Partners

The Summer school will be co-organised several European projects:

SSUCHY

SSUCHY aims at exploiting the intrinsic and differentiating properties of plant fibres and biopolymers derived from lignocellulosic feedstock to develop fully bio-based composites with improved functionalities. The main driver behind this project is not only to substitute conventional fossil-based materials with more sustainable bio-based ones but also to achieve improved functionalities that surpasses those of fossil-based ones. Enhanced functionalities are, in addition to load-bearing resistance and weight reduction of structures, enhanced durability, vibration damping, vibro-acoustic control and fire retardancy while retaining an essentially recyclable and, for certain applications, biodegradable character. Such developments would provide to the composite industry a significant value and functions added products with high socio-economic impacts and minimized environmental impact. It will create opportunities to expand market applications for bio-based composites to semi-structural and functional applications in transportation along with new opportunities in high value niches.

FLOWER

FLOWER is a project that aims to develop flax fibre reinforcements produced locally for the composite industry at a lower cost. The outcomes of this project will enable to achieve the aspirations of using sustainable, cost effective and environmentally friendly lightweight composites as a viable alternative for automotive, advertising and sailing sectors.

Led by the University of South Brittany, FLOWER brings together 4 academic partners (University of South Brittany in Lorient, INRA in Nantes, University of Cambridge and University of Portsmouth) and 4 industrial partners (the companies Kaïros, Teillage Vandecandelaère, EcoTechnilin and Howa-Tramico) located on both sides of the English Channel. Partners complementarity allows to span the entire value-chain, from the agricultural production of flax fibres to the R&D of materials and the commercialisation of end-products in industries.

NETFIB

NETFIB (Valorisation of nettle fiber grown on marginal lands in an agro-forestry system) is a projet coordinated by the Chrono-Environment Laboratory of Bourgogne Franche-Comté aims to develop the production of nettle in agro-forestry system on marginalized land, to feed a sector in plain expansion, without accentuating the pressure on agricultural land. The implementation of field trials will be done on 4 industrial sites, made available by the industrial partner INOVYN in France (St Symphorien sur Saone), Belgium (Jemeppe), Italy (Tavazzano) and Germany (Rheinberg). The productivity of nettle in agro-forestry system will be studied by the French (LCE & LIEC), Italian (UCSC) and Austrian (BOKU) partners. The quality and mechanical properties of the fibers produced will be studied by the French (FEMTO-ST) and German (ATB & HSB) partners. Finally, the study of the economic and social impacts, as well as the potential impacts on the environment will be coordinated by the English partner (R3 Environment). NETFIB is therefore decidedly multi-disciplinary, combining material, environmental and human sciences.

FibreNet

FibreNet is a coalition of 7 European universities and 8 industrial organizations operating in the field of fibres. Our common goal is finding comprehensive solutions to improve and tailor the properties of fibre products. This would enable new environmentally friendly products and products with totally new functionalities. We are concentrating on bio-based fibres, either natural or man-made in origin. We seek solutions that are suited for different application areas and to guarantee the suitability, we have brought together experts from three growing sectors of bio-based industry: biocomposites, paper&packaging materials and medical textiles.

FibreNet is funded by H2020-MSCA-ITN. It is an umbrella project for 15 individual research projects in the field of fibres. The goals of the umbrella project are:

to generate common goals for the multidisciplinary fibre-research within the consortium—and to oversee the attainment of the goals,
to structure doctoral training in bio-based fibres and to offer scientific and transferable skills training,
to build a strong and active network of fibre-professionals from different application areas,
to share the expertise and know-how across different disciplines, and
to promote the exploitation of the results generated in FibreNet.

Our Sponsors

Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI-JU) is a public-private partnership between the European Union and the Bio-Based Industries Consortium (BIC), operating under the European Horizon 2020 program.

The objectives of BBI JU are : to contribute to a sustainable, low carbon and profitable economy; to increase economic growth and employment, especially in rural areas, by developing competitive biosourced industries in Europe.

Interreg France Channel England is an EU programme set up to foster economic development in the south of the UK and north of France by funding innovative projects which have a sustainable cross-border benefit in the Programme’s eligible regions.

EIPHI graduate school (Engineering and Innovation through Physical Sciences, High-technologies, and cross-dIsciplinary research) proposes 10 Master Degrees covering 5 research areas with a strong interdisciplinay content. Outstanding students will acquire a solid knowledge in various topics, ranging from fundamental to applied sciences, allowing them to build a successful career in R&D sectors.