The French organization Bouygues Bâtiment Sud-Est initiated the creation of an association unique in Europe, whose objective is to support the project to create the first European Campus for wood, forestry and architecture professions in the heart of the French Alps.

The research institute InnoRenew CoE is among 26 international organizations from France, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria and United Kingdom, in this common effort to support the transition of the forestry and wood-building sectors by developing the skills that will accompany the strategic thinking of companies and managers in the future.

Dr. Andreja Kutnar, InnoRenew CoE director is also the Campus’s Vice President for Scientific Relations: “I am convinced that collaboration of industry, academia, and society will lead our sector to become innovation driver in the region and beyond.”

The Campus is expected to start operating in 2026 as a private higher education institution to address the needs of the market and in coherence with public policies on a European scale. Specifically, it will work to reduce the potential imbalance between the number of trained engineers/senior technicians and recruitment needs, and the difficulty for professionals to recruit multi-skilled profiles at an engineer/senior technician level. Further it will strive to encourage more young people and females to join the sector and will highlight the need of Europeanisation of higher education and research sphere, for economic integration and social inclusion in Europe.

 A multidisciplinary and international team of teacher and researchers will be mobilised to carry out the teaching and research work. This centre of expertise and innovation will be organised around five courses and four career paths. Entrepreneurship will be at the heart of the teaching and research modules, through the presence of managers, craftsmen and industrialists in the governance of the establishment, as well as through the continuous presence of professionals on site.

Through its action this Campus aims to accompany the necessary increase in skills in the forestry sector, diversify and boost the industrial and territorial economy, create an enriching collaboration with the countries of the Alpine arc in order to participate in the development of the Alpine-Mediterranean forestry-wood sector.

In case you are a company, an individual, a community, an academic or scientific organisation, an association or federation, and you wish to get involved in the creation of this Campus or obtain more information please contact hebf.campus@gmail.com or coe@innorenew.eu.