Shape & Structure
The Shape & Structure Program 2025 invites participants to develop innovative, sustainable solutions for BC’s wood industry. By transforming waste materials and by-products into high-value products, the program empowers participants to shape the future of BC’s wood economy.
The TWIG Shape & Structure (S&S) Program for 2025 offers a unique opportunity for designers, makers, and wood industry professionals to collaborate and drive innovation within the circular wood economy. Participants are challenged to reimagine waste, by-products, and underutilized materials, transforming them into high-value products with real market potential. Over the course of 8 months, participants will work both independently and collaboratively to explore creative solutions that push boundaries and demonstrate future possibilities for sustainable wood product design.
Program starts in January 2025
Cost $225
Register
Partners
CAWP
w/ support through the Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) Wood First Programs
Industry sponsorship provided by
Rangate
Soukup Woodworking Machinery
Who Should Apply?
Shape is open to designers, wood professionals, architects, and anyone passionate about driving change and fostering innovation in the wood products sector. Whether you’re an established professional or an emerging talent, Shape offers a platform to contribute to the future of BC’s wood product industry. We believe the industry’s future is more diverse and includes a wide array of disciplines and perspectives working collaboratively toward real solutions. Participation in the program can be done remotely, so we encourage those across BC to apply.
Why Participate?
Shape provides a collaborative platform for professionals and innovators to make a tangible impact on the future of wood in British Columbia. Participants will:
How It Works
The Shape Program runs for 8 months with monthly online meetings, guided by Patrick Christie of Daly Co., an experienced BC industrial designer specializing in wood products, with support from the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing at UBC. Each session provides participants the opportunity to showcase their progress, receive feedback, and collaborate with peers. Participants can work independently or as a group, and the program will be structured to align with their individual goals.
At the start of the program, TWIG will share research on specific materials and sectors, setting the stage for participants. The initial phase will focus on discovery, as participants unpack industry challenges, explore current conditions, and understand the context surrounding BC’s wood industries. The program will conclude with a final showcase in September 2025, where participants present their designs in physical form, 3D virtual models, white papers, or other formats aligned with their objectives. This showcase will be created in collaboration with S&S participants, with planning starting spring 2025.
Impact of Your Participation
By joining the Shape Program, you’ll play a crucial role in shaping the future of sustainable wood product design. Your participation directly contributes to:
Join Us!
Be part of a program, and a contributor of TWIG to help envision the future BC’s wood industry. Collaborate, create, and contribute to solutions that drive the shift toward higher-value wood products and sustainable practices.
Register HERE
Connecting people to inspire innovation in wood since 2012.
TWIG operates on the unceded territories of the Indigenous Peoples who have lived in deep relationship with the lands and forests we now call British Columbia since time immemorial. We recognize and honour the enduring stewardship, knowledge, and cultures of these Nations—whose care over generations shaped the very forests that gave rise to BC’s forestry industry. We also acknowledge the devastating impacts of colonization, including the near-erasure of many old-growth ecosystems and the displacement of Indigenous communities and cultural practices connected to these ancient forests.
As we work to shape the future of BC’s forest products industry, we are committed to pathways that integrate Indigenous perspectives, support cultural resurgence, and foster a renewed relationship to land, materials, and community—one grounded in respect, regeneration, and transformative change.
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