São Paulo, Brazil – Today Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander formally opened the joint BE-Basic Brazil and TU Delft Brazil office during a Seminar on Biobased Economy in São Paulo, Brazil. The cooperation between BE-Basic and its Brazilian partners was further intensified and expanded by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with UNICAMP, the University of Campinas, and a Letter of Intent with FIESP, the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo. ‘Together we aim to work on novel sustainable processes for biobased renewable products and to inspire new and established businesses to join forces in innovation’, said Luuk van der Wielen, chairman of Executive Board of BE-Basic.
Long-term relation with Brazil
Brazil and The Netherlands have each developed leading positions in the biobased economy – but each in a different way, tuned to their respective strengths and geographical situations. In this international playing field, close collaboration is key. The foundations for the collaboration with Brazil originate from the nineties with both academic and industrial partners from the B-Basic consortium, the predecessor of BE-Basic. This intensified over the last few years when a number of missions and joint workshops with Brazilian researchers were organised. Collaborations with Brazil build on an integrated business plan of activities, which are formalised in a series of joint agreements, for example with FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation) and CTBE (Brazilian Bioethanol Science and Technology Laboratory).
Cooperation with UNICAMP
Today, BE-Basic and the Brazilian leading university UNICAMP signed an agreement to further extend and develop their collaboration. These two key players in the field of biobased economy agreed to a 4-year cooperation with activities ranging from developing education programmes, exchange of staff and students to joint research projects and exchange of academic knowledge.
São Paulo and Dutch industry team up
Also in business development Brazil offers interesting opportunities for companies active in the field of biobased product and process development. Innovation using non-food biomass as a resource for high added value products depends on availability of well trained engineers and entrepreneurs. BE-Basic and the Industrial branch organisation FIESP are now joining forces to facilitate the development of these needs. Under the eyes of the Prince of Orange they jointly signed a Letter of Intent to underline their intentions. ‘Brazil has a lot to offer, it is a large country and its geographical positions makes it the number one biomass producer of the world. Our companies are interested in sustainable development, replacing fossil resources, contributing to our environment, but also on employment and well being. To reach these goals we need to train people and to facilitate industrial collaboration to develop the most sustainable solutions’, says Patricia Osseweijer, leader of the sustainability program of BE-Basic. ‘I am pleased to see so much enthusiasm for this collaboration!’.
About Unicamp
Unicamp is a leading Brazilian university and consists of three campuses – in Campinas, Piracicaba and Limeira – which are home to 22 teaching and research centers. It also has a vast hospital complex (two large hospitals in Campinas, and one in each of the neighboring towns of Sumaré and Hortolândia); 23 interdisciplinary centers; two technical high schools; and a series of support units within a universe of about 50 thousand people in which thousands of research projects are carried out.
About FIESP
FIESP — Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo is spokesperson for 132 business associations which represent approximately 150 thousand industries of all sizes and in all areas. It is the largest professional body in Brazilian industry.
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Prof.dr. Patricia Osseweijer
