CAWP is involved in a wide range of activities to promote the growth of value-added wood products manufacturing in a socially and environmentally-responsible manner. In Canada these have included working with First Nations to help develop viable revenue-generating activities using their wood fibre streams, as well as collaborating with government on high-profile initiatives such as the 2010 Olympic Victory Ceremonies project. In 2013 CAWP is assisting with the revitalisation of a 53-foot Bill Hart canoe in cooperation with the Haida First Nation and UBC’s First Nations House of Learning. Students in the B.Sc. Wood Products Processing program have helped carry out projects to design and manufacture furniture for Starbucks and Far Coast/Coca Cola. CAWP has also welcomed students from BCIT, Emily Carr University and UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture to work on collaborative projects and use our extensive facilities.
Internationally, CAWP has assisted institutions around the world to develop training and educational capacity in value-added wood products manufacturing. We have worked with institutions in Africa, Asia and South America to help develop technical training and undergraduate curriculum, and have worked with forest-based communities to develop and grow small businesses. We also have strong links with wood technology research and development institutions throughout Europe, and offer an annual wood construction technology tour that visits production facilities and prominent buildings in southern Germany and nearby before taking in the Holzbau Forum, Europe’s largest wood building industry conference.
CAWP is an implementing organization for the WOODMARK quality management system, a program designed and developed at UBC that does much of what ISO 9000 does, but is specific to wood products manufacturing and more streamlined in terms of documentation and costs. We can also work with companies to help you set up your own in-house training system, customized to your particular products, skills and production methods and using the WMC’s Rapid Internal Skills Enhancement (RISE) training templates.
Some of these projects are specifically profiled on this website, and we invite you to follow the links to learn more.