ArtEZ professorship participate in ambitious European research on sustainability
- Design
- Fashion
- Research
The ArtEZ professorship Tactical Design and researchers from Wageningen University & Research (WUR) are part of an ambitious European consortium investigating the transition to a bioeconomy in the three-year Engage4BIO project. The consortium recently received a Horizon grant of EUR 2.5 million from the European Commission for this purpose.
Towards a sustainable bioeconomy
Engage4BIO aims to contribute to the development of a sustainable, circular and regenerative bioeconomy that is no longer dependent on oil-based, non-renewable resources. The consortium investigates how to stimulate cooperation between knowledge institutions, governments, business, citizens for the bio-economy. The consortium and the research aligns with the ArtEZ Research Collective's New Ecologies of Matter research line. It is the first time ArtEZ has received a research grant from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme.
Prominent role for art and design
Professor Jeroen van den Eijnde and researcher Tjeerd Veenhoven, (Tactical Design) will travel to Linz in Austria for the two-day kick-off meeting of the Engage4BIO consortium. Jeroen van den Eijnde is proud that ArtEZ takes such a prominent role in this international Horizon project. For Jeroen van den Eijnde, this consortium and ArtEZ's involvement in it as an important recognition of the indispensable role of design and art in the transition to a sustainable society. Jeroen:
Importantly, this project recognises the power and expertise of art and design to connect people from different cultural backgrounds and interests to the huge transitions we face, such as a fossil-free generative bio-economy."
Regional and international focus
The consortium focuses on the specific potential of five European regions for a bioeconomy. The two ArtEZ professorships - Tactical Design and Fashion - and WUR (Environmental Research and Food & Biobased Research) focus their research specifically on the regional ecosystem in the Netherlands for circular and bio-based fashion and textiles. The other European regions are in Hungary (food), Austria (furniture and interior design), Finland (packaging) and Italy (sustainable economy, also known as 'Blue Economy'). The consortium is led by Austria's Zentrum für Soziale Innovation.