56 | Feature: TTF Design Competition
SUMMARY
■ Entries had to be created from timber from FLEGT VPA partner countries
■ The competition attracted over 100 entries from around the world
■ The six winning entries are on display at the Building Centre and online
■ Another design competition will coincide with COP26
COMMUNICATION BY DESIGN
FLEGT
Pulsing trees and model endangered forest species are just two of the winners of the TTF’s design competition to promote the FLEGT timber legality assurance initiative. Mike Jeffree reports
Entrants in the Conversations About Climate Change design competition, the latest manifestation of the UK Timber Trade Federation’s government-funded FLEGT communication campaign, were given a demanding brief (see also p17). They had to create a product or artwork entirely in timber from FLEGT VPA partner countries. It had to reflect the creator’s concerns about the environment, and invite discussion about the key role of the forest in averting climate crisis, the part using legally
and sustainably sourced timber plays in helping maintain the forest, and, of course, about FLEGT.
The TTF acknowledges it laid down quite a challenge. But even before the online exhibition featuring the six winning designs went live on February 12, the conversation triggered by the project had gone global. It attracted over 100 entries from around the world. “We publicised it through trade media, the trade itself and our channels with VPA
partner countries, but we were thrilled with how far the message reached and the response,” said TTF FLEGT communications executive Lucy Bedry. “We had entries from across Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia, including FLEGT VPA countries.” The TTF’s objective was to highlight the range of tropical timber available from FLEGT VPA suppliers and their technical performance and aesthetic properties and also to tap designers’ creativity to communicate the FLEGT initiative more broadly. “People respond to objects and design at a different level than to words on a screen or piece of paper,” said Ms Bedry. “Our aim was to use that to help convey the FLEGT story.”
Above: Tree Whisperer comprises a range of highly tactile tree sculptures which emit pulsing beats reflecting how different species respond to climate change
TTJ | March/April 2021 |
www.ttjonline.com
At the outset, the competition required something of an education process. “Some designers had heard of FLEGT, but most had quite a limited understanding or none at all,” said Ms Bedry. “We pointed them to material on FLEGT on our website and also took the time to do one-on-one calls. “The objective of our communications on FLEGT is to present its impacts and benefits in the widest sense. First, the assurance a FLEGT licence can give that timber is legally sourced from sustainably managed forest, but also the positive social and economic aspects of the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73
