Tuesday, 28th February 2023 at CTICC, Cape Town
We hosted our 1st Digital Conference in 2022 and now in 2023 we are expanding the 12th Wood Conference physically and digitally (hybrid event).
It has been 12 years since the first Wood Conference and the event is still enjoying an increasing number of visitors.
The conference has become a definite highlight of the wood industry in South Africa and with some guests who have attended all conferences. The surveys conducted on the days were always positive.
The idea of the founders, who gave the presentations at the first conference, and the Master of Ceremonies, “Hannu Garny”, have kept the promise not only to initiate a conference on the tech- nology and aesthetics of wood, but to initialize it and establish it as part of the wood industry in South Africa.
The founder, George Kuratle handed over his company to the 3rd generation last year. The succes- sor, CEO of the Group, Roger Kuratle, will also further develop the conference in order to provide the platform for architects, engineers, students, and all those interested in timber construction.
With the cooperation and assistance of the South African partner “Universal Plywood”, wood products that are not produced in South Africa would be covered locally by them. This gives the projects a new dimension that can be used by all interested parties and construction profession- als.
Through the digital and physically organized Wood conference, visitors from near and far can participate. The aim of the conference is to support local architects in promoting wood in sus- tainable construction, exchanging ideas, information, and inspiration on the subject of wood 12 years later. The conference continues to add value to the timber construction industry in South Africa. Speakers from Norway, the USA, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland can join in and give lectures on site or online.
As the conference continues to grow, there is huge potential for the event to have an impact on timber construction and sustainable construction in South Africa. One of the goals would be to raise awareness for a broad general understanding that wood is a valuable and sustainable building material. An entire industry, with all its stakeholders needs to understand that the over- all goal we need to achieve is to create a sustainable market for timber construction and improve our contribution of CO2 sequestration.
The long-standing sponsors, as well as the loyal participants deserve our special thanks. I would also like to personally thank the organizing committee. I would also like to thank the always in- teresting lectures of the speakers from the international wood industry.
https://www.facebook.com/woodconference
https://www.woodconference.co.za/en/