Nextfor hosted a Regional Clustering Workshop on September 9th 2024 in Pembroke, ON to discuss next steps for regional clustering and bolstering investment in Ontario’s forestry sector. The agenda of the day included a CRIBE presentation on our new initiatives (including a new site selection tool to assist economic development, for which we sought participant feedback) and an explainer on regional clustering and smart specialization. This was followed by updates on select forest management units from the forestry professionals overseeing them and a facilitated discussion on the workshop topic, including areas such as data-gathering needs of stakeholders and the role CRIBE can play in resource-gathering.

We would like to sincerely thank our guest speakers for their presentations, and are deeply grateful to have been joined by regional wood supply experts, economic development personnel and several stakeholders from the forest sector, research, government and more.

We look forward to providing continued spaces for active dialogue and information exchange, fostering the sustained collaboration needed to support a regional clustering approach to investment and innovation in Ontario’s forest bio-economy.