Projects
Current Projects
Completed projects can be found here.
Innovative management and multifunctional utilization of traditional coppice forests – an answer to future ecological, economic and social challenges in the European forestry sector
(EuroCoppice)
Coppicing is a very traditional way of forest management. In most cases situated close to settlements this silvicultural regime provided among others firewood, fruits and grazing and by this supported the livelihood of the rural population. With increase in use of non-renewable raw materials, coppice lost importance and was neglected or converted. Only recently coppice has been re-discovered because of its adaptive ecology, its stability and multiple benefits, notably its protection function, contribution to biodiversity and as a source of renewable bioenergy. The COST Action aims to bring together European scientists, experts and young scholars to exchange knowledge about coppice for future modern multifunctional coppice management systems.
Project Duration: Oct 2013 - Oct 2017
Funding: COST´s budget is from the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union. COST provides financial support for cooperation efforts of scientific groups across Europe called “Actions”. The support covers costs of networking activities such as meetings, conferences, workshops, short-term scientific exchanges, training schools, publications and dissemination activities (COST does not fund the research itself).
Contact person: Dr. Janine Schweier
Website: www.eurocoppice.uni-freiburg.de
Scientific management: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Gero Becker
Completed Projects
Current projects can be found here.
OpAl: Optimised decision of allocation as a contribution to the security of supply in value chains - a study in integrated and non-integrated value chains of biomass use for material or energetic purposes
This project aims to study the cause-and-effect-relationships in value chains in the forestry-, wood- and energy-sector, in order to get to know the relevance of different parameters for decisions and the behaviour of the actors within the value chain.
Project duration: Aug 2011 - Dec 2013
Funding: Clusterinitiative Forst und Holz Baden-Württemberg, Ministerium für Ländlichen Raum und Verbraucherschutz Baden-Württemberg
Contact person: Martin Brunsmeier
Website:
Scientific management: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Gero Becker
ValWood: Innovative sustainable Land Use in China
The project „ValWood“ is a German-Sino cooperative project and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Science. The aim of the project is the development of an innovative and sustainable land use concept for the improvement of environmental conditions with a combined production of valuable wood, bamboo and wooden biomass for energetic utilization in China. ... read more
Project duration: Jan 2008 - Dec 2011
Funding: Ministry of Science and Education (BMBF)
Contact person: Benjamin Engler
Website: www.valwood.uni-freiburg.de
Scientific management: Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Gero Becker
Pro-Biopa: Sustainable Production of Biomass with short rotation plantations of Poplar on marginal sites
The project aims to optimize biomass production with short rotation coppice of poplar on marginal sites with limited water and nutrient availability and to implement a comprehensive and integrative evaluation of this form of biomass production with respect to ecologic and economic aspects. ... read more
Project duration: Jan 2009 - Dec 2013
Funding: Ministry of Science and Education (BMBF)
Contact person: Janine Schweier, geb. Fischbach
Website: http://probiopa.imk-ifu.kit.edu
Scientific management: Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Gero Becker
What makes wood so attractive? Transforming customers’ emotions into material characteristics
At high popularity and a corresponding demand for wood floors, expanded opportunities for value creation are obtained for forestry and wood processing industry, if the customers` preferences can be satisfied. However, it is still unclear which objective and measurable properties and features of a wood surface lead to a positive assessment by the consumer. Furthermore, it is unclear how objective and determinable characteristics of the final product can be linked to the natural properties and characteristics of tree logs. This is where the research project
"What makes Wood so attractive? Transforming customer’s requirements into technical material parameters”
is applied. Using the example of wooden flooring, the question for customers` preferences will be covered by a market-psychological study. Using modern methods of image analysis, the critical characteristics of favoured composition is identified and measurable facts are considered as variables for statistical analysis.
Project duration: Jan. 2011 – Dez. 2013
Contact: Andreas Manuel.
Email: andreas.manuel@fobawi.uni-freiburg.de
Scientific management: Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Gero Becker
Project partners:
FVA Forest Research Institute Baden-Württemberg, Dept. Forest Utilization
University of Freiburg, Institute of Psychology, Dep. Social Psychology and Methodology
SP Trä, Skellefteå, Sweden
FlexWood: Flexible Wood Supply Chain for forest based sector benefits
The project builds a novel, logistic system, which integrates:
- advanced quality and quantity information on wood resources, measured in the forest with novel technologies,
- optimisation models for tactical and operational planning (bucking, harvesting, allocation of wood),
- models and enhanced processes for novel and more flexible concepts for mill production,
- improved information transfer between all stages of the wood supply chain to create new knowledge for decision-making.
Project duration: Nov. 2009 - Okt. 2012
Funding: European Commission, FP 7
Contact person: Martin Opferkuch
Website: http://www.flexwood-eu.org