On Friday, 17 June 2022, InnoRenew CoE and the University of Primorska officially opened the exhibition Charm of Wood 2022 at the new InnoRenew CoE building in Izola. This is the sixth consecutive year they are hosting the event, which promotes and fosters the use of wood and wood products and raises awareness about this natural material’s sustainability.

“I am very happy we are officially opening the exhibition Charm of wood here in the new InnoRenew CoE building which was designed by institute researcher,” Dr. Andreja Kutnar, InnoRenew CoE director, said.

“We transferred Prof. Pohleven’s ambitions across the borders of Slovenia as just last week I was at the conference in Vatican where together with the European commissioner we were discussing how to achieve the ambitious goals in Europe.”

Dejan Židan, State Secretary from the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, added: “For many years we have been talking about green, about re-industrialisation and the fight for raw materials. One of the few raw materials we have in Slovenia is wood, and it is therefore important that wood and the timber industry receive our special attention.”

Dr. Franc Pohleven, Charm of Wood founder, thanked all the organisers and exhibitors and all those who are working to make Slovenians love wood. He also highlighted the problems with raw materials: “We are not only facing climate change and environmental problems, but also disrupted supplies of energy and raw materials. Raw materials are the driving force of industry, and for Slovenia, which is rich in timber, it should be the first priority.”

Participants were greeted also by Danilo Anton Ranc, Director-General of the Wood Industry Directorate, Rok Capl, Acting Director of SPIRIT Slovenia, and Branko Mah, president of Obrtno-podjetniška zbornica.

Until the end of June 2022, visitors to the Charm of Wood exhibition can admire a wide range of products, from wooden chairs, tables, lights, sunglasses and other interesting wooden products. The exhibitors are companies and individuals who process wood with good quality into innovative wooden products.

The Charm of Wood exhibition is organized for the 14th consecutive year, by the Association for the Protection of Wood of Slovenia; Ministry of Economic Development and Technology; SPIRIT Slovenia – Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia; University of Ljubljana Biotechnical Faculty; InnoRenew CoE; Consortium of wood science for north primorska region, in collaboration with Cankarjev dom and Arboretumom Volčji potok.