Expo Milan 2015 was made more sustainable in part thanks to the large quantity of wood used in the construction of some pavilions and interior spaces at the Exhibition. As many as 31,810 cubic metres, to be precise, all PEFC-certified Pefc and therefore sourced from sustainably managed forests in accordance with the world's most widely used forest certification standard.

And now that the gates of the World Exhibition have closed, after welcoming 21 million visitors, many of the pavilions will be put to other uses — humanitarian, recreational and artistic. "Using wood proved to be a very smart choice, and one consistent with the theme of the Exhibition," declared Gloria Zavatta, sustainability manager at Expo 2015. "We can say with pride that precisely thanks to the use of so much wood — and certified wood at that — Expo Milan 2015 can be considered a good example of sustainability and, above all, a moment of sharing and spreading good practices that can be applied throughout the rest of the world."

The Slow Food Theatre, built using 320 cubic metres of Norway spruce, will be dedicated to urban gardens, schools and organisations within the NGO's network. The fate of the Save the Children pavilion is different: it will end up in Somalia, contributing to the construction of a paediatric hospital built from silver fir sourced from Friuli Venezia Giulia, while the glulam Norway spruce of the Principality of Monaco pavilion will make its way to Burkina Faso, where it will become the operational headquarters of the local Red Cross.

A different fate awaits the Coca Cola pavilion which, as announced from the outset, will be transformed into a basketball court and remain in the city of Milan. A similar destiny awaits the Children Park, which is expected to stay in the city and become a park dedicated to young children. The Global Farm 2.0 — that is, the pavilion built from certified Norway spruce from the Veneto and Trentino regions, belonging to the world agronomists (Waa) — will be transformed into an international campus for agronomists working on sustainability within the Expo area. The structure comprising 2,000 cubic metres of Norway spruce and larch from the French pavilion will have an almost romantic end, as it will be relocated back home close to the certified forests from which the trees were felled. Chile and Malaysia, on the other hand, will be dismantled and returned to their home countries.

"The final result of Expo 2015 is certainly positive for those seeking to raise the level of environmental sustainability in the forest-wood supply chain, both in Italy and internationally." "Wood is the raw material that enabled the event to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thanks to the possibility of reusing, recycling and repurposing almost all of the elements of the pavilions built in wood," stressed Antonio Brunori, secretary general of Pefc Italia. Expo will continue to live on after 31 October 2015, not only through the memories of those who attended, but also through the wood used to build it.