The LIFE Wood for the Future project has participated today in the round table “Trees, water and wood: A triangle for sustainability” within the Sustainability Fair 2023 held in Granada between 30 and 31 March. The fair was organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Granada with the sponsorship of the Junta de Andalucía and the collaboration of various entities such as the Diputación de Granada, the University of Granada and the La Huella Verde movement.

At the table, moderated by María Jesús García Trejo, President of the Sustainability Commission of the Granada Chamber of Commerce, participated Antolino Gallego, Coordinator of the LIFE project “Wood For Future”, Pablo Jáimez Cúellar, President of “Forests for the Future”, Luis Llopis, Technical Director of Bonsai Arquitectos and Álvaro Pérez, President of the Sustainable Construction Cluster of Andalusia.

During the round table, different challenges of Granada related to the use of trees and water in the Vega de Granada have been addressed for a sustainable development that combines economic, social and environmental aspects, with wood as a key material for sustainable construction in the future decades. The province of Granada, with its poplar and pine forests, now has a great opportunity for the sustainable development of its regions and the achievement of the Green Capital brand for the city of Granada itself.

The conference highlighted the lamentable state of all the rivers of the Vega de Granada, and the need to restore them as greenways to improve the environment and to practice sports and walks, for the sake of social sustainability based on physical and psychological health. The Genil River as it passes through Granada as a concrete channel, is the maximum exponent of what a river should not be to fulfill its ecological functions. Wood, a biophilic material, a good thermal insulator and carbon sink, is ideal for the construction of the future. Wood is clearly on the rise, as the Rebuild 2023 trade fair in Madrid showed, as almost the only material to guarantee a real improvement in the life cycle of buildings. Its marriage with concrete in mixed solutions was put on the table as a mechanism to put wood in many Andalusian homes.