Living Lab Biobased Brazil (LLB) celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. What began as an initiative to strengthen our labor market has evolved into a successful platform for biobased innovation and collaboration. LLB facilitates international cooperation and knowledge exchange in research projects that contribute to the materials and energy transition. Recently, the first PhD researcher successfully crossed the ocean to complete her program.
In 2014, Living Lab Biobased Brazil was established under the leadership of MNEXT. Today, the network includes seven partner universities in Brazil—UFMG, UFSJ, UFOP, UFV, PUC Minas, UFJF, and UFLA—and five knowledge institutions in the Netherlands: Avans, HZ, NHL Stenden, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, and Maastricht University. The original goal was to strengthen international cooperation between the Netherlands and Brazil in education and research through partnerships among knowledge institutions, governments, and businesses. Jappe de Best, professor of Biobased Resources & Energy at MNEXT and one of the founders of LLB, recalls: “We quickly identified shared themes around biobased innovations. That’s how the first steps toward joint projects were taken.”
Shortly after LLB’s establishment, the first students ventured to a continent entirely new to them. Since then, over 260 students have completed internships in either the Netherlands or Brazil, and numerous joint research projects have been carried out. This past year marked a new milestone: the first PhD candidate completed her multi-year research program at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV), spending one year at MNEXT. Bruna Rodrigues earned her doctorate with the dissertation “Sustainable Solutions for Pulp Mill Sludge Management”, supervised in Brazil by Claudio Silva, a professor in the Forest Engineering Department (DEF) at UFV, and in the Netherlands by Jappe de Best, Alexander Compeer, and Qian Zhou.
Broadening Horizons
The collaboration within LLB offers valuable experiences and perspectives for everyone involved. Twan Lemlijn, a Mechanical Engineering student at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, is currently conducting his research internship at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). For Twan, the program is not only an academic challenge but also an opportunity to experience a completely different culture and environment. “This experience has made me more independent. I’m now living in a city of 2.5 million people, completely different from my small village in the south of the Netherlands. Here, you feel the effects of climate change directly. Every year, new heat records are broken, and droughts and wildfires have a major impact. The youth here are especially aware that they need to take action for nature. That awareness is growing quickly.”
Ana Binow Bitar came to the Netherlands during her studies through LLB and used the experience as a springboard to build a career in the Netherlands. Her story illustrates how LLB not only crosses borders but also retains knowledge and talent for the Netherlands. After her internship, Ana had the opportunity to stay in the Netherlands and, after completing a master’s degree, started working at Deerns, a renowned engineering firm offering integrated solutions in areas such as building physics. At Deerns, she works on projects focusing on wind analysis, ventilation, energy efficiency, acoustics, fire safety, and daylight design. She notes significant differences between the construction sectors in both countries: “Sustainable construction is not strictly regulated in Brazil, and while the field of building physics is developing there, it’s not as advanced as in the Netherlands. In Brazil, the focus is more on cost-effective structural solutions, whereas here, strict environmental regulations emphasize energy efficiency and building comfort.”
Knowledge Exchange as a Vehicle for Innovation
The collaboration between Brazil and the Netherlands within Living Lab Biobased Brazil has resulted in numerous research projects and valuable knowledge exchange. Claudio Silva emphasizes the importance of this exchange: “It’s not just about students learning from us, but also about students bringing new ideas and problem-solving approaches from the Netherlands to us.” Claudio commends the contributions of students like Martijn Eikelboom, who served as the first author of the article “A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis of Management Alternatives for Anaerobically Digested Kraft Pulp Mill Sludge”, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE. This article provided new insights into a significant issue for the pulp and paper industry, which is of great importance to Brazil.
Jappe de Best echoes this sentiment: “The strength of LLB lies in the diverse backgrounds of students and researchers, who approach challenges from different perspectives and, in doing so, enhance the quality of research.”
Looking Ahead
The 10-year collaboration between the Netherlands and Brazil through LLB is a success, but according to Jappe de Best, the horizon is far from reached. “We’ve built a strong foundation, but the world is changing rapidly, and there are still many opportunities ahead. The focus will increasingly be on strengthening research ties, further developing PhD exchanges, and creating new collaborative projects that address the major global challenges in the materials and energy transition.”
Are you interested in contributing to the research projects of Living Lab Biobased Brazil as a student or project partner? Contact Margot Verwei at mgp.verwei@avans.nl.
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