Fraunhofer Liaison Office Brazil
Innovation Workshop
Brazil is a key player in the Bioeconomy, thanks to its unique biodiversity and the abundance of its natural resources. One of the main examples of a product with great economic potential is the Açaí, a high value-added product that generates savings of more than US$ 1 billion per year. Aiming to intensify the partnership between Brazil and Germany in this area, Fraunhofer LO Brazil, AHK, GiZ, VDI and the Representation of the State of Bavaria in Brazil promoted an event on Bioeconomy last December 2nd, with the purpose of highlighting the several existing activities and technologies.
The opening session counted with the German Ambassador in Brazil, Heiko Thoms, the Head of Fraunhofer LO Brazil, Rodrigo Pastl, followed by the Innovation Director of AHK São Paulo, Bruno Vath Zarpellon and João Stedile, Director of the Association of German-Brazilian Engineers (VDI). After the opening, the block "Opportunities in Bioeconomy in Brazil and Germany" began, with the presentation of CNI's Policy and Industry Specialist, Mário Cardoso, and two representatives of German institutions: APD's Executive Director Ingo Melchers and GiZ's Bioeconomy Director, Benno Pokorny.
The next block brought Fraunhofer's main technological trends in the area, with the theme "Fraunhofer Bioeconomy and Agrobusiness Technