Share your images and help FTP showcase innovation
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FTP is looking forward to making visible the impact and positive transformation resulting from research and innovation activities carried out by the forest-based sector in all member states. You can contribute to this initiative by sharing your pictures with the FTP Secretariat. We are eager to publish attractive pictures that illustrate innovation and research areas in all value chains within the sector: images of new products, revolutionary applications, technological breakthroughs, demonstration projects and innovative manufacturing processes or business models. We are looking forward to receiving images that show sustainable forest management practices seen in all corners of Europe and portraying diverse regional landscapes.
Would you like to contribute and share your images with FTP? Please contact the FTP Secretariat, Ms Heini Hyrkkö, heini.hyrkko@forestplatform.org and we will provide you with further information.
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FTP in the media
The appointment of Lena Ek as the new Chair of the FTP Board attracted the attention of Swedish and European trade media, with over 30 articles published in online trade media outlets over a one- week period in April. The significant role of the forest-based sector in shaping the European biobased society, was the core message featured at headline level in the English-speaking trade press. At European level, FTP’s strategic role in unlocking the full potential of EU funding programmes, such as Horizon 2020, was underlined by Lena Ek in an interview published by the Swedish online news portal Skog Supply.
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EUBA calls for EU global leadership in the bioeconomy
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On the occasion of ‘ BioEconomyUtrecht2016’, the fourth Bioeconomy Stakeholders’ Conference, that took place on 12 and 13 April 2016, the European Bioeconomy Alliance ( EUBA) called on the EU to lead a worldwide transition towards a renewable, low-carbon economy. Before the conference, EUBA members, together with experts of the biobased community, produced a set of 15 recommendations on how Europe can promote biobased products in public procurement.
During the two-day conference, the Dutch EU Presidency - the organiser of the event - launched the European Bioeconomy Stakeholders Manifesto. The document is a compilation of the major challenges connecting bioeconomy and development issues, as expressed in the opinions of multi-stakeholder groups during various dialogues, exercises and high level events.
As a next step, the EUBA and FTP will monitor, together with DG GROW and DG RTD, the extent to which the Manifesto will influence a new strategy for the bioeconomy in Europe.
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Germany: the Fibres & Paper 2030 project looks ahead to the future of fibre-based materials
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New innovative ways of using paper will become an integral part of everyday life, even in areas where it still remains unthinkable today. Visioning the future of fibre-based materials, a total of 640 innovative and feasible ideas about the future with paper were identified as the outcome of the 'Fibres & Paper 2030' project, led by the German research institute Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS) during 2014–2015. The full report is downloadable here.
During the work which spanned 15 months, a detailed study of eight important areas of daily life and industry came up with various possible applications for paper, with the potential to create sustainable solutions and new high-added value for customers. The thematic areas covered were nutrition, health & hygiene, mobility, information/communication/education/knowledge, logistics, future cities & architecture, living & working, and general conditions.
The 'Fibres & Paper 2030' project predicts that the demand for sustainable, biobased, economic concepts will continue to grow steadily. The aim of the project was to identify concrete options and courses of action for companies in the pulp and paper sector. The results of the project were compiled by an interdisciplinary team of 18 professionals, together with more than 100 people from all sections of the pulp and paper value chain, who participated in guided brainstorming workshops.
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About additive manufacturing?
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Or does it sound more familiar when you come across expressions such as ‘3D printing’, ‘rapid prototyping’ (RP), ‘direct digital manufacturing’ (DDM) or ‘agile manufacturing’? Despite not being synonyms, all these terms have been used to name or describe the “process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies.”
In 2009 the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) adopted ‘additive manufacturing’ (AM) as the official industry standard term to identify this innovative technology and defined a set of standards to classify the various AM processes according to their methods of layer manufacturing, materials or technology used, amongst others. Therefore, expressions such as ‘material jetting’, ‘sheet lamination’, ‘binder jetting’, ‘material extrusion, ‘directed energy deposition’, ‘powder bed infusion’, and ‘VAT photopolymerisation’ are also frequently used as the same as AM.
Because its applications seem to be endless – from building prototypes or models for visualization, to manufacturing highly customized end-use products as well as small amounts of production parts, and even replacing traditional machinery in the production line – AM has been considered a disruptive technology that could rapidly create new markets and extinguish traditional value chains.
FTP is looking forward to hearing from its stakeholders and network partners about possible developments with AM. Let us know your opinion!
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