ROSEWOOD4.0 Study Visit in Eastern Alps (Italy)

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From 8 to 10 September 2021, a face-to-face Study Visit was organised in the Eastern Alps area of Italy for members of the ROSEWOOD4.0 consortium. Coordinated by the partner AIEL (Associazione Italiana Energie Agroforestali), the study visit had as main objective to highlight different approaches to address the weaknesses identified for the South-West Europe region in the forestry field, specifically talking about the fragmentation of forests, the structural lack of sawmills and the lack of forestry roads paired with digital solutions and innovations in the sector.

Based on the SWOT analysis carried out firstly at the Italian level and then on the SWOT analysis of the ROSEWOOD4.0 hub in South-West Europe (included in the project roadmaps), a number of weaknesses have been identified and recognised. In Italy, the Eastern Alps represent one of the areas with the greatest timber and forestry vocation. Innovations and best practices are most likely to be found here. This field visit aims to showcase the best available, which could be replicable in other areas of Southern Europe. These are detailed below:

  • GoldenEye. Microtec High-end X-ray technology applied to optimise resource efficiency and added value in sawmills. The Goldeneye 300 multi-sensor quality scanner reliably recognises defects in the wood, sorts according to strength classes and grades the wood accurately.
  • LogisticiPlus – Trentino Rinnovabili. Use of sensors for logistic efficiency and environmental impact reduction in the biomass sector. The activity aims to give strong support to the companies involved in the project in obtaining a certification able to guarantee the traceability and environmental and qualitative sustainability of the biofuels produced through tools to support the management of the logistics of obtaining the raw material to produce wood chips, the handling and treatment of the finished product.
  • The Consorzio Forestale Due Parchi (Due Parchi Forestry Consortium): This is a cutting-edge forestry consortium, half private and half public, which owns and manages public mountain areas with highly qualified workers. Its main objective is the management of rural areas and their need for natural engineering activities to prevent erosion, to increase access to forests and remote areas and to create reactive areas for families. In addition, the forest consortium has a small sawmill that serves three different purposes: the commercial sawmill that obtains the wood from the consortium’s management activities; the internal sawmill that processes all the wood that is needed in the natural engineering activities; and finally, the sawmill offers a service for small local forest owners where they can bring their own wood and get it cut into whatever type of wood they need.

Additional pictures of the event

 

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