Wood in Cultural Heritage
21-22 March, 2023
The 2023 World Wood Day Online Symposium and The Fifth IUFRO Forest Products Culture Colloquium was held on Zoom for the third time. Approximately 536 participants and audiences from 32 countries and regions attended on Zoom, YouTube and bilibili (Mainland China) from March 21-22. 44 presentations including 3 keynote speeches, which were moderated by 7 session chairs, have well explored the theme Wood in Culture Heritage in ten topics covering a wide range of research fields related to wood and non-wood forest products, including historical utilization/trade and cultural values, challenges and opportunities, wood durability and protection needs for constructions and buildings, musical instruments and furniture, craftsmanship and woodcrafts, education on forest products culture, wood archaeology and wood anatomy, wood products and biotechnology. The discussion and interaction were carried out both orally and in written text at the online platforms.
Understanding wood as cultural heritage requires wood science and technology research into the material properties of these wood species (including non-wood counterparts), usually concerning their anatomical, physical and chemical characteristics in comparison with sound counterpart materials. Research also focuses on best material conservation/protection practices to enhance their service life (biological durability, abiotic durability). Furthermore, exploring the relationship between wood cultural heritage and the humanities, social sciences and associated behavioral sciences is crucial to strengthen our appreciation on sustaining interest in conservation of wood and non-wood artefacts. Our history of forest resource exploitation and trade, and rectification of damages to improve resources for the future needs to be considered. Such interdisciplinary studies would also include protecting/reviving/conserving relevant traditional woodworking/non-wood processing skills, securing wood and non-wood resource sustainability (ie. sustainable forests) for material production, and educational requirements for wood cultural knowledge. Overall as forests and long-lived forest products recognizably play crucial roles in climate change mitigation by carbon sequestration benefits, reinforcing wood and non-wood forest-based materials for cultural heritage uses will support the need for increased global forest cover with increased use of sustainable wood products as opposed to greenhouse gas-based materials.
This symposium is co-organized by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA), International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS), International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) Division 5 (Forest Products) including IUFRO Research Unit 5.15.00 (Forest Products Culture), IUFRO Research Unit 9.03.02 (Forest Culture) of Division 9 (Forest Policy and Economics) as well as Estonian State Forest Management Centre (RMK), and with the support of International Research Group on Wood Protection (IRGWP), Japan Wood Research Society (JWRS) and International Society of Wood Science and Technology (SWST).
Please download schedule here: CET / CST / PDT / UTC / EDT / IST / CDT / EET / JST / NZDT
World Wood Day is a cultural event celebrated annually during the week of March 21st to highlight wood as an eco-friendly and renewable biomaterial and to raise awareness on the key role wood plays in a sustainable world. Starting from 2013, WWD celebrations were held in Tanzania, China, Turkey, Nepal, and United States respectively, involving participants from over 100 countries and regions.