How SUSBOARD integrates Gender into Safe and Sustainable Innovation for Wood-Panels

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The transition to a sustainable bioeconomy requires solutions for innovative materials that work for everyone who produces, uses, and is affected by them. SUSBOARD integrates gender as a strategic approach across its research and innovation activities, in line with Horizon Europe’s gender equality objectives and recommendations from bodies including the OECD Gender Policy Platform and the Gender Data Portal.

SUSBOARD is developing a 100% bio-based, formaldehyde-free adhesive for particleboard (PB) and medium-density fibreboard (MDF), with the aim of enabling healthier, more sustainable wood-based panels and furniture.  Alongside this technical innovation, the project examines how its solutions interact with the needs, experiences, and perspectives of different groups in society.

The gender dimension in SUSBOARD considers how biological differences (sex) and social factors (gender) may influence research results, technology development, health impacts, user preferences, working conditions, and innovation uptake.  This goes beyond achieving balanced participation in research teams: SUSBOARD also integrates sex and gender analysis into the content of its research itself, one of the three gender equality objectives set under Horizon Europe.

By taking these perspectives into account, SUSBOARD aims to generate more reliable evidence, identify overlooked risks and opportunities, and design wood-panel solutions that benefit all users. The gender dimension therefore plays an essential role in several parts of the project’s activities.

SUSBOARD’s Work Package 5 applies the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) approach across the value chain. SSbD evaluates materials and processes not only for environmental performance but also for their impacts on health, safety, and society. This is carried out through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Social LCA (sLCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and monitoring of volatile organic compound (VOC) and formaldehyde emissions.

As part of its social dimension, the SSbD approach aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Recognising that health impacts, working conditions, stakeholder experiences, and consumer perceptions can differ between genders, SUSBOARD integrates a gender lens throughout several stages of the assessment process.

Traditional adhesives used in wood-panels and furniture manufacturing are typically fossil-based and can release formaldehyde during both production and use. Formaldehyde emissions raise environmental and health concerns, particularly in indoor environments where exposure may be prolonged. To better understand these impacts, SUSBOARD’s researchers assess both environmental, and health hazards associated with the adhesive system.

For this reason, SUSBOARD considers gender-specific human health and safety aspects when assessing potential hazards, including measuring emissions and identifying substances that could affect indoor quality.

A particular focus is placed on Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). VOCs are substances that can be released into indoor air from certain materials and products, and which at higher concentrations  may affect air quality and comfort.

Wood-based materials, adhesives, and furniture can also release odours which may influence comfort, perceived quality, and, in some cases, people’s wellbeing. SUSBOARD’s odour evaluation aims to consider odour intensity, user acceptance, and hedonic responses (whether an odour is perceived as pleasant or unpleasant), with results assessed for differences between men and women.

A product that performs well technically must also be accepted by users. Understanding different user responses helps create products that better meet consumer expectations.

Another stage of SSbD examines health and safety during the production of adhesive ingredients, adhesive manufacturing, wood-panel production, and processing and handling activities.

(Schiano-Phan et al., 2023)

Workplace risks can affect women and men differently depending on exposure patterns, working conditions, and biological factors. This is closely linked to SUSBOARD’s hazard assessment work; alongside identifying carcinogenic and reproduction-hazardous substances, the project evaluates potential occupational exposures and workplace safety issues throughout the production process with a gender lens. Particular attention is given to gender-specific health considerations, including reproductive health risks and exposure to carcinogenic substances.

SSbD also examines how innovations affect people, organisations, and communities. SUSBOARD assesses these impacts through a Social Life Cycle Assessment (sLCA) which considers gender equality across the project’s value chain, drawing on the objectives of the EU’s Gender Equality Strategy (2020-2025) including gender-related aspects of the wood-sector workforce.

Where relevant, SUSBOARD also aims to integrate gender balance into its research and innovation activities. Research on social sustainability, for example, will consider issues such as unconscious bias and structural barriers. Additionally, the sLCA and other SSbD activities include participatory work and the formation of diverse stakeholder groups, with gender aspects considered throughout the process.

As part of Work Package 6, SUSBOARD’s customer surveys will consider gender as a separate variable in analysing willingness to pay for SUSBOARD furniture and the associated price premium. Previous research suggests that women place particular emphasis on healthy products, including furniture, reflecting the key role they play in household purchasing decisions (Ranacher et al., 2020). Participants will also be asked about their purchase intentions, social and professional background, and perceptions of health and safety in furniture, allowing researchers to classify respondents into distinct customer segments. 

SUSBOARD communicates project results to stakeholders, industry representatives, researchers, policymakers, consumers, and the wider public. The project applies inclusive communication practices, including: gender-sensitive language, gender-neutral visual materials where appropriate, inclusive iconography and imagery, and balanced representation in outreach activities.

Europe’s transition towards a circular and sustainable bioeconomy requires innovation that is environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially inclusive. SUSBOARD demonstrates how gender considerations can be integrated into research, product development, safety assessment, consumer studies, and communication activities. Rather than treating gender as a separate issue, the project incorporates it into core research processes and decision-making.

In doing so, SUSBOARD aims to strengthen the innovation process, generate more reliable evidence by examining differences between groups, and contribute to more equitable conditions across the bioeconomy value chain.

Schiano-Phan, R., Guedes, C., Georgiadou, M., Clarke, L. and Duran-Palma, F. 2023. Women in Construction, Wood and Forestry: a Resource Toolkit for Gender Equality at Work. Brussels, Belgium European Federation of Building and Woodworkers. https://doi.org/10.34737/w7608 

 Ranacher, L., Sedmik, A., & Schwarzbauer, P. (2020). Public perceptions of forestry and the forest-based bioeconomy in the European Union. European Forest Institute. https://doi.org/10.36333/k2a03

 International Labour Organization. (2013). 10 keys for gender sensitive OSH practice: Guidelines for gender mainstreaming in occupational safety and health. https://www.ilo.org/publications/10-keys-gender-sensitive-osh-practice-%E2%80%93-guidelines-gender-mainstreaming