How critical are foresight tools for anticipating skills needs and guiding systemic change towards a circular economy? Jorge Martins from VTT, a Wood2Wood consortium partner, highlighted some pathways at the ISPIM Innovation Conference in June 2025.  

A central theme in the discussion that followed was the importance of skills in supporting circular transitions. “New occupational roles are emerging – from bio-based material experts to digital traceability managers – yet skills gaps risk slowing adoption,” said Martins. To address this, VTT conducted a horizon scanning survey in spring 2025, engaging 380 experts from over 20 countries. The team mapped more than 4,000 signals across social, technological, economic, environmental, political, and values-related drivers of change.

The findings reveal a complex transformation landscape. Environmental drivers such as climate change and resource scarcity are emerging as dominant forces pushing industry to rethink material flows. At the same time, economic and regulatory barriers – from fragmented markets to inconsistent policies and limited investment – are holding back circular solutions from scaling.

On the technology side, enablers such as AI-powered sorting systems and digital material tracking show great promise for unlocking efficiency and transparency, but their adoption is still in early stages. Meanwhile, social and values-based shifts – including evolving consumer behaviour, concerns about greenwashing, and the urgency of addressing skills gaps – are reshaping expectations of how the wood sector must adapt.

Taken together, these drivers and barriers highlight the need for proactive planning. The findings of the horizon scanning exercise will feed into the development of occupational scenarios for the process industry, helping to identify future roles, guide reskilling strategies, and support inclusive and forward-looking policy frameworks.

Earlier this year, Martins took part in a webinar on “Workforce Upskilling and Talent Retention in Industrial Sectors”.

During the webinar Martins presented on “𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬”

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒅—𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒊𝒕,” Jorge said, as he introduced his topic to the audience.

“𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅. 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒕𝒚—𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓.”

In Wood2Wood project, we aim to unlock the value in wood waste from construction, demolition, and furniture sectors.

Pilot innovations alone won’t scale without the right skills—”there’s a need for workforce development,” emphasised Jorge.

Watch the entire webinar below: