1 Introduction
2 Material and methods
2.1 Participant panel
2.2 Strategic analyses
2.3 Strategy development
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Which strength fits to what opportunity (SO-combination)?
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Which strength fits to what threat (ST-combination)?
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Which weakness fits to what opportunity (WO-combination)?
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Which weakness fits to what threat (WT-combination)?
2.4 Strategy evaluation
2.5 Strategy and policy measures recommendations
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Participants
# | Group | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round |
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A | Forestry | 13 | 8 | 7 |
B | Industry | 15 | 11 | 10 |
C | Association/GO/NGO | 13 | 12 | 11 |
D | Research | 15 | 12 | 11 |
Sum | 56 | 43 | 39 |
3.2 Drivers and barriers to increasing the material use of hardwoods
Driver | Description | Sources |
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Development of new products | An innovative research and development environment fosters new product development. Initially, products were developed based on: small-diameter hardwood, the variety of special mechanical properties and the fibre properties of those hardwoods. Low-value forestry by-products are economically and ecologically superior to their use for energy production | |
Wood-based bioeconomy | Repurposing of pulp and paper mills into biorefineries, new chemical pathways for material utilisation | |
Resource potential | Hardwood is abundant and sufficiently available. Untapped wood potential in small scale forests, high industrial roundwood share, supply risks for softwoods, climate change induced transition to mixed (hardwood) forests | |
Hardwood competence | Traditional forest management, hardwood processing competence, established mass to niche products | |
Public opinion | Positive image of wood, growing acceptance of green economy approaches, governmental willingness to mitigate climate change and foster sustainability (e.g., CO2-taxes, subsidies, research projects, regulations) | |
Sustainability | The use of hardwood improves resource and energy efficiency. Value added hardwood products create new jobs at local and regional level |
Barrier | Description | Sources |
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Uncoordinated research | Lack of research resource concentration, and no content-related research cooperation | |
Slow innovation | Lack of innovative hardwood products, low market acceptance, lack of standardization | BMEL (2017) |
Missing process technology | Process adjustments to increase the material use of hardwoods are currently not profitable. Lack of technological knowledge regarding the processing of hardwood species | Wolfslehner et al. (2013) |
Wood species specific properties | Dimension instability, difficult technical drying, short durability, difficult workability | |
Non-transparent material and information flows | Information deficits, complex interdependencies between stakeholders | |
Supply chain challenges | Mixed hardwood forests provide only low quantities of certain hardwood species (e.g., ash, maple), demand oligopoly, high export volume of roundwood | Lenglet et al. (2017) |
Risks | Seasonality of harvest, high share of private forest owners, extensive conservation of forest land, climate change impacts, long rotation lengths for hardwoods, deficit of qualified workforce | |
Use for energy production | Hardwood primarily used for energy production, especially within private households, subsidies for bioenergy production biasing markets, low cascade utilisation |
3.3 SWOT and strategy development
Strengths | Weaknesses | ||
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S1 | Traditional and qualified forest management | W1 | Lack of knowledge, technology and coordination of research projects to develop a wide range of competitive hardwood product innovations |
S2 | Innovative research and development environment investigating hardwood products | W2 | Domestic value added of hardwoods—especially for roundwood—and the number of cascades is low |
S3 | Hardwood suitable for material use is sufficiently available | W3 | Technical process adjustments to increase the material use of hardwoods are not profitable |
S4 | High level of hardwood processing competence | W4 | Forestry sector lacks economic sale options for hardwoods, which could be processed to products |
W5 | Seasonality of hardwood supply and non-transparent material and information flows |
Opportunities | Threats | ||
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O1 | Hardwoods improve the sustainable performance of the wood value chain | T5 | Low domestic demand for hardwood products (especially in the construction sector) |
O2 | Climate change promotes (mixed) hardwood forests | T1 | Cheap fossil resources disadvantage wood-based biorefinery products |
O3 | Supply difficulties for coniferous woods | T2 | Lack of national and international strategies to promote the material use of hardwoods |
O4 | Alternative energy production methods reduce the contribution of (hard) woods in bioenergy production | T3 | Subsidies for bioenergy production distort the market price of hardwoods |
T4 | Supply volatility due to external risks (e.g., calamities, enlargement of protected areas, lack of qualified workers) |
# | Strategy | Type | Considered SWOT factors | Strategy’s focus |
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1 | Image campaign | SO | S1/S2/S3/S4/O1/T5 | Image campaign for material wood use in general, for wood use and forest management as sustainable measures against climate change, and for the use of domestic hardwoods |
2 | Development of innovative hardwood products | SO | S2/S4/O1/O2/O3 | Complexity of hardwoods (different assortments, low yield per tree with high crown wood content, low sawable wood content and high by-product content) requires a holistic approach that includes the development of manufacturing processes and products using as many assortments as possible materially |
3 | Substitution of softwoods | SO | S3/W1/O3 | Development of innovative hardwood products to reduce the dependency on imported softwoods |
4 | National hardwood strategy | ST/WT | S1/S3/S4/T2, W1/W5/T2 | An overarching programme with a holistic approach implementing supporting (1) policies and international research, (2) country-specific initiatives, and (3) guidelines for forest conversion based on a cooperative strategy development with representation of the interests of all stakeholders (forest, economy, ecology, research, society) |
