Twelve months into the ECOFUNC journey, our consortium came together again in Kortrijk, Belgium, for a few inspiring days of exchange, collaboration, and shared ambition during the General Assembly and the second ECOFUNC project meeting.
It was exciting to reflect on how the work is evolving, and even more motivating to get closer to the “product reality” behind circular biomaterial innovation. Instead of staying at the level of concepts, the focus was on what partners are building right now, what needs to be validated next, and how we connect the dots across the chain to turn developments into applications people can actually use.
What we worked on
- Reviewed the newest circular material samples and discussed what they mean for real applications.
- Visited Centexbel to connect development with testing and performance requirements.
- Ran hands-on collaboration + matchmaking sessions to align partners around concrete development needs and opportunities.
- Took stock of year-one progress and agreed on the next moves – priorities, milestones, and who does what next.
Beyond the meetings, it was a great reminder of how valuable in-person discussions and strong partnerships are in driving innovation forward, especially when the goal is to develop new products and enable new circular value chains.
A warm thank you to Centexbel for the excellent hosting and organisation, and to all project partners for the inspiring collaboration.
