From innovation ecosystems to business ecosystems through the CICAT2025 project
CICAT2025 ‘Circular Economy Catalysts: From Innovation to Business Ecosystems’ is a project with the aim of accelerating the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy. The project supports the Finnish Government’s goal of making Finland a leading country in circular economy by 2025 through identifying factors that support the circular economy and providing companies and political decision-makers with solutions that can expedite the transition. The project will be active between 2019 and 2023.
Over the course of the project, Tampere University researchers will examine the stakeholder effect as a circular economy catalyst. A wide range of scientific publications and policy recommendations have been prepared based on the project research, along with posters, conference releases and webinars aimed at stakeholders. Tampere University’s efforts related to the project focus particularly on how stakeholder cooperation can support and promote the transition to a circular economy, which is seen as a means of building an ecologically, socially and financially sustainable society.
The CICAT2025 project also contributes to the follwing SDGs: 2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 17.
Read more about the CICAT2025.
A project to support the ecosystems of sustainable industrial operations
The Sustainable Industry Ecosystem (SIE) project involves research organisations supporting the on-going digital transition of Finnish industry through financial, ecological and socially sustainable means by combining spearhead research in circular economy, robotics, industrial technology, energy production, innovative digital solutions and artificial intelligence. Tampere University is responsible for the spearhead research covering circular economy and robotics. The project was active in 2021–2022.
The SIE will create a service model that merge existing pilot lines, digital platforms and innovations hubs to form a combination that enables interdisciplinary testing and research to serve trade and industry.
Over the course of the project, the education and research opportunities that are based on the prior work of research organisations and have been facilitated by the new networking ecosystem will be highlighted to Finnish trade and industry through seminars and workshops, for example.
The project cooperates with a variety of ministries, financiers, companies and networks.
The SIE project contributes to the following SDGs: 9.
Read more about the research project.
International research supports industry transition to composite recycling
The FiberEUse project seeks to integrate different innovative activities through a holistic approach to enhance the profitability of composite recycling and reuse in value-added products. With the help of new cloud-based ICT solutions for value-chain integration, the scouting of new markets, an analysis of legislative barriers and the life cycle assessment of different reverse logistic options, FiberEUse will support industry in the transition to a circular economy model for composites.
FiberEUse is a €9.8 million research project funded by the EU. The project was launched in June 2017 and involves 20 partners from seven EU countries.
The FiberEUse project also contributes to the following SDGs: 9, 11, 13.
Read more about the FiberEUse.
Project to develop a sustainable alternative to carbon fibres
EUCAlyptus LIgnin VAlorisation for Advanced Materials and Carbon Fibres (Eucaliva) is a research project bases on the extraction of high-purity soluble lignin from chemical wood pulping processes.
The project will develop and set up a fully integrated, energy-efficient, scalable, innovative and flexible processing chain based on the valorisation of lignin for producing carbon fibres and other carbon-based materials, mainly for functional applications.
The project partners are developing a variety of applications: multifunctional film-like conductive, piezo-resistive and piezoelectric materials (for example for biosensors, flexible electrodes and stretchable electronics), smart fabrics and functional fibres as well as applications based on fibrous mats, non-woven fabrics and their carbonised derivatives (carbon-activated products).
The Eucaliva project also contributes to the following SDGs: 9, 13.
Developing bio-based and degradable materials for industrial food packaging
The BioBarr project responds to the industrial and technological challenge of developing fully biodegradable food packaging.
The novel solutions applied in the project concern the smart combination of advanced technological elements, such as PHA biopolymers, new coating treatment technologies applied to PHAs and the development and application of a completely biodegradable bio-ink for printing on the PHA-based packaging.
The project is funded by Horizon 2020.
The BioBarr project also contributes to the following SDGs: 9, 13.
Company collaboration creates new business opportunities based on recycled plastic
The PLASTin – ALL‐IN for Plastics Recycling project was established to support the plastic industry in developing systemic and environmentally optimised recycling concepts. This can be achieved by generating new knowledge about recycling processes and technologies, such as sorting, pre‐treatment, mechanical and chemical treatment and reject handling, and building a system‐level understanding to uncover new business opportunities that are based on recycling.
