The IAWS will be meeting in Austria in conjunction with the International Wood Culture Society (IWCS) as part of the 7th World Wood Day activities. The venue will be the Austrian Open-Air Museum in Stuebing on March 19–23, 2019. The general public will have access from Wednesday, March 20. There will be a music concert and exhibition at Congress Graz Stefaniensaal, on March 24, 2019. The IWCS was admitted to the IAWS as an Affiliate Member in 2017, allowing great opportunities to further the integration of science and culture. The theme is “CHANGE” to highlight our need to change direction for a sustainable future. This will be a great opportunity for IAWS Fellows to communicate scientific principles in the context of wood culture and to reach a much greater and more diverse audience than is possible at the usual scientific meetings.

The topics are:

  1. 1.

    Sustainable wood utilisation starts with proper tree species identification.

  2. 2.

    Wooden buildings—tradition and innovation.

  3. 3.

    Wood-based musical instruments, art and design.

  4. 4.

    Education—an essential tool for sustainability and wood utilisation.

  5. 5.

    Non-wood forest products.

The deadline for online submission of abstracts for oral presentations and posters is November 30, 2018. Applicants will be informed by December 31. The programme coordinator can be contacted at symposium@worldwoodday.org.

The website for information and electronic submission is: www.worldwoodday.org.

There is a short video on World Wood Day 2019 at: https://vimeo.com/280849196.

Please note that the 61st SWST International Convention, in cooperation with Japan Wood Research Society and Nagoya University, will be held on November 5–9, 2018, at the Noyori Conference Hall, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan. The overall theme is “Era of a Sustainable World—Tradition and Innovation for Wood Science and Technology”. http://www.swst.org/wp/meeting/2018-swstjwrs-international-convention/.