Edinburgh Napier University

  The Centre for Timber Engineering and Employment Research Institute, Napier University has recently embarked on a new project part-funded by the European Social Fund. The aim is to address the shortage of people entering, and staying in, education and employment in the forest industries, focussing on equality and access. The project has two strands: Education: Influencing Career Choice which strives to increase the number of young people, especially women, considering entering education and training in the industries that support the growing, processing and utilisation of timber for use in the built environment (the "wood chain"); and Employment: Building Capacity which aims to identify, and propose solutions for, the barriers to recruitment and retention among the forest industries workforce.