WorldSkills
with Italian woodworkers towards Shanghai 2026
When the art of woodworking
becomes a global challenge
There are some races that can't be won by strength alone.
They are won with a steady hand, a trained eye, and a clear head when time is running out and every millimeter can determine the outcome.
At WorldSkills Shanghai 2026, there will be no soccer players, race car drivers, or sprinters taking the stage. Instead, it will be the trades. And among them will be Italian woodworking: a discipline that combines technical drawing, joinery, planing, finishing, assembly, and absolute precision.
Renner Italia stands alongside the Italian team of woodworkers as they prepare for the world championship in Shanghai. It is a clear commitment: to support Italian woodworking as one of the finest, most tangible, and most skilled expressions of Made in Italy. It means standing alongside those who know wood, respect it, work with it, and transform it into beauty. It means investing in the young people who will carry this culture forward. It means giving visibility to a craft that belongs to the present and the future of our country.
The Stage:
WorldSkills, the WorldSkills Competition
WorldSkills was founded in the post-World War II era, in a Europe that needed to rebuild not only its infrastructure but also its skills, workforce, and confidence. The first international competition took place in Madrid in 1950, featuring young professionals from Spain and Portugal. Since then, that competition has grown into a global movement: a platform where skilled trades are showcased to the world with the same respect accorded to major sports.
From September 22 to 27, 2026, Shanghai will host the 48th WorldSkills Competition. It will be one of the world’s largest celebrations of professional skills, bringing together young talents, schools, businesses, trainers, technicians, and international observers to showcase the practical skills that drive economic growth.
Because WorldSkills is not just a competition. It is a barometer of the quality of training, of technical expertise, and of a region’s ability to prepare people who can perform well. In a society that talks a lot about innovation, WorldSkills reminds us of a fundamental truth: innovation requires skilled hands.
Woodworking:
the craft where detail determines the outcome
The woodworking category, or cabinetmaking, is one of the most representative in the WorldSkills universe. In this discipline, it’s not enough to simply “know how to make a piece of furniture.” You must interpret a design, select and work with materials, use machines and tools safely, construct perfect components, create joints, assemble, finish, and inspect. The official WorldSkills discipline describes woodworking as the ability to work with wood to create high-quality furniture and units, combining technical expertise with an aesthetic understanding of design and finish.
It’s a competition against others, of course. But first and foremost, it’s a competition of skill.
In the lab, just like in a final, there’s no room for “almost.” A cut can’t be “just” straight. A joint can’t be “almost” precise. A surface can’t be “more or less” finished. Wood records everything: mistakes, haste, and distractions. And that’s exactly why it rewards those who know how to listen to it.
For Renner Italia, which works side by side with carpenters, artisans, and the woodworking industry every day, this craft holds a special value. It embodies the most authentic essence of a well-made product: where materials, design, expertise, technology, and finish come together. It tells the story of an Italy that still knows how to create beauty, starting from a workbench.
The Team
South Tyrol as a representative of Italy
In Shanghai, the WorldSkills South Tyrol, Italy team will showcase
the quality of South Tyrol’s vocational training to the world.
The project represents South Tyrol in the WorldSkills competitions and is coordinated by the Bolzano Chamber of Commerce.
For the 2026 edition, the team will be represented by 15 participants ready to compete against the world’s top young professionals.
In the woodworking category, Italy will be represented by Jonas Wenter, born in 2005, from Collepietra in the Val d’Ega.
Jonas works at Matthias Resch’s Tischlerplus in Cornedo all’Isarco and won first place in the Italian competition in 2025.
Accompanying him on his journey to Shanghai is Jonas Prinoth, a young but already experienced coach.
Two Jonas. One workbench. One destination: Shanghai.
