Category: Bioeconomy Education

 BioCannDo project

 BioCannDo project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

The Bioeconomy Awareness and Discourse Project (BioCannDo) aimed to raise awareness and acceptance of the broad public towards the bioeconomy and bio-based products through a strategic, stakeholder-driven information campaign and education.

Convincing people that the bio-based economy offers something desirable, with new products, functionalities and applications for their daily life, that provide answers to societal concerns (e.g. climate change), requires neutral and science-based information. BioCannDo presented such information in a way that is easy to understand for the broader public. It provided various means for feedback, interaction and encouraged engagement in a discourse on common questions and concerns.

Collaborating with bio-based stakeholder networks and communities at EU, regional and national level, BioCannDo provided information, educational materials and key communication messages through such channels as a community of related projects and educational partners and an Infohub which combines different means of online communication (i.e. social media, blogs, videos, journalistic articles).

BioCannDo built on the legacy of previous projects (i.e. by using their networks, or social media accounts), existing material developed by them and collected, connected, aggregated and reformulated content from different actors and resources. It generated new content addressing the most urgent gaps in information and education. Such dual approach helps to maximise synergies and increase impact of both existing and new material.

The developed content and key communication messages was assessed and tested by stakeholders and target users through focus groups and a market survey. Findings were used in feedback loops to adapt the content and messages.

Contacts:

Martin Behrens, Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (FNR): m.behrens@fnr.de

John Vos, BTG Biomass Technology Group BV: vos@btgworld.com

Website

 Biobridges project

 Biobridges project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

BIOBRIDGES is a 24 months action aiming at boosting the marketability of bio-based products – BBPs by establishing close cooperation and partnership between bio-based Industries – BBI, brand owners and consumers’ representatives. The ultimate goal is to stimulate and support the active engagement of and interaction among all stakeholders (including local communities and local authorities) and improve market acceptance of BBPs.
BIOBRIDGES will design and implement replicable methodologies, procedures and good practices supporting multi-stakeholders’ interaction, leading to new cross-sector partnerships.

Main activities will be:

  • Identify the cooperation challenges among consumers, brand owners and BBI
  • Create a sustainable multi-stakeholder community involving consumer representatives, BBI and brand owners from different bio-based economy clusters and stimulate dialogue and cooperation
  • Following a co-creation approach, increase consumers’ and brand owners’ awareness, confidence and trust on the benefits of BBPs compared to the fossil-based counterparts
  • Support the establishment of at least 2 new cross-cutting interconnections in bio-based economy clusters and define replicable procedures and good practices leading to the establishment of new cross-sector partnerships and business opportunities
  • Stimulate the multi-stakeholder discussion toward pre-and co-normative research, new standardisation/labelling and emerging co-creation models (B2B and B2C)

At the end of the project, at least 2 new cross-sector interconnections in bio-based economy cluster will be established, while the foundations for the creation of new ones based on the arguments, best practices and recommendations deriving from the project will be formed.

The BIOBRIDGES consortium merges a variety of complementary expertise, aiming to build a consistent multi-actor approach integrating 9 partners already involve in other projects like BIOWAYS, BIOVoices and BIOSTEP.

Contacts: Alexandre Almeida: alexandre@loba.pt

Website

 Bioapp project

 Bioapp project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Overall Objective of the Project: 

The main objective of the project was to establish a new technology platform by strengthening cooperation between research organizations and key economic stakeholders to accelerate the development of pilot technology in the field of advanced biopolymers. The project has made a positive contribution to the specific objectives of the cross-border cooperation program, namely through the mentioned technological platform, which paves the way for innovative business initiatives and encourages the necessary exchange of knowledge, technology and innovation

Project summary: 

Global aquaculture and shellfish production currently produces over 10 million tonnes of biomass per year, generating a considerable amount of waste in the form of shells and exoskeletons. These abundant yet under-utilised renewable biomasses have enormous potential for the production of advanced materials (biopolymers), and fall within the scope of the Key Enabling Technologies and the key areas of the Smart Specialisation Strategies identified by the “New Materials, Green Chemistry and Health” program.
Numerous research institutes and companies are actively involved in various biopolymer product development stages; however, the synergies and technology transfer dynamics between them are still insufficient.

To overcome these obstacles, the BioApp project developed a new supra-regional technology platform and combined the complementary knowledge and skills of partners, with a vision to promote solutions, development and applicability of commercially interesting highly innovative biopolymers and biomaterials.

Through a regional cooperation effort involving complementary and interdisciplinary partners, ranging from the academic world (UNITS), to public and private research institutes (COBIK, KI), start-ups (BIOPOLife) and medium-sized companies (ACIES BIO), the project provided an integrated solution that uses natural resources to produce materials designed to improve people’s quality of life. All project partners benefit from the developed pilot technology for technology transfer, social and eco-innovation and strengthen links and synergies between companies, research and development centres and in the field of higher education. This trans-regional platform facilitates the integration of new stakeholders through the development of the technology and the commercialisation of the relative product, according to the “economy of closed material cycles” principle, as regards the new business models for a circular economy.

