saka
Mon, 14/10/2024 – 07:14
LIAIS-ing for industrial symbiosis!
LIAISE is a research network set up by COST. To put it in words rather than acronyms, it’s a four-year research network focusing on Cooperation, development and cross-border transfer of Industrial Symbiosis among industry and stakeholders which was set up under European Cooperation in Science and Technology.
COST is an EU-funded, intergovernmental framework which manages the COST Open Call, dedicated to the creation of pan-European research networks in all fields of science. It was set up in 1971 and its remit is ‘to fund interdisciplinary research networks called COST Actions. These Actions bring together researchers, innovators and other professionals including industry specialists, who are based in Europe and beyond, to collaborate on research topics for a period of 4 years’.
So there’s the background. LIAISE is a COST Action. It began on 24 October 2023 and is led Almudena Muñoz Puche from CETEM, with 245 working group members from 49 countries. It aims to create an inclusive and comprehensive approach to industrial symbiosis. This will involve fostering strong partnerships, building a solid foundation for knowledge growth, and encouraging R&D leading to practical, impactful results. Through a multidisciplinary approach and innovative solutions, it aims to address a number of pressing challenges facing the circular economy.
The Action is divided into four working groups:
- Industrial Symbiosis: Technical Synergies, led by Prof. Aleksandar Erceg (Croatia),
- Industrial Symbiosis: Business Model, led by Dr Hasan Volkan Oral (Türkiye),
- Enhancing the Awareness and Acceptance of Industrial Symbiosis, led by Prof. Besa Shahini (Albania),
- Dissemination and Exploitation, led by Mr Leonardo Piccinetti (Ireland).
It is open to anyone interested in taking advantage of the opportunities offered or sharing their know-how with other participants with a view to creating a solid network that will allow them to move forward and make industrial symbiosis a reality in industry. Having been operational for a year, the network is taking stock of progress made and looking for further potential participants.
Basically, LIAISE is all about coordinating research on industrial symbiosis, a key aspect of the circular economy, and setting up a network to promote it.
Industrial symbiosis may not quite be spinning straw into gold, but turning waste into valuable raw materials is as good as it’s going to get outside of a fairytale.
