BEECHWOOD INTERNATIONAL (03INT1613)

Internationalization has been an important strategic component of the BioEconomy Cluster from the very beginning and was one of the explicit core tasks of the cluster management during the Leading-Edge Cluster funding period.

In 2015 the BioEconomy Cluster established Europe’s bioeconomy intercluster 3BI along with Biobased Delta, BioVale and IAR. The common goal has been to advance the development of bio-based industries in Europe and facilitate the internationalization of its cluster members, in particular SMEs.

This corresponded remarkably with the objectives of the funding measure “Internationalization of Leading-Edge Clusters, Future Projects and Comparable Networks”, which, from February 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018, we were able to successfully utilize with “BEECHWOOD INTERNATIONAL” for an international research project concept with our international cluster partners. These include the Intercluster 3BI partners IAR, Biobased Delta and BioVale, as well as SARI (Shanghai Advanced Research Institute) and CLIC (CLIC Innovation Ltd.).

During the conception phase of the internationalization project, a research project was successfully approved at the end of 2018. It builds upon the strategic objectives of the BioEconomy cluster and the strategic points contained therein “to deploy bio-based products in as many sectors as possible” and “to expand the raw material base”, and upon the resulting goal of achieving faster market access for intermediate and end products developed in the course of the Leading-Edge Cluster funding.

Strategic objectives of internationalization:

  • Faster expansion of the raw material and technology base (strategic objective) in conjunction with the transfer of know-how gained from the recovery of beechwood to other raw materials, and a sound evaluation of non-wood-based raw materials.
  • Faster market access for the intermediate and end products developed in the cluster.
  • Expansion of the cluster infrastructure by constructing and expanding demonstration plants for the production of biobased intermediate products, semi-finished products, composites and bioenergy sources.
  • Intensified use of biobased products in as many industries and markets as possible.
  • Integration into international cooperation projects of SMEs and research institutions active in the BioEconomy Cluster. This particularly applies to existing and potential cluster members who do not participate in funded projects during the subsequent implementation phase.
  • The continuity of Intercluster 3BI: http://www.3bi-intercluster.org/home/.

The project “Beechwood International” was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Germany within the framework of the funding measure “Internationalisation of Leading Edge Clusters, Future Projects and Comparable Networks” of 1.2.2017-31.12.2018 under the project number 03INT1613.

As a result of this internationalization concept phase, the “NewChi” project was submitted to the project organizer in November 2018, bringing together German and French business and research partners in a project consortium examining “High-quality chitins and chitosans for biofunctional applications”. More information can be found here once the project has been approved.