“Bamboo: A Very Sustainable Construction Material” - 2021 International Online Seminar summary report

2021 International Online Seminar - Bamboo: A Very Sustainable Construction Material was held in November 2021. This was led by INBAR and co-organised by other 16 national and international institutions. Nineteen senior experts from 10 countries delivered presentations and shared the latest research and development on bamboo construction to approximately 900 participants from 74 countries. The seminar called upon global architects, engineers and landscape designers to rethink time-tested traditional bamboo architectural forms and related technologies, and use innovative ideas to reshape the global built environment. This paper summarizes the findings of this Seminar, highlighting that while bamboo is growingly accepted as a construction material, considerable efforts are needed to promote bamboo as a mainstream material. The state-of-practice is summarized and means of moving the state-of-the-art forward are discussed. Architects and engineers using bamboo all over the world should work together to contribute to the basic work of bamboo architecture research, standardization and industry development.