Last week we were honored to host the most important Chinese news channel on economy issues. As a part of a documentation about Chinese-German bilateral business initiatives our colleague Mr. Wen was asked to provide information on bamboo issues in Hamburg.
We accompanied the Chinese reporters on their visits to GoBamboo, a Hamburg based company dealing with bamboo and its products. Furthermore we opened the doors of Thünen Institute and Center for Wood Science at University Hamburg. Last but not least, Prof. Dr. mult. em. Walter Liese showed us some of his bamboo plants (Sasa spp., Phyllostachys ssp.) at his green home. If you want to see the whole broadcast, you may follow the link below and forward to minute 5:45.
http://tv.cntv.cn/video/C10330/0d8c6bf0c3854e5c81b42c081cc4e02b

One of our bilateral Brazilian-German academix exchange projects, namely Studienpraktikum "Deutschland Nord-Süd" was initiated with big success on 12th May 2015. In the name of all participants and the organization team we would like to express our thanks to all supporters. Especially the generous DAAD funds, the financial support from Hannover Messe, as well as the invaluable commitment of representatives and friends at University Hamburg, HNE Eberswalde, TU Dresden, ALU Freiburg, Bund Deutscher Holzwirte e.V., Ozon, Hainich Nationalpark, Pollmeier, BaySF, Mehling & Wiessmann, BT innovation, Abo Wind, Steinway & Sons, Freia e.V. A special thanks goes out to all the hosts and friends who enabled us to have pleasant stays within the German community.
Most of our Brazilian guest students returned to Brazil already. During the last weeks we offered incentives for the foreign students to contribute to our bilateral forestry and wood science discussion. Our Brazilian guests assured me to have made an enormous progress in their professional vision. Many of them did emphasize their intent to study and work in Germany in the near future.
In the next weeks a report will be worked out in which our team will point out the help of Hannover Messe as well as DAAD - a necessary support to achieve our project objectives. Thanks again.

The project pages are linked here.

The 2nd Symposium about wood construction happened in August, 2014 in Curitiba, Brazil.
Not only wood research associations and companies who work with this raw material in ‘clean constructions’ way, but also researchers, professors, professionals and students from Architecture, Wood and Forest Engineer were there to discuss the necessary change of this actual Brazilian scenery about  wood constructions.

Why is so difficult to build a wood’s house in Brazil? The actually politics in the country don’t contributed for the development on the wood construction sector. Banks don’t finances this tippy of construction, because of the old legend that wood is flammable or just don’t have the characteristics of a durable material. The architects complain that they don’t know where to find uniform structural components of wood in the market. The preoccupation with certification (FSC) is knew but the lumber dealer doesn’t establish regular sizes because sometimes don’t even know exactly what the market want.

A forest student said: “We just care about how fast our eucalyptus and pinus grow. Brazil has about 1,4% (ABIMCI) from the hole extension with reforesting. That is a shame for a huge country like us, we need to argue with our politics to ask for incentives that really will bring good wood materials, not only energy and paper but also raw material for constructions.“ In Brazil, people usually see that houses made of wood are just for poor people and also think that just masonry houses could resist forever, even they now that is not true.

This cultural barrier had changed, and in south of Brazil the firsts real estate venture made by “clean construction” that uses wood, were financed. Techniques as “Wood Frame” as the Brazilian Tec Verde build, and “Glued Laminated Timber” are not yet extended used, not just about the price, but also for missing information.

The discussion incentive professionals from this sector to know each order, as well as to provide a network between university, companies and community.