Germany’s districts Heidenheim, Ostalbkreis and Schwäbisch-Hall traditionally have strong forestry, woodworking and wood processing sectors. For European standards, these districts have a particularly high density of sawmills. The regional cluster study “Holzkompetenz" (wood competence) developed practice-related groundwork to optimize the competitiveness of these sectors. Thematic focal points included the availability of raw wood (especially in small private forests), wood logistics, as well as innovation and research. Together with regional stakeholders, UNIQUE developed a set of recommendations for various thematic areas.

• Availability of raw wood potentials.
• Technical requirements for optimized regional wood logistics up to the first processing stage.
• A system of incentives in order to motivate owners of small private forest areas.
• Possibilities for the diversification of the service spectrum of sawmills.
• Analysis of new markets and innovations for hardwoods.
• Assessment of opportunities and risks for the aforementioned aspects.