Jonas Wenter
Jonas Prinoth
Jonas Wenter
the talent that brings Italian wood to the world
Jonas Wenter is twenty-one years old and talks about his craft with the down-to-earth attitude of someone who lives it every day. He doesn’t use fancy slogans. He doesn’t look for shortcuts. He talks about the wood, the tools, the hard work, and the focus. He talks about a calling that emerged early on.
In an interview conducted by Renner Italia during training, Jonas recalls the moment it all began: as a boy, watching his uncle Raimond build furniture. That’s when he made the decision: to become a woodworker. And then there was a simple, almost symbolic gesture: a plane he received as a gift. A tool, even before it was an object. The first passing of the torch.
«When I was 12, I watched my uncle Raimond make furniture. After that, I decided: I want to become a woodworker. ».
It’s a brief memory, to be sure. But within it lies a piece of Italian history: the story of trades passed down through the eyes, rather than through textbooks. We learn by watching. We learn by trying. We learn by making mistakes and correcting them. We learn because someone, before us, showed us that a plank of wood can become a piece of furniture, that a tool can become a language, that a profession can become an identity.
Jonas says it matter-of-factly: “I have two passions in life: the first is woodworking, the second is mountain biking.” This is the profile of a young contemporary artisan: deeply rooted in his community, accustomed to discipline, and able to bring the same mental resilience to his workshop that he needs when climbing hills.
Standing next to Jonas Wenter is Jonas Prinoth, 25, coach of Team Falegnami. He, too, comes from a carpentry background. He, too, started out as a child in his father’s workshop. Today, his role is to turn talent into technique, passion into preparation, and precision into second nature.
Training sessions take place in Bolzano at the Landesberufsschule für Handwerk und Industrie, a school that provides the facilities and equipment needed to simulate competition conditions. Jonas Prinoth’s account highlights a crucial point: to make it to Shanghai, it’s not enough to simply know how to do your job well. You have to learn how to perform well under pressure.
“We’re training here in Bolzano, at a school of excellence,” he says. We went to visit them. There, the two of them work on everything that can make a difference: details, joints, dovetails, mortises and tenons, inlays, and the construction of complete pieces of furniture.
The schedule is tight. Training began in January and takes place three times a week. We start with the technical details, then ramp up the intensity. Just like in athletic training, we first build the movement, then apply it in competition. First, the mechanics. Then, the flow. First, control. Then, the stopwatch.
Jonas Prinoth describes Wenter as follows: «He won WorldSkills Italy. He is very precise and focused on his work. ». Then he adds a comment that sounds like a sportsman’s promise: “I think he has a chance of winning in Shanghai.”
Jonas Prinoth
the coach who plans every detail of the game
Behind the scenes of the training:
sketches, fittings, rehearsals
The workday begins with the project. We study the drawings, prepare the tools, and plan the sequence. At WorldSkills, after all, you don’t compete with a finished object. You compete with your ability to tackle a technical task, interpret it quickly, and execute it to the highest standards.
That’s why Jonas and Jonas also practice on projects from previous years. For example, a piece of furniture inspired by the 2019 Ireland competition: a cabinet with a drawer, doors, dovetail joints, tenons and mortises, a shelf, and inlay work. It’s not just an aesthetic exercise, but a roadmap of skills.
Every part of the piece of furniture becomes a test within a test. The drawer tests the precision of the joints. The doors test the alignment. The shelf tests the ability to fit an element neatly. The inlay tests control, patience, and a sense of composition. The final assembly reveals whether everything done before was truly correct.
This is where woodworking reveals its most demanding side. It does not tolerate sloppiness, but rewards those who know how to create order.
From the first cuts to the finish
There is one step that holds special significance for Renner Italia. Jonas Prinoth explains that many aspects are evaluated at WorldSkills: from the initial cuts to planing, from painting to assembly.
And when it comes to coating, he says something that seems tailor-made to capture the essence of our work: «Coating the furniture is very important because it makes it more durable and brings out the beauty of the wood.»
