Fibrenamics Green welcomed the academic and entrepreneur community in the second edition of the Innovation Open-day. The event was focused on circular economy and product design, and was held on March 29 at the University of Minho (UMinho).

More than 80 people attended the initiative, outstand by the launch of Fibrenamics Green platform. Carlos Almeida, marketing coordinator at Fibrenamics, presented the work that has been developed since the official launch of the project in November 2016, namely identifying and collecting wastes, implementing technologies and developing four demonstrator models based on woods, minerals, plastics and fibers, which will serve as inspiration for the development of the innovative products of the project.

The networking, through the exchange of materials and sharing of services between different industries, assumes an increasingly important role for companies, especially regarding the reuse and reintegration of waste in production processes. Based on the collaborative concept of circular economy, several companies are already part of the Fibrenamics Green partner network.

An inevitable change
Inês Costa, specialist in circular economics from the Ministry of the Environment of Portugal, explains that the current scenario requires quick measures because the environmental consequences are very high, pointing out there is a parallel between the growth of the industry and the increase of pollution, and therefore “many industries are destined due to the risk of strong supply“.

Inês Costa also interceded on how to lead the transition of Portugal on the road to a circular economy. “This transition is not an easy process, but it is absolutely inevitable”, she said, “if it is a vision assumed by all and if we all work together, the environmental benefits will contribute to the improvement of Portuguese economy”. The delegate of the Ministry of the Environment of Portugal also enhance that “activities such as Fibrenamics Green are important way to disseminate knowledge about circular economy.”

“We want to generate ideas with great efficiency”
Professor Raul Fangueiro, coordinator of the International Platform Fibrenamics, acknowledges that many times the problem goes through getting adapted: “what we have notice lately is that we do fantastic things but is a problem to sell them”. The professor also assures that “We expect the market to pull from innovators – whether academic or industrial, because we want to generate ideas with great efficiency. “

Windows for the Future
The creative industries will be one of the privileged vehicles for sustainable innovation. David Bota, designer and professor at IADE Portugal and at ELISAVA Barcelona, recognize that is urgent to find “a balance between what we produce and what we consume”. In his speech, the designer mentioned the importance of using new materials as an inspirational source, because “the challenge of the designer is to collaborate on a biggest model.” The designer must think about how he/she can influence the global dimension of the future, because the humanity “need to rebuild a new model with a new vision”.

Creative Networking
For students and professionals of the creative industries, the collaborative possibilities extend to the Green Think Tank a network of creatives stimulated by opportunities identified in the market through the Fibrenamics Green platform, which promotes the development of sustainable solutions, through the exchange of ideas and the interdisciplinary contact.

This collaborative project, which the main goal is to provide the creativity and valorization of waste in the market was introduced by Tiago Sousa, product designer at Fibrenamics Green. The way is bringing together the creative community to find new solutions forward, recognizing that creativity can be the input needed for innovation.

In this way, it was launched in the Innovation Open-day an interactive challenge about Green Think Tank. Joana Moreira was one of the participants of the Green Innovation Experience. The third year student of the Product Design degree at UMinho, highlighted positively the dynamics of the event, as well as the diversity of the ideas that emerged. After the experience, Joana assured that she intends to integrate into the next activities of the Green Think Tank since “the dynamics were good, I’m curious about what is going to develop from now on.“

Fibrenamics Green – Platform for the development of innovative products based on wastes is a part-financed project by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the NORTE 2020 Regional Operational Program for the North 2014-2020 with a total eligible cost of 552.856,83€, EU financial support of 469.928,31€ and self-financing of 82.928,52€.