The 6th TransitionLab Insight Event (November 26, 2021) was hosted by Dr. Marco Schmitt (RWTH Aachen University) and featured a 15-minute talk about the key insights produced by the TransitionLab in the first two years followed by a short discussion.
The key takeaway messages (see the final report here and the recording of the presentation here) can be summarized in the following way:
- Sustainability is the key topic to raise attention and foster engagement for bio-based textile innovations in the public
- Student interest and engagement is especially high, but also comes with concerns about greenwashing and emphasizes practical innovations in behavior and transparency
- Network analysis of the research and technology field shows that EU-funded projects play a key role and internationalization is needed, and also that for every area just a few key and major players are identifiable
- The term “bio-based” is not well known, less well understood and associated with false expectations by consumers and the public at large
- Economic and sustainability success factors do not align in innovation projects at the current moment
- Demonstrator development has to be accompanied with research questions that are useful for the innovation goals of the individual projects and the innovation space at large, which affords time and effort
The TransitionLab Insight Event Series will continue to share results regarding the social environment for innovations across the textile value-chain and thereby help to spark new ideas and broaden perspectives on societal issues associated with bio-based products across BIOTEXFUTURE in phase 2 with a continuous and regularly scheduled monthly report (starting in January 2022).
