NEWS: 1st in-person kick-off meeting
On February 17-18, 2025, the first in-person meeting of the partners of the “Shaping New Paths Towards Circularity in Furniture (FULAR)” project took place. The meeting was organized by the Leader Partner, the University of Thessaly, and was held at the facilities of the Department of Forestry, Wood Sciences and Design in Karditsa. A total 16 project partners participated in the meeting, while some attended online to follow discussions on the program’s progress.
During the event, project partners engaged in various activities focused on strengthening the circular economy. On-site excursions provided opportunities to explore recycling options for wooden materials and the application of green technologies in furniture production. Meanwhile, technical workshops focused on analyzing strategies for better utilization of local wood, recycled materials, and waste. Finally, discussions were held regarding the project’s implementation progress and respective work packages, while the managing authority provided information on the reporting requirements.
The FULAR project focuses on promoting sustainability and circularity in the furniture sector within the IPA ADRION region, covering countries such as Greece, Italy, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, and Croatia. Its main goal is to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in adopting greener and more circular production practices and facilitating their alignment with EU sustainable development strategies.
FULAR activities include researching the perception of circular approaches among SMEs and consumers, analyzing best practices, identifying sustainable materials (local wood, secondary raw materials, and post-consumer waste), and exploring innovative and cost-effective technologies for furniture production. The project will organize a circular design competition and three international workshops on material engineering to develop and test new solutions that promote sustainability.
Prototypes of winning design solutions will showcase the practical application of innovations, while the “Beyond FULAR” plan will ensure broad dissemination and transfer of project results. Target groups include SMEs, academic institutions, policymakers, consumers, sectoral agencies, and other stakeholders.
The project promotes transnational collaboration, result capitalization, and sustainable development of the furniture sector, delivering concrete and transferable solutions that contribute to a greener economy in the Adriatic-Ionian region and beyond.
Objective To improve the implementation of circular economy principles in furniture production processes, raise awareness among key sectoral actors in the Adriatic-Ionian region regarding sustainability, alternative materials, technologies, and assembly techniques, and encourage circular solutions in the wood industry. Developing furniture prototypes using pre-selected alternative materials aims to further promote circular approaches.
Lead partner University of Thessaly – Special account of research grants, Department of Forestry, Wood sciences & Design
Partners: FVG Wood Furniture Home Cluster (Italy), Wood Industry Cluster (Slovenia), Development Agency of City of Prijedor “PREDA” (BiH), Slovenian Forestry Institute (Slovenia), Wood Industry Cluster (Albania), University of Belgrade – Faculty of Forestry (Serbia), Croatian Wood Cluster (Croatia), Universita’ IUAV Di Venezia (Italy) and Competence centre Ltd. for research and development (Croatia).