In addition to Tampere University, the project includes researchers from other Finnish universities and research institutes as well as several companies. The project is funded by Business Finland.
The PLASTin project also contributes to the following SDGs: 9, 13.
Research team explores accounting and reporting practices to build a more sustainable society
The fundamental question that the Sustainability and Critical Accounting research group at Tampere University is looking to answer is whether and how accounting practices can help to promote the transition to a just and socially and ecologically sustainable society.
The group is theoretically and methodologically open-minded and approaches research topics from a critical perspective. The group considers accounting to be a powerful social institution that has an impact on various levels of society. Interdisciplinarity is therefore a defining feature of the group’s research.
Read more about the research group’s activities and publications.
Responsible Business Research Seminar
The Responsible Business Research Seminar has been held for more than a decade now. The seminar is organised to support and increase the visibility of the responsibility, sustainability and ethics of business operations. The seminar is held in Finnish and English and will be organised in a hybrid format in 2023.
The Responsible Business Seminar also contibutes to the following SDGs: 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17.
HUBS utilises an entrepreneurship-oriented life-cycle approach and cooperation model
HUBS supports sustainable entrepreneurship through an operating model that provides students and student teams with the opportunity to gain support for the development of their business ideas from the HUBS Pre-incubator, for example. Students and teams can also apply for the network’s Red Brick Accelerator. Once an idea has been refined into actual operations, the student or team in question can prepare an assignment for an HUBS course and be partnered with a multidisciplinary team of students to tackle the challenge. Students and teams can also take part in entrepreneurship competitions, such as GISU Urban Innovation and Entrepreneurship, GrowUp and the European Innovation Academy programmes – an endeavour which has often led to awards. Credits are granted for all of the activities listed above.
Sustainability is emphasised in selecting the HUBS partnerships. Our courses in 2021–2022 involved student-employer cooperation with Globe Hope in relation to textile recycling and zero wastage, and with various organisations related to developing cleantech and a local food system for village communities, for example.
Example cases of sustainable entrepreneurship at HUBS:
- From visual artist to aspiring entrepreneur
- The story behind Brightlife
- In cooperation towards sustainable development goals
- Communication – the key to a successful team?
- From a team to a company: Murrost Oy and the challenges of sustainable living
- HUBS joins forces with Globe Hope to organise the 2021 Summer Challenges
HUBS’s operating model also contribute to the following SDGs: 2, 3, 8, 17.
Grant for sustainable entrepreneurship
To celebrate its tenth anniversary, the HUBS team released the Sustainable Entrepreneurship Grant in the spring of 2022. The pilot drew a total of 50 applications – 26 from the university and 24 from TAMK. The grant pilot was successful and is being established as an annual grant to supports sustainable business ideas in our community.
The grant for sustainable entrepreneuship also contributes to the following SDGs: 9.
Household equipment kits for international students
ESN FINT organises a service that provides international students with “starting kits” to facilitate the process of moving to Finland. There are two kinds of household equipment kits: kitchen kits that contain kitchenware and bedroom kits that contain bed linen. The kits promote sustainability in that by renting the household goods the students can avoid having to purchase all of the items themselves. Renting a package costs €5. Upon renting a package, the student must provide a €20 deposit, which is refunded when the items are returned to ESN FINT in good condition.
Read more about Starting kits.
Recycling Room
The ESN FINT Recycling Room is a storage room that contains the items voluntarily left behind by students after their studies. Everything in the Recycling Room is in working condition or easily reparable. The Recycling Room features clothes, shoes, stationery, kitchenware and a wealth of other useful items. The Recycling Room is open twice a week for students to pick up items they may need or to leave behind things that are in working order but no longer useful to their owners. The Recycling Room is located in the Lapinkaari student dormitory and it is particularly intended for international students.