Sustainable wood is a renewable material that contributes to a resilient planet and rural livelihoods and is a viable alternative to fossil-fuel-based building materials. The development of wooden high-rise residential towers, office buildings, industrial halls, and other infrastructure in rural and urban areas shows that wood has arrived in all areas of architecture.
This session will showcase examples and techniques for how to make sustainability conversations more compelling to clients, policymakers and the public. Participants will have a chance to pose questions to experts immersed in sustainability thinking from the fields of advertising, architecture, communication, forest policy, and forest certification.
Session programme:
Opening remarks and introductions
Jennifer Hayes, National Sustainable Operations Coordinator for the United States Forest Service and Deputy Team Leader of the Forest Communicators Network
Convince or compel? Lessons from the advertising world
Robert Grace, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer for M&C Saatchi Group South Africa
Imagining a different future: Storytelling for sustainable cities
Vicente Guallart, Founder of Guallart Architects and Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Former Chief Architect of Barcelona
Pushback and perceptions: Communicating the facts about sustainable wood
Eduardo Rojas-Briales, Chair of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), former Assistant Director-General and Head of Forestry at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
The role of media
Detty Saluling, Senior Manager for the Rainforest Journalism Fund and Leader of the Asia-Pacific Forest Communicators Network
Are you being heard? Tips for effective communication
Kai Lintunen, Head of International Communications at the Finnish Forest Association and Leader of the UNECE/FAO Forest Communicators’ Network (FCN), and Ingwald Gschwandtl, Forest Policy Expert and Chair of the Global Coordination Group of the Regional Forest Communicators Network
Growing the solution – a compelling outreach initiative
Maria DeCristofaro, Communications Officer, Forestry Division at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Global Coordinator of the Regional Forest Communicators Networks
Moderated panel discussion
