Within the project “Developing regional forest and wood value chains,” Miriam Hug and Heike Mayer of the University of Bern, together with Irmi Seidl of WSL, published a paper comparing the timber sectors of Vorarlberg and the Canton of Bern through the lens of challenge-oriented regional innovation systems, or CORIS. The study was financed by the University of Bern and by Hub Bern of the Wyss Academy for Nature.

The paper examines how regional innovation systems respond to sustainability challenges in the timber sector. It compares Vorarlberg, where timber construction has played a visible role in regional transformation for decades, with the Canton of Bern, which the paper describes as being at an earlier stage in this process.

The comparison shows that strengthening forest and wood value chains depends not only on technology, but also on coordinated action across actors, networks, and institutions. The authors highlight the role of locally rooted change agents with extra-regional connections, strong collaboration across the value chain, and policy and institutional settings that support long-term change.

For the Canton of Bern, the publication offers grounded insights into how regional value creation and timber construction can be advanced in ways that are place-based and responsive to wider sustainability challenges.