The project promotes sustainable construction with wood from Navarre
Researchers at the School of Architecture a project prevent forest fires and develop construction products made from local wood from the Basque Country and Catalonia.
11 | 03 | 2026
The project (21st Century Forests: Empowered, Innovative, and Entrepreneurial) held a workshop presentation results in Berga (Barcelona). The event brought together individuals and administrations from the forestry and construction sectors, marking a milestone in the transfer of knowledge multifunctional management and resource valorization.
This research a rural model that combines active management with technological innovation. In this strategic consortium, the University of Navarra has played a key role in validating new materials for Building.
The forest value chain
The work researchers at the University of Navarra has helped to validate the structural potential of local species such as beech in the manufacture of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. After months of work testing, preliminary results confirm that engineered wood from Scots pine and beech trees in Navarre, the Basque Country, and Catalonia "is a real and competitive alternative for the construction of the future," explains José Manuel Cabrero, director the Chair HonestaChair and professor at the School of Architecture at the University of Navarra.
The results show that the strategic use of beech acts as reinforcement in the layers of the panels, with a residency program to laminated wood panels imported from Central Europe.
work has helped validate the structural potential of local species such as beech in the manufacture of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels.
Fire prevention
This initiative also has an impact on the prevention of summer forest fires, a natural disaster that can be controlled through proper forest maintenance during the winter. In this way, wood generates benefits and economic value within our forests, "which makes it possible to finance maintenance activities," explains Cabrero.
The completion of the first phase of project "consolidates a line of research enormous potential for development and sustainable construction," says Rayder William Leonardo, researcher project.
Collaborations
PRISMA has the support of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and challenge (MITECO) within the framework Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan (PRTR), funded by the European Union — Next Generation EU. The Mancomunitat de Municipis Berguedans per a la Biomassa, together with the CTFC and the actors involved, reaffirmed its commitment to innovative and sustainable management that contributes to development , population retention, and climate change mitigation.