Contacts: Uros Novak, Coordinator: uros.novak@ki.si

Website

 AgriMax project

 AgriMax project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Objective

Approximately one third of all food produced globally is wasted every year throughout the whole value chain-from farmers to consumers. To extract the significant amounts of valuable compounds contained in these wastes, AgriMax will combine affordable and flexible processing technologies (ultrasound assisted and solvent extraction, filtration, thermal and enzymatic treatments) for the valorization of side streams from the horticultural culture and food processing industry to be used in a cooperative approach by local stakeholders.
Through the selection of case-scenarios previously developed to a pilot scale by the participating RTOs and their industrial transfer in new applications as food additives, packaging and agricultural materials among others, the project will disclose the holistic potential of four new agro-value chains (residues and by products from the culture and processing of tomato, cereals, olives, potato). Any by-product generated along the production cycle will be valorized in a cascade manner to reach over 40% of high value use of the waste. This will lead to additional production of active ingredients in lower concentration, but also fibres, biogas and fertilizers from the left biomass (the latter with the aim of being used in closed loop in the culture of the crops used in the project to prevent soil impoverishing). An LCA and LCC will also study the best approach to minimize the environmental impact of the new value chains without jeopardizing the cost effectiveness of the operations. The pilot multi-feedstock bio-refinery processes will be validated in two demonstration sites in Spain and Italy. Societal, ethical, safety, techno-feasibility and regulatory aspects will be studied. Last but not least, a business model and platform for communication between the potential raw materials suppliers will be set up to maximize the use of the cooperative treatment plants throughout the year.

Funding source: H2020 – Bio-based Industries Joint Technology Initiative (BBI-JTI)

Contacts: Albert Torres: albert.torres@iris.cat

Website

Cordis page

 Allthings.bioPRO project

 Allthings.bioPRO project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

The context

Europe’s economy depends on oil and gas for energy and chemistry for all kinds of daily life products, but the use of fossil resources harms the environment and our climate. The bioeconomy offers a way out by providing industrial and consumer products made of biomass and waste.

This is a crucial moment for involving society in the transition to a more circular economy. Since all individuals, whether as citizens or consumers, will be affected, they should be able to play a role when shaping it. On the other hand, it goes without saying that the bio-based industry needs the input of citizens and consumers, to make sure that the products developed are in tune with consumers’ requirements and expectations.

In Allthings.bioPRO we put all emphasis on getting citizens involved in the bioeconomy and making their voices heard. We focused on issues and products, which connect with the daily life of citizens and consumers. Main themes were the creation of growth and jobs, Kids & School, Food Packaging and Fashion & Textiles. The personal viewpoint of a consumer considers quality, functionality and the costs of products but does also care about sustainable production and the environmental impact of daily life products.

Using a co-creation approach involving both citizens and experts, Allthings.bioPRO developed a serious game and a mobile app which serve as tools to raise awareness and educate about bioeconomy and bio-based products in a fun way. To ensure focus, we already decided on the subject of the serious game (Mission BioHero) but left the final creation of its content to the engagement process. The game is composed of 8 so-called campaigns, with each campaign focusing on a specific theme within the bioeconomy. It consists of quizzes, real-life and in-game tasks, a lexicon and mini-games with the goal to turn a fossil-based value chain into a bio-based one. The mobile app (Label BioHero) focuses uron non-food and non-energy bio-based products. It scans (eco-)labels, logos and EU certification schemes, providing information on the sustainable performance of the scanned bio-based/bio-degradable product. The serious game and mobile app can be downloaded free of charge in Google Play Stores and App Stores. Both applications generate data in anonymised form that can be used by stakeholders in the bio-based industry and provide important insights for policy.

Assuming that the bioeconomy is about the transition from a fossil-based economy to a sustainable bio-based economy we will start from the usual product case, which is often made from fossil-based materials. We developed both applications to support citizens in their change from a fossil-based lifestyle to a bio-based and sustainable one.

Contacts:

Martin Behrens, Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (FNR): m.behrens@fnr.de

Jurjen Spekreijse, BTG Biomass Technology Group BV: spekreijse@btgworld.com

Website

 ABBEE project

 ABBEE project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

The overall objective of this Strategic Partnership is to inspire and train a new generation of (bio-based economy) students and help accelerating the transition towards a bio-based economy via education of future professionals. New innovative educational approaches can inspire students, professionals and entrepreneurs to become more active in the bio-based society. The focus of the Strategic Partnership, ABBEE, is on developing, transferring and implementing innovative practices in the field of bio-based economy and to exchange experiences at a European level.

Knowledge triangle between research, education and industry

With this project, a knowledge triangle is formed between research, education and industry of key-role stakeholders in Europe in which they work together to improve education and facilitate innovation in the area of the bio-based economy. The full partners in the ABBEE project will form the inner circle, developing, transferring and implementing innovative practices. The outer circle comprises more universities and companies, who will be able to benefit (freely) from the results and experiences. By doing so, they enhance EU’s competitive position in the field of bio-based economy and prepare students for their future in a bio-based economy.

Approach

This Strategic Partnership aims at the following results:

  1. Develop new forms of blended learning modules on 4 topics by a university. The modules will be available as a course in a regular program within the university and as an online module.
  2. An online platform (website) to support the activity 1 and give insight in the existing MSc-programmes (and minors).

Contacts: Gerlinde van Vilsteren: gerlinde.vanvilsteren@wur.nl

Website