Immobilien-Treuhand, St. Gallen (CH) and Richard Jussel, Blumer-Lehmann, Gossau (CH)
WoodPop DARA Award 2026 Awardee
~ Roundtable discussion ~
Coffee break
Coffee sponsored by Stora Enso Wood Products
Financing: public and non-public sources of financing for such projects
Blended finance and SME investment, European Investment Bank (EIB)
Georg Weiers, European Investment Bank, Vienna (AT)
Das Raiqa in Innsbruck
Florian Flunger-Lang, Raiffeisen-Landesbank Tirol, Innsbruck (AT)
Identifying and developing key technologies in the sawmilling industry
Hannes Plackner, HS Timber, Vienna (AT)
The Science and Timber Construction Alliance (SITCA)
Dr. Erich Wiesner, Wiehag, Altheim (AT)
~ Roundtable discussions ~
Summary of the Findings
Lisa Lehner, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management, Vienna (AT) and Višnja Koščak, WoodPoP, Vienna (AT)
Concluding remarks and closure of the meeting
Georg Rappold, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management & WoodPoP, Vienna (AT)
Aperitif in the accompanying trade exhibition
The aperitif is sponsored by Holzwerk Pfarrkirchen