Join us on Thursday 8th October at 11am CEST for a digital roundtable dialogue between leading experts from around the Nordics as we discuss Building a Low Carbon Arctic: Material choices for cold-climate construction.

While the COVID-19 situation means that we are unable to meet at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik as planned, we have moved our planned breakout session in collaboration with the thinktank Polar Research and Policy Initiative online to ensure that pan-Nordic knowledge exchange and the discovery of common solutions can continue. 

This roundtable event brings together five experts from across the Nordic region, including architects, policymakers, academics and industry representatives to discuss challenges and opportunities for increasing wood in construction in the Nordic Arctic. 

The Nordic Arctic is developing quickly, and the region's unique geographic, demographic and economic characteristics mean that the challenges faced in the region are markedly different to elsewhere. The Arctic built environment rightly has a strong focus on energy efficiency, but embodied carbon emissions from construction materials and processes, and circularity are often overlooked.

In this session, we hear from the experts of their on-the-ground experiences with construction materials in cold-climate conditions, and discuss the future role of wood in decarbonising the Nordic Arctic's construction sector. 

We will compile a series of tangible recommendations to be presented to the Nordic Council of Ministers at the end of the year.

Audience members will be able to submit questions to the panel, and the session shall be recorded and available to watch at a later time.

Panellists

• Björn Karlsson – Iceland
  
  • Senior Advisor on Construction, Icelandic Ministry of Social Affairs
• Ingvild Vatn – Norway
  • Partner, LPO Arkitekter, Svalbard
• Janne Pihlajaniemi – Finland
  • Head of the Oulu School of Architecture, University of Oulu
• Daniela Grotenfelt – Sweden
  • Head of Sustainability, Arkitema Architects
• Mantas Dovidavicius and Tommy Persson – Sweden
  • Business Development and R&D Managers, Masonite Beams

Chaired by:

• Mads Randbøll Wolff – Denmark
  • Chair of the Board, Nordic Wood in Construction Secretariat

Agenda

11am - Introductions and snapshot of policy developments from around the Nordics 

11.05am - Presentations from the panel

• Life cycle perspectives and the importance of material choice - Daniela Grotenfelt
• How is wood as a construction material used and perceived in the North - Janne Pihlajaniemi
• Icelandic materials and Nordic policy harmonisation challenges - Björn Karlsson
• Circularity and local solutions on Svalbard - Ingvild Vatn
• Industry view on building out a wood construction supply chain in Northern Sweden - Mantas Dovidavicius and Tommy Persson

11.45am - Topic one

• How can wood solve current issues within the construction industry in the Nordic Arctic, helping to shift to a low-carbon and circular economy?
  • How does wood perform in cold-climate conditions, both in perception and in practice, and what special considerations should be given?
• Q&A and formulating next steps

12.05pm - Topic two

• As cities and towns in the Nordic Arctic grow, where are the major obstacles to greater use of wood as a construction material?
  • What are the steps needed to overcome these obstacles?
  • Where are the knowledge gaps, and how can we work collaboratively to close those gaps?
• Q&A and formulating next steps

12.25pm - Reflections on the discussion and formulation of recommendations to take forward.

12.30pm - Discussion ends.

n.b. all times are in CEST (Denmark/Sweden/Norway)

Join the discussion

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