5 | Vocational education and training system | ST | S1/T4 | Targeted continuing vocational training for highly qualified workers |
6 | Substitution of tropical woods imports | ST | S1/T5 | Substitution of imported and often not sustainably produced tropical hardwoods by eligible hardwoods from domestic, sustainable forestry |
7 | Supportive legal framework | ST /WT | S2/S4/T2/T5, W2/O4/T3, W2/T2 | Implementation of standards and legislation (e.g., regulation on the compulsory return of waste wood, CO2-dependent product taxation) |
8 | Research transfer | WO | W1/O1 | Improve the flow of knowledge from research to manufacturing |
9 | Support for biorefineries | WO | W1/W2/W3/O4 | Establishment of biorefineries for the use of small diameter hardwoods and for the production of bioenergy, biorefining enables an additional cascade use and increases the value added |
10 | Public Relations | WT | W2/T5 | Setting up an intercompany and inter-organisational platform providing the public and specifiers (e.g., engineers, architects) with information about advantages of hardwood products |
11 | Process innovations | WT | W3/T5 | Stimulating development of processing methods able to process different hardwoods, e.g., mixed hardwood pulp |
12 | Vertical cooperation | WT | W4/T4, W3/T5 | Better connections between the forestry and wood industries would enable joint initiatives to pursue innovative paths (e.g., biorefineries) |
Rank | # | Strategy | Mean value | Standard deviation | Aggregated to strategy |
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1 | 2 | Development of innovative hardwood products | 1.64 | 0.75 | 2* |
2 | 8 | Research transfer | 1.72 | 0.58 | |
3 | 10 | Public Relations | 2.00 | 0.89 | 10* |
4 | 6 | Substitution of tropical woods imports | 2.02 | 0.98 | 2* |
5 | 12 | Vertical cooperation | 2.05 | 0.72 | 10* |
6 | 4 | National hardwood strategy | 2.23 | 0.88 | |
7 | 9 | Support for biorefineries | 2.25 | 1.02 | 2* |
8 | 5 | Vocational education and training system | 2.28 | 0.92 | 10* |
9 | 7 | Supportive legal framework | 2.42 | 1.07 | 10* |
10 | 1 | Image campaign | 2.46 | 0.97 | 10* |
11 | 11 | Process adaptations/optimisation | 2.46 | 0.89 | 2* |
12 | 3 | Substitution of softwoods | 2.64 | 1.09 | 2* |
3.4 Strategy evaluation
Rank | # | Strategy | Integrated strategies | Importance mean value | Importance standard deviation |
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1 | 2* | Innovative hardwood products including manufacturing processes | # 2, 3, 6, 9 | 1.8 | 0.99 |
2 | 8 | Research transfer | 3.0 | 1.11 | |
3 | 10* | Lobbying | # 1, 5, 7, 10, 12 | 3.17 | 1.15 |
4 | 4 | National hardwood strategy | 3.51 | 1.48 | |
5 | 13 | Circular Economy | 3.51 | 1.58 |
Strategy | Criterion | Group | Significance level (p < 0.05) | Mean value \(\overline{x}\) | Standard deviation s |
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#2* | Likelihood of implementation | (D) | 0.03 | 3.18 | 0.75 |
(A)–(C) | 2.52 | 0.85 | |||
#8 | Desirability (regarding efficiency/benefits) | (C) | 0.02 | 1.18 | 0.4 |
(A), (B), (D) | 1.79 | 0.79 | |||
#10* | Desirability (regarding efficiency/benefits) | (C) | 0.02 | 1.36 | 0.5 |
(A), (B), (D) | 2.11 | 0.96 | |||
#10* | Priority of implementation | (C) | 0.02 | 1.45 | 0.69 |
(A), (B), (D) | 2.18 | 0.9 |
3.5 Formulation of strategies and measures
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Providing information on the availability of hardwood species in the market to both the public and potential investors, an in-depth study of hardwoods’ supply potential, classified by technology-specific assortments.
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Higher budgets for publicly funded research, development projects, promotion of young scientists in hardwood research and idea competitions are essential. The following research areas were identified as important by the expertsoSolid wood production, material manufacturing sector up to biorefinery industryoUse of soft hardwoods (e.g., birch, poplar, alder)oUtilisation of the different properties of sapwood and heartwoodoMaterial composites of softwoods and hardwoodsoDevelopment of technical processes for the utilisation of large logsoModification processes to increase the natural durability of hardwoodsoDevelopment of hardwood applications within the building sector
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Overcome fragmentation of hardwood research by creating a freely accessible database incorporating publicly funded research projects on the use of hardwood in production.
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Promoting knowledge transfer by integrating practitioners in research projects from an early stage on (e.g., as steering group) together with obligatory feasibility studies as a research funding criterion.
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Mandatory coupling of research and industry partners (team-up) in the case of public funding in applied and experimental research and promoting a practice-oriented research culture as well as a corporate culture with an affinity for research.
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Bridging the financing gap between the end of research projects and product market launch, offering support for micro-enterprises and start-ups to overcome the so-called "Valley of Death".
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Accelerating the marketing of results to specific interest groups, to lower the inhibition threshold for the purchase of hardwood products and creating market incentives.
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Establishment of coordination offices (e.g., support for the implementation of hardwood in construction projects, recommendation by experts, and support of forest owners).
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Funding of a platform to build up a hardwood supportive network.
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Target group-specific networking, for example promotion of hardwood to architects in education and training, trade fairs, the public; promotion of wood-based (platform) chemicals.
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Campaign for the use of wood as a material in general, pointing out the advantages compared to for example steel and plastics and for wood use and forest management as sustainable measures against climate change.
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Promotion of business models aiming at full reusability through appropriate pricing/subsidy incentives.
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Regulations to increase the use of regionally produced and manufactured hardwood products in public procurement (construction, interior design, office furniture, equipment, uniforms, etc.) as a model and positive example for society.