BIOTEXFUTURE successfully hosted its 3rd Member Day on “Linking the Bio-Based Textile Value Chain” at the adidas headquarters in Herzogenaurach. From the 78 BIOTEXFUTURE members 51 people joined in person and over 38 participants diald in via zoom. The Member Day started off with a welcome note from the host adidas. The major part of the day consisted of two main sessions, the BIOTEXFUTURE Demonstrator Fair and Ask Me Anything session with expert BIOTEXFUTURE members.
For the Demonstrator Fair TransitionLab and the PMO supported the eight technical projects over a period of four months to develop their very own project demonstrator. Each project presented the demonstrators, including prototypes, material examples and/or information material from their project at their own booth. First, every project gave a short pitch to present their respective demonstrator. After the pitch both the on-site and the online audience had the chance to directly talk to the projects and give them feedback. TransitionLab additionally successfully supported the projects in collecting feedback and reflecting on their work. The demonstrators do not only make the achievements of each project and BIOTEXFUTURE as a whole tangible, but also provide a great overview of the goals and challenges every project is facing. The Demonstrator Fair pushed the demonstrator development on another level and painted a vivid picture of the innovative potential of bio-based textiles. BIOTEXFUTURE will now use these demonstrators (samples and prototypes) for outreach and communication activities with interested stakeholders.
The second part of the Member Day was the Ask Me Anything session. Prior to this session the BIOTEXFUTURE members voted on which members would be most interesting for them to talk to. In total, six organisations, namely FALKE, WINT Design Lab, b.fab, the Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Bio-Based Materials, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg and adidas were answering the questions of the on-site and online audience. Both sessions provided ample evidence for the success of BIOTEXFUTURE and presented a variety of opportunities to get to know each other better and become a thriving community of change.