Start of NRP 66 fields of dialogue
Four thematic dialogue platforms will facilitate inter- and transdisciplinary work within NRP 66 as of January 2014 and link up the concerned research teams with each other and with representatives of businesses, administration, NGOs and the broader research community.
At its meeting of 12 November 2013, the Steering Committee of NRP 66 decided to set up the four dialogue platforms already envisaged in the knowledge and technology transfer concept. These platforms will play a key role in the preparation of the programme synthesis in 2016/2017. From day one, the wide range of topics addressed by NRP 66 has posed a major challenge to the Steering Committee and to the scientists conducting research. With the passing of time, it became increasingly clear that many of the expectations and objectives of NRP 66 can only be achieved if the researchers are capable of exchanging ideas across projects and placing their research results within the current scientific, economic and political context. Hence, there is a need for interdisciplinary dialogue platforms which allow for exchanges between researchers as well as between researchers and their respective stakeholders. To this end, the Steering Committee recommended the set-up of four dialogue platforms as of January 2014. The forums will address the following main topics:
- Advancements in timber construct ions Innovative materials and joining technologies in timber constructions, industrial processes
- Novel ways in bio-refining of wood Integral and high-grade use of wooden biomass by industrial degradation into materials/fibers, chemicals, fuels and energy
- Innovative wood-based materials for new applications Modification and conversion of wood (as recycled or waste wood) into reliable industrial products for new purposes of use
- Provisioning and sustainable use of wood Wood use, market forces and market regulation, forest ownership strategies
Initial research into establishing a dialogue platform on wood-based bio-refineries has already been concluded. At the same time, the Steering Committee of NRP 66 intensively studied possible approaches to preparing a programme synthesis. The actual work in all four dialogue platforms will be done between 2014 and 2015 in a series of workshops to which the relevant actors will be invited. In the course of these workshops, four input papers will be prepared by April 2016 through a participative process. Along with the results gained in the individual research projects, these papers will serve as a basis for preparation of the four partial syntheses during the final phase of NRP 66.