Partners ZSI and TMG, leader of the Engage4BIO Austrian Hub on Timber, Construction, and Interior, have completed their series of co-creation workshops in November 2023.
The main goal of the Hub and of the events is to increase the efficiency of local resources in the bio-based construction and interior sector.
Through the workshops, stakeholders were called to reflect upon the creation of new material loops by rethinking value chains, to foster new high-quality services, products, and business models.
The co-creation opportunities were planned to reach Engage4BIO’s aims of building and fostering local bioeconomies by developing innovative governance models and increasing citizen engagement, through awareness raising and education on sustainable production, consumption and lifestyles.
VISION BUILDING WORKSHOP
The Austrian vision building workshop took place on the 4th of April, 2023, and aimed at finding and defining a common and clear vision for strengthening regional bioeconomic value chains in the field of timber construction and interior. Moreover, a collection of ideas on how to carry out this vision was gathered from participants.
The vision building and the steps towards the vision were focused on the three agreed upon fields: educational opportunities, awareness raising campaigns including art, and innovative governance. In parallel groups, participants worked in depth on one of the three fields, and in plenary, they exchanged, validated and improved the collected ideas.
TRAINING AND MENTORING WORKSHOP
The second co-creation workshop on Training and Mentoring took place on September 21st, 2023, and was focused on creating training and mentoring formats that could be implemented in the Austrian Engage4BIO hub, in partnership with various renowned adult training providers.
The day-long workshop brought together participants from diverse adult training providers, representatives from national universities, key players from the wood-based bioeconomy value chain, and representatives from local government.
The educational institutions played a vital role in shaping the formats due to their experience in identifying target groups, as well as in developing and implementing training programs. Regional development actors complemented this effort by providing valuable information about available resources, other training formats within the region, and regional strategies. Stakeholders within the quadruple helix proved to be of utmost importance, as they provided insights into potential target groups along the value chain and highlighted specific training.
KNOWLEDGE GAIN WORKSHOP
The third co-creation workshop was held on November 9, 2023, and it was focused on knowledge engagement and outreach, with the participation of creatives and designers, science communicators, event managers, representatives from the fields of science and education, entrepreneurs, sustainability experts, interested individuals, innovation managers, representatives from the wood and forestry sector, NGOs.
The participants’ expertise in formats and hands-on implementation experience proved crucial. The complexities of the bioeconomy emerged during discussions, yet the presence of experts at the workshop facilitated thorough explanations, addressing all challenges that emerged.
INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE
Finally, the last co-creation workshop on Innovative Governance models was organized on November 11, 2023.
Participants were encouraged to focus and reflect on sectoral challenges in Austria and reasons for their existence, to get a common understanding of problems to be able to develop activities that could contribute to solutions.
Ideas and activities were collected on how to overcome these issues within the projects’ scope and objectives.
