Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz, DE
ECOpole 2025: A regional bioeconomy network – Challenges and Solutions in the Lusatian Area
will report on the creation of a regional bioeconomy network in the Lusatian Area, starting from 2017 up to today. The establishment of a vibrant network, regionally anchored in Lusatia, focusing on holistic material and technology development around natural fiber-reinforced plastics (NFRPs) is the overarching goal of the so-called LaNDER³ partnership. Natural fibres, (bio)polymers, circular economy and renewable energies – that’s where we see innovation potential.
The partnership is based at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG) and is strengthened by cooperation with companies and partners. It brings together technical expertise, connects stakeholders from business, science, and society, explores and develops new approaches, and thus provides impetus for the region. The momentum created by funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and partners from industry can lead to effective results in the medium and long term.
Our activities have two overarching strategic goals: The first, to some degree intrinsic objective is to build up a regionally active, self-sustaining network: Companies and stakeholders alike are involved in the various sub-projects according to their capabilities in order to provide impetus for the economy of the Upper Lusatia region. The second, extrinsic goal is to provide answers to the challenges of structural change. Examples include Germany’s Energiewende (‘energy transition’) and the associated disruptions (decline in lignite production in Lusatia and the associated industries) as well as the ongoing and visible demographic change in the region.
High levels of innovation and transfer capabilities in business and science are essential for the upcoming structural change. The locally strong polymer processing industry can provide a good basis for this. The development of technology related to NFRPs should therefore also form a basis for the further development of industry and related sectors (e.g., suppliers, tool manufacturers, fiber producers/agriculture) to key positions in a future “post-lignite” economic area.
Following this vision, we used the first years to build up the new network, anchor it locally and supraregionally and to raise its profile. We will report on our learnings to date and our connections to the Water-Energy-Food nexus.
Link:
https://lander.hszg.de/en/
