The 76th session of the ECE Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry (COFFI) was held in Vancouver, Canada from 5 to 9 November 2018.
The Committee reviewed and guided activities in data collection and analysis, policy support, capacity building and communication. Under the title 'Building the Future with Forests', the meeting focused on the transition towards a more sustainable society and a circular economy, based on the provision of forest products from sustainably managed forests.
In order to find tangible solution to these issues, the 'Building the Future with Forests' meeting brought experts, policy makers, business leaders as well as national delegates together through a variety of panel discussions concentrating primarily on the challenges and opportunities for timber and forest products markets, as well as the forests and the circular economy.
***The meeting also approved the Vancouver Invitation on Sustainable Forest Products for a Better Future, which individuals, companies and organizations can support. Find out more about it here.***
Speakers
| Dr. M. Hosny El-Lakany | Dr. Alessandro Leonardi | Mr. Stefan Zöllig |
| Adjunct Professor, Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Colombia | Managing Director and co-founder of ETIFOR Valuing Nature. | Founder and CEO of Timbatec |
 |
 |
 |
| Ms. Helen Goodland | Dr. Guido Wimmers | Mr. Craig Mitchell |
| Managing Principal at Brantwood Consulting | Associate Professor in Integrated Wood Design, University of Northern British Columbia | Director of Innovative Solutions at Metric Modular |
 |
 |
|
| Mr. Lars Sanberg | Ms. Susan Jones | Ms. Kathy Abusow |
| Project Manager in Innovation Strategy at BillerudKorsnäs
|
|
President and CEO, Sustainable Forestry Initiative
|
 |
 |
 |
| Mr. Oliver Lang | Mr. Alfred Waugh | Prof. Pekka Leskinen |
| Architect and founding principal of LWPAC and CEO of Intelligent City
|
Architect AIBC, MRAIC, LEED AP, and founder of Formline Architecture
|
Head of Bioeconomy Programme and Professor at the European Forest Institute |
 |
 |
 |
| Mr. Harald Aalde | Mr. Robert van de Kerkhof | Dr. Francisco Aguilar |
| Senior Adviser at the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food | Chief Commercial Officer of Lenzing AG | Associate Professor of Forest Economics, University of Missouri |
 |
 |
 |
| Mr. Peter N. Moonen | Dr. Guy Robertson | Mr. Paolo Scommegna |
| National Sustainability Manager for the Canadian Wood Council | National Sustainability Program Leader with U.S. Forest Service | Wood Supply Manager - Gruppo Mauro Saviola |
 |
 |
 |
| Dr. Zuzana Sarvašová | Prof. José Torero | Ms. Laura Plant |
| Senior researcher, Department of Forest Policy, Economics and Forest Management, National Forest Centre Slovakia | Director of Center for Disaster Resilience at the Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland |
Impact economist in PwC's Sustainable Business Solutions practice |
 |
 |
 |
| Mr. Paul Newman | Dr. Werner Kurz | Mr. Magnus Niklasson |
| Co-founder of Canada Wood Group initiative | Senior Research Scientiest at the Canadian Forest Service | Wood products analyst at the Swedish Forest Industries Federation |
 |
 |
 |
| Mr. Andrew Bowerbank | Ms. Matilda van den Bosch | Dr. Bruce Glass |
| National Vice President, Sustainability & Energy at WSP | MD, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia | Senior Forest Economist at Campbell Global LLC |
 |
 |
 |
| Mr. Andrzej Konieczny | Mr. Samuel Adeyanju | Ms. Chunny Varaich |
| Director General of the State Forests in Poland | Graduate student, University of British Columbia | Graduate student, University of British Columbia |
 |
 |
 |
| Ms. Yadira Rosa Corbet | Mr. Adam Polinko | |
| Student, University of British Columbia | PhD Candidate, University of British Columbia | |
 |
 |