Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - InnoRenew CoE (Renewable materials and healthy environments research and innovation centre of excellence)

Teaser

The InnoRenew CoE Widespread-Teaming-Phase 2 project addresses two main concerns. First, the project is designed to address the primary aim of the funding mechanism: decreasing the disparity in Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) performance between widening countries...

Summary

The InnoRenew CoE Widespread-Teaming-Phase 2 project addresses two main concerns. First, the project is designed to address the primary aim of the funding mechanism: decreasing the disparity in Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) performance between widening countries (in this case, Slovenia) and higher performing countries. Second, the project intends to support the development of renewable materials value chains in Slovenia and abroad, particularly related to building, by conducting interdisciplinary research that combines wood and renewable materials science, building engineering, ICT, human health, and data science.

To address these concerns, the project created a new research institute in Slovenia, the “InnoRenew CoE Renewable Materials and Healthy Environments Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence”. The project received complimentary funding from the Republic of Slovenia to construct and equip a new research facility to generate new knowledge, assist industry in overcoming their challenges, and create a safer, healthier, and more sustainable built environment for all people.

This project is critically important to society for multiple reasons. First, reducing the RDI disparity between widening and high performing countries is a step in reducing economic and social disparities. High performing RDI countries lead Europe in many areas of development, and raising the capabilities in Slovenia will help increase its performance in other areas than RDI. This spillover effect from RDI to industrial and economic performance and social wellbeing has a direct impact on the lives of millions of people. Second, the topic of research is important for industry in Slovenia, as the forest sector has significant room for growth and can provide new jobs and a valuable, sustainable resource for the country and its trading partners. Beyond industry, the focus on creating healthy and sustainable buildings for all users will have substantial social, human health, and environmental wellbeing impacts.

Accordingly, the overall objectives of the InnoRenew CoE project are to establish, develop, and operate a new research centre in Slovenia that complements and extends the capabilities of the consortium partners, contributes to raising the RDI performance of the country, and addresses the needs of society related to renewable resource utilisation and healthy, sustainable buildings.

Work performed

The work performed from the beginning of the project is extensive and can be divided into two main categories, Operational and Scientific. Operational activities include those related to the strategic, financial, and communication activities of the institute, acquiring infrastructure for the new research facility, hiring, training, and retaining employees, and other day-to-day operations of the institute. Scientific activities include RDI work, its publication, and promotion, seeking new research activities, disseminating scientific results, and supporting industry in its structural use of RDI practices.

Operational activities. The day-to-day operations of the InnoRenew CoE are led by the director of the institute, who is supported by a deputy director and receives mentoring from the project’s Advanced Partner. The ongoing operational activities include the day-to-day operations, hiring, training, and assisting new employees in their transition to the InnoRenew CoE, financial and strategic management of the institute, reporting to funders, and assessing the operational capacities of the institute to ensure we remain ready to meet new and existing challenges. The design and permitting process for a new research facility, in addition to acquiring the research equipment for the new building, have been a key operational task during the grant period. As that process comes to a close, overseeing public procurement processes and the monitoring the construction of the new building will be amongst the main operational tasks of the InnoRenew CoE and its partners. As of 30 June 2018, 43 persons were hired by the InnoRenew CoE, 33 researchers and 2 technicians are supported by 8 administrative staff. 55 % of the employees in the science department are from outside of Slovenia, and overall 44 % are from abroad.

Scientific operations. The InnoRenew CoE research work began with eight pre-planned “start-up” projects that were designed during the planning stages of the InnoRenew project. Since then, the research work of the institute has expanded and diversified as new research staff bring their own unique knowledge, skills, and network that contribute to existing tasks and make new activities possible.

Additionally four new InnoRenew projects have begun with consortium partners, while many more have started internally at the InnoRenew CoE and with external partners from international and national academia, industry, and policy. Amongst those new projects are nationally funded projects, industry funded work, new H2020 projects, and participation in several important networks (e.g., various COST Actions and other professional organisations) by InnoRenew CoE employees. These new projects variously examine biomass utilisation from agricultural residues, process optimisation, wood modification techniques, the positive health impacts of VOCs and utilisation of extracted VOCs from wood modification techniques, training content for architecture, construction, and engineering professionals, and more.

A key objective of the InnoRenew CoE is to find a balance between the operational activities and scientific operations that ensure the long-term sustainability of the institute. As of end of June 2018, the InnoRenew CoE had won nearly a million EUR in new funding due in a large part to the strong networks of employees, their expertise, and diligence in preparing successful applications for further funding. This success, we believe, will lead to future success as well and inclusion in a wide range of consortia for project funding.

Final results

The main progress beyond the state of the art and the results expected until the end of the project are:
• improved innovation capacity in forest sector companies, particularly in Slovenia
• increased use of renewable materials in products and buildings
• consideration and implementation of sustainability in production, manufacturing, transport, and use of materials
• a focus on improving the health of users through the design and use of buildings
• improved capabilities of the consortium partners to win research funding, produce excellent science, and sustain increased RDI support for the industry
• improve knowledge transfer to the industry
• increased use of systematic innovation in the renewable resource-based sector
• improved renewable materials education in the region
• increased acceptability of renewable materials by the public
• accelerated and improved support for renewable materials in national and international policies

The ongoing research activities of the institute and many other accomplishments demonstrate the success of the project so far and help secure the future success of the new research institute, the InnoRenew CoE.

Research outputs are archived on the project’s Zenodo community: https://zenodo.org/communities/innorenew/. These outputs are open access and provide an opportunity for other researchers, policy makers, and citizen scientists to access and engage with InnoRenew project outputs.

Website & more info

More info: https://innorenew.eu.