Roofing without borders

By Megan Ellsworth.

Connecting at the IFD Connection Forum.

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the International Federation of the Roofing Trade’s Connection Forum in Vienna, Austria. The event brought roofing professionals from around the world together to exchange ideas, discuss industry challenges and, most importantly, build relationships. The first Connection Forum was held October 14-15, 2026 and was hosted at the Wienerberger headquarters. It was designed to be interactive and gave attendees opportunities to participate in discussions and learn from one another. I was able to hear the struggles, triumphs and growth that other roofing professionals are experiencing across the globe. That focus on participation set the tone for the entire forum, and for me, the spirit of connection became the highlight of the experience.

Throughout the forum, we had conversations with roofing professionals from Estonia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Brazil, the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands and more. Each country is dealing with its own market conditions, roofing systems and challenges, but when we all sat down together, it became clear just how much we have in common.

Those conversations carried naturally into another part of the trip: recording the stories behind them.

One of the highlights was recording a podcast with Gerhard Hanke, CEO of Wienerberger. We had the opportunity to sit down and capture another piece of the international conversation happening throughout the forum.

Podcasting is one of my favorite ways to tell the stories of the roofing industry because it gives us room to have a real conversation. It goes beyond sound bites and allows us to hear directly from the people who are helping shape roofing and construction around the world. Please listen to that podcast episode here.

The forum was created specifically to encourage interaction and dialogue among roofing professionals, giving people an opportunity to compare how different countries approach industry challenges.

When you’re sitting at a table with people from multiple different countries, you quickly realize there is no single way to look at our industry and the roofing trade. That variety of viewpoints is what makes conversations like these so valuable. Listening to how someone halfway around the world approaches a challenge can change the way you think about that same issue at home. These conversations give us an opportunity to ask different questions, challenge our assumptions and learn from solutions being developed outside our own markets. One topic that especially spoke to me was recycling roof materials and how other countries are combatting this issue. The forum’s programming reflected that international perspective, with presentations on countries guidelines from Estonia, the United Kingdom, Germany and the U.S., among others. Those conversations are what the IFD Connection Forum meant to me: connection.

The roofing industry reaches far beyond the borders of any one country. Events like this give us a chance to sit across the table from one another, listen to different perspectives and build relationships that can continue long after everyone heads home.

I left Vienna grateful for the conversations, excited to share our podcast with Gerhard and inspired by all the different voices contributing to the future of roofing. There is a whole world of roofing out there, and we have a lot to learn from one another.