ASBP team members, Simon Corbey, Debbie Ward and Asselia Katenbayeva are attending the annual Woodknowledge Wales Conference, WoodBUILD, on 3rd & 4th June 2025.
This year’s 2-day event takes place in Llandudno, and we look forward to stimulating talks, workshops, discussion groups, and informative plenary sessions. During the breaks, delegates will have the opportunity to talk to the exhibitors, including ASBP members: PEFC UK Ltd, PYC Group, The Hemp Block Company, Unity Lime Products.
Day 1: CONNECTING KNOWLEDGE TO ACTION
Plenary 1: Principles for Responsible Timber Construction.
How the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction set a clear, ambitious, and achievable framework to build trust, align policies, and drive investment in sustainable timber construction for the future of forests and cities. They are guiding our transformation as an industry along the value chain from natural to built environment.
- The age of transformation. A presentation from Gary Newman, CEO
- Principles for Responsible Timber Construction: what it means in practice.
Join Paul King, Anna Lisa McSweeney, and the Woodknowledge Wales team for a conversation exploring the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction. Together, we’ll unpack why these principles are needed, what they mean in practical terms for businesses on the ground, and how they apply across the timber value chain.
Plenary 2: Connecting knowledge to action
After a full day of workshops, this closing session draws on the collective insights and experiences of the conference community. The session will explore how the ideas and actions developed throughout the day align with the principles of responsible timber construction. We’ll identify emerging opportunities for our stakeholder community to increase its impact—and consider the next steps to get us there. This session sets the direction for future activities that turn knowledge into action.
Breakout Session (Tuesday 11:00) – Taking Embodied Carbon into Account
Simon Corbey joins Dr Diana Waldron, Clara Koehler, Toby Maclean, , Tabitha Binding, and Jonathan Davies for a session on embodied carbon. The session introduces the new Early Stage Embodied Carbon Tool (ESECT), developed through the Home-Grown Homes Project in partnership with ASBP and the Good Homes Alliance. The tool offers designers, housing associations and local authorities a practical way to evaluate material choices and building systems before planning permission, when most of a building’s carbon fate is sealed.
Day 2: SCALING UP AMBITION TO EMBRACE TRANSFORMATION
Plenary 3: People and skills for a high-value forest nation
The Timber Industrial Strategy lays the foundation for the sector to thrive but skills and recruitment present the single biggest issue across the entire value chain. Forecasts indicate this situation is likely to worsen. This session is looking more closely into the underlying questions of how to engage current and future generations and the requirements for transforming forestry and construction industries to remain vital and viable in order to contribute to the decarbonisation of our society.
- Ministerial video address: Jayne Bryant MS, Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
- What we expect of the future. Short video by young people currently exploring career options: what are they interested in and why, how do they see their future, what are their hopes
- Turbulent times: Managing skills needs and sector transformation. Join policy makers, education providers, and industry leaders for a panel debate tackling the big questions around skills, education, and the future of our forest nation.
Plenary 4: Transforming ambition into action
After a day of lively debate, thought-provoking presentations, and inspiring examples, delegates will come together to reflect on what they’ve heard—and to make sense of what it means for the future of our businesses, organisations, and wider stakeholder community.
Topics:
- What new insights or challenges have emerged that require action?
- What are we ready to embrace, and how will we take it forward?
- What do we want to have achieved by the time we meet again in summer 2026?
- And what blind spots do we need to recognise and address moving ahead?
To guide this collective reflection and offer an external perspective, Woodknowledge Wales has invited Professor Calvin Jones to serve as our Great Witness—a voice from outside the wood value chain, holding up a mirror to our community as we shape what comes next.
Breakout Session (Wednesday 11:00) – Reframing the value of our forests
Asselia Katenbayeva is presenting at this session that explores emerging tools and frameworks for integrating ecosystem services and biodiversity into sustainability assessments. This session explores how ecosystem services and biodiversity can be embedded into sustainability assessments beyond conservation areas—focusing on productive forestry and timber value chains to highlight the benefits of using wood.
Visit the WoodBUILD 2025 website to see the full PROGRAMME details and BOOKING Information