On 22–23 September, the first local TIMBERHAUS Summit, “The Past, Present and Future of Wood in Baia Mare”, took place in Baia Mare, organised by Baia Mare Municipality in collaboration with URBASOFIA, Climate-KIC, and ETH Zurich, within the framework of the TIMBERHAUS project.
The summit brought together representatives from the TIMBERHAUS project partnership (Baia Mare Municipality, Danish Technological Institute, Waugh Thistleton Architects), alongside local and regional stakeholders including the Maramureș County Council, RUSTIC SRL, Uplifted SRL, Rotho Blaas Company, and the Museum of Ethnography, together with representatives from the public sector, private companies, and cultural institutions. The two days included presentations, site visits, interactive sessions, and strategy games.
The interactive sessions highlighted both barriers and strong local assets shaping the development of timber construction in Baia Mare:
• Opportunities: healthy and diverse forest resources, a strong tradition of craftsmanship, existing sawmills and local wood-based businesses, growing interest in modern design and construction methods, favourable geographical positioning, and available construction capacity.
• Challenges: weak and fragmented forest management, fragmented ownership structures, shortages of skilled workforce, regulatory frameworks lagging behind technological developments, limited public awareness and trust in timber construction, and the lack of a coherent education and training system focused on wood-based construction.
The discussions emphasized the need to strengthen governance and coordination across the wood value chain, invest in education and skills development, update regulatory frameworks, and enhance communication and awareness-raising to support the broader uptake of sustainable wood construction. Participants also highlighted the importance of better connecting local resources, craftsmanship, and industrial capacity with contemporary architectural approaches and climate-oriented objectives.
All of this was made possible thanks to Baia Mare Municipality, whoch took care of the excellent organisation and hosting of the summit, as well as to all local and regional institutions, professionals, and stakeholders who actively contributed to the discussions and activities over the two days.
