Södra: SEK 8.7 million for research

SWEDEN (News release) -- The Södra Foundation for Research, Development and Education has decided to grant an additional SEK 8.7 million to 11 research projects linked to forest management and forest industry. The biggest investment in this year's second round of funding will focus on potential applications for cross-laminated timber (CLT).

"Continued investment and a focus on research are key to moving forward on the path towards a bioeconomy. With these grants, we have now distributed funding to a total of 200 projects since the Foundation was started in 1995 and enabled many important advances in forest management and the forest industry. It's a milestone we are proud of and looking forward to building on," said Göran Örlander, Chairman of the Södra Foundation for Research, Development and Education.

High-performance cross-laminated timber
The largest project to receive a grant in this round of funding is 'Potential applications for high-performance cross-laminated timber - Innovation for increased competitiveness.' It will be carried out at Lund University over a four-year period with the aim of developing models to enable more efficient use of forest products in high-performance structural timber elements.

"The use of cross-laminated timber is increasing and there is great potential for development in this area. More efficient use of materials and better performance could increase the value of forest products and thus their competitiveness in the construction area. It is important that long-term knowledge-building initiatives in the field of timber construction can continue so that their full potential can be unlocked in sustainable industrial construction," said Catrin Gustavsson, President of Innovation and New Business at Södra.

Forest management in a changing climate
Four projects related to forest management were granted funding, including one project focused on adaptation of forest management to address climate change. The project will study the best way for individual forest owners to implement climate-change adaptation in practice.

"It is important that we develop knowledge about how forest owners can adapt their management and reduce the risk of, for example, drought and insect damage as the climate changes. Since forests in southern Sweden are mainly owned by individual forest owners, this project is very relevant," said Göran Örlander.

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