"We believe championing innovator stories is the key to inspire the next generations of professionals to join the bioeconomy sector” says Torfi Jóhannesson, Senior Advisor for Agriculture & Forestry at the Nordic Council of Ministers. “In this series, we wanted to put the focus on some of the people behind the solutions to clarify the key role of their spirit across the innovation game."
Beyond technological and environmental challenges, the bioeconomy space is particularly demanding, mainly because it requires innovators to transcend sectors and build relationships with unlikely partners. This often means absorbing cultural shocks, coming together around a vision that is long-term, and seeking equilibrium in a new value-chain where no previous reference was ever established.
"The area is more complicated, more sophisticated than others” highlights Dr. Christian Patermann in the series trailer. Commonly known as ‘The Father of Bioeconomy’, Dr. Patermann insists: “there is nothing more challenging than bio”.
In addition to the trailer, the series consists of four short stories each devoted to people who are working at the forefront of the bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea Region. The stories demonstrate the variety of resources, industries, products and methods that together form the bioeconomy of the region. Inevitably, they fall short to cover all the aspects of relevance. But they do show what we feel is most important: the spirit and the competences of real live people.
Episode 1 – Growing Fuel Potential
“Courage requires that you are willing to do something.”
Jaakko Nousiainen (UPM Biofuels) spends his time between the forest, the control rooms and the lab where he oversees the production of the biofuel he co-developed with colleagues at the plant of Lappeenranta, Finland. In this episode, he talks about the challenge of pushing the boundaries and putting a career at stake in the name of innovation. Jaakko also describes how their biofuel is made and the importance of steady regulations to allow the biofuel sector to flourish.
Episode 2 – Wearing Paper, Solving Fast Fashion
“Change is really scary for everyone. The whole industry knows that it needs to transform”
Elin Larsson (Filippa K) and Sigrid Barnekow (MISTRA Future Fashion) collaborate on a project based in Stockholm exploring “speeds” of textile materials: how fast do garments move from the beginning to the end of their lifetime? This question led to research and development efforts seeking to adapt materials to both slow and fast fashion models. Paper pulp is a promising material as a basis to rethink the garments that are worn only a few times - a scenario where significant amounts of water, energy and chemicals could be saved.
Episode 3 – Crossing the Line
“I am the tiniest mussel farmer in the Baltic.”
Dr. Tim Staufenberger is proudly developing a local mussel and algae farm in Kiel, Germany, selling his products not only for food but also to a high-end cosmetics brand. By taking up nutrients from the sea, his business is fighting eutrophication – a major problem in the region due to the run-off of nutrients and minerals from land activities. To see his algae turned into cosmetics, Tim had to transcend sectors and adapt to new requirements and product specifications.
Episode 4 – Designing Wooden Houses
“A wooden house can live 700 years – if you take care for it.”
Zaiga Gaile is a renown architect based in Riga, Latvia. She dedicated her career to renovating old wooden houses that are part of the region’s cultural heritage. Zaiga believes that a house should be designed and sized based on the dimensions of the trees it will be made of. Her approach fits into a specific vision of urbanism and challenges the use of wood in multi-storey buildings and large construction work. The responsible use of wood in architecture shows great potential in Europe where concrete and aluminium have slowly taken over mainstream building work, at the expense of the environment.
The Made of Courage video series was produced by Green Exchange for the Nordic Council of Ministers with support from Interreg Baltic Sea Region.