Ralf Köhler is the new manager of the Wood Cluster. (Photo: Luxinnovation)

Ralf Köhler is the new manager of the Wood Cluster. (Photo: Luxinnovation)

Engineer Ralf Köhler takes over the management of Luxinnovation's Luxembourg Wood Cluster from Philippe Genot.

Since 15 February, Ralf Köhler is the new manager of the Luxembourg Wood Cluster at Luxinnovation, an exchange platform dedicated to all actors of the wood sector in Luxembourg. He succeeds Philippe Genot, who was cluster manager from its creation in 2016 until his departure last September. Ralf Köhler will gradually take over his responsibilities, until he becomes a full-time manager on 1 May 2022.

The 43-year-old German citizen holds a degree in forestry and resource management from the Fachhochschule Weihenstephan in Freising and a master of science in energy management and renewable energy from the University of Koblenz-Landau. He started working in Luxembourg in 2017, first as a technical operations manager in a medium-sized recycling company, and in 2019 became managing partner of eco:novis Ingénieurs-Conseils in Beckerich, specialising in engineering services and consulting in the energy and environment sector.

What are the priority issues you are inheriting and working on to start your mandate?

Ralf Köhler: First of all, the revision of the wood mapping, the update of the wood industry directory. Due to the strong dynamics in the wood sector, the sector mapping of stakeholders within the value chain has to be adjusted regularly. The wood mapping therefore forms the basis for the cooperation activities of the cluster manager.

In addition, the focus is also on the development of eHolzhaff. It is planned to launch a portal for online trade and transactions in the forestry and forest-based industries. The further development of an interactive planning, communication and trading tool is intended to optimise the value creation effects in the timber sector. In addition, eHolzhaff is to be actively used as a cooperation platform for companies. This requires a comprehensive needs analysis and the search for cross-financing opportunities. The eHolzhaff is therefore a unique feature for both the Luxembourg and the European market.

What are your own priorities?

I see my priorities in cross-sectoral cooperation with companies and the wood industry. Direct interaction with companies is essential to ensure a solid basis for the Wood Cluster. Thematic workshops will be organised to strengthen the sector’s confidence and competitive opportunities. In this respect, innovative and unique initiatives for Luxembourg are highlighted, such as wood construction with combined materials, aspects of the circular economy and energy and climate friendly construction with natural wood raw materials.

My specialisation is wood construction combined with energy efficient building technology and the integration of renewable energy systems in sustainable construction. Building on national CO2 sequestration strategies in the sense of a cascading use of wood.

In the future, I want to draw more attention to a circular economy in the wood sector. How can waste be recycled in a sensible and cost-effective way, to reduce the use of raw forest timber and create secondary economic circuits. New product lines are to be established in the context of innovation as a service to business.

Climate protection in business also plays a special role in establishing systemic partnerships between forestry, manufacturing and industry. The idea is to establish an alternative financing model to strengthen the competitiveness of the forestry and wood sector, which will be developed over the next few years.

Another area of activity is the support of applied research in the field of economics and planning. In this respect, the development of indicators or certification systems for forestry and timber operations plays an important role, especially with regard to the non-monetary performance of forests (air pollution, water capture, CO2 storage) in future management programmes and national cross-sectoral forest management projects in order to benefit from the competitiveness of the whole forest-based sector.

In Luxembourg, wood is currently experiencing both a boom in construction and supply difficulties. How do you see the situation?

The situation is made worse by the limited availability of raw material resources and the increasingly uneven increase in demand for wood in the construction sector. In view of the forest policy objective of increasing the forest’s wood supply in the light of climate change, the supply situation for high-quality raw wood from forest production is increasingly limited, which puts a strain on processing and downstream industries.

One approach to alleviating and adapting wood supply and demand could be to further integrate alternative and existing wood waste into the value chain.

Luxembourg companies are already very innovative and pioneering in this area and need to be supported. In addition, the direct energy costs and expenses of the entire wood production chain also play an essential role in the competitiveness of companies. To this end, we must rely more on circular cycles and the integration of renewable energies.

This interview was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.