These words capture the essence of the finish. It is not a final touch, not merely a coating, not a minor detail. The finish is protection, durability, aesthetics, texture, and light. It is what allows the wood to withstand the test of time and, at the same time, to reveal its true nature.
This is why Renner Italia feels such a strong connection to the journey of the Woodworking Team. Because the culture of finishing stems from the same respect for wood that drives a young woodworker at his workbench. The best finish does not obscure the material—it preserves it. It does not hide the craftsman’s touch—it enhances it. It does not replace craftsmanship—it complements it.
An ancient
and highly sought-after profession
Jonas Wenter talks about how carpentry is often perceived. He says that many parents want their children to have a comfortable life and, for that very reason, discourage them from pursuing a manual profession.
Then comes the most powerful line: «This mindset is wrong»
This statement goes beyond the story of a single young man. It touches on a crucial cultural issue: the future of Italian craftsmanship. If young people turn away from the workshop, we don’t just lose a workforce. We lose technical knowledge. We lose languages. We lose the ability to transform real materials into durable objects. We lose a part of what it means to be “Made in Italy.”
Jonas puts it simply: carpentry is «an ancient and highly sought-after profession». Ancient, because it carries with it a deep-rooted tradition. Sought-after, because the market needs skilled, precise, and reliable people. Young professionals who know how to use their hands and technology, read a drawing and interpret a material, and build quality in an age when quality is increasingly rare.
Renner Italia supports this vision. For us, promoting the woodworking trade means upholding a manufacturing culture that has made Italy renowned worldwide: well-designed furniture, meticulously finished surfaces, the subtle details that make all the difference, and the beauty that stems from craftsmanship.
“Made in Italy”
begins before
the design
Often, “Made in Italy” is only highlighted once the product is finished: a kitchen that’s been installed, a piece of furniture captured in a photo, a flawless surface under the light. But there’s much more to it before that moment.
There is a school. There is a workbench. There is a raw table. There is someone measuring, cutting, checking, and starting over. There is a skill that cannot be improvised or bought. There is a network of companies, artisans, technicians, trainers, and manufacturers of materials and technologies.
Renner Italia is part of this supply chain. Supporting Jonas Wenter and the Italian team of woodworkers means supporting everything that comes before the finished product. It means valuing training, precision, discipline, and knowledge of materials. It means recognizing that skilled manual labor is not a fallback option, but one of the most important assets in our production system.
“Made in Italy” isn’t just about style. It’s about method. It’s about expertise. It’s about a commitment to the materials. It’s about the ability to do even the unseen details well.
Like a final
In September 2026, Shanghai will be the culmination of months of preparation. But, as is often the case in major finals, the outcome won’t be decided solely during the competition itself. It’s being built right now, training session after training session, practice after practice, mistake after mistake.
It is forged in the roar of machines. In the silence before a cut. In the focus of a hand guiding the tool. In the decision to redo a detail because it isn’t quite precise enough yet. In the patience of a coach who watches and corrects. In the determination of a young man who knows he represents not only himself, but a profession.
Jonas Wenter knows it. Jonas Prinoth knows it. And Renner Italia is there to support them.
Renner Italia supports
the Italian woodworking
Serving as the main sponsor of the Italian Woodworking Team at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 reaffirms our deep connection to the world of woodworking. Every day, Renner Italia works alongside woodworkers, artisans, and manufacturers who embody Italian quality. That is why our involvement in this initiative is not merely a symbolic gesture, but a natural extension of our identity.
We believe in young people who choose a trade. We believe in schools that teach practical skills. We believe in woodworking as a masterful art form of Italian craftsmanship. We believe in finishing as both a technical and cultural process: the moment when wood is protected, enhanced, and entrusted to the passage of time.
In Shanghai, Jonas Wenter will bring his talent with him. But he will also bring a bigger story: that of a generation capable of restoring strength, prestige, and a future to the professions.
Renner Italia will be by your side. Because the future of wood depends on those who know how to work with it. And on those who choose to support it.
