Kainuu’s municipalities develop strategies for wood and hybrid construction

Wood construction has been addressed in a growing number of nationwide programmes, road maps and measurements. Wood construction is part of the sustainability transition and the means necessary to achieve future climate obligations in respect of carbon neutrality and an environmentally sustainable Finland. The municipalities of Kainuu have seized on the theme and as part of the project on Kainuu’s forestry bioeconomy, where together they will create specific strategies for wood and hybrid construction.

Work on the preparation of strategies for wood and hybrid construction began in early 2022 as municipal representatives gathered for a strategy work referral discussion to consider how timber and hybrid construction is currently visible in their municipalities and how its promotion could help support municipal strategies in the future.

– Municipal operators are excited about what the integration of wood and hybrid construction into the municipal strategy will mean in practice. As, in general, this work also wants to record the perspectives of stakeholders and residents, says Tuomo Määttä, project manager for the new ecosystem project in Kainuu forestry bioeconomy.

During the spring of 2022, MDI interviewed Kainuu’s municipal leaders and representatives of key stakeholders about their views on the current state and future of each municipality in the field of timber construction. MDI also conducted an electronic survey for arcane wood construction operators and stakeholders to complement the information obtained through the interviews. On the basis of the document, survey and interview analyses, a draft strategy will be formed to help Kainuu’s municipalities to develop wood construction future workshops. In addition, a webinar will be held during the early summer period, where strategies will be presented and discussed. Work will continue in the autumn with the strategies scheduled to be completed no later than November 2022, by which time each Kainuu municipality will have its own strategy for wood and hybrid construction.

MDI’s team is complemented by Eila Valtanen, forester, eMBA and advisor and Tuulikki Huusko, entrepreneur and wood industry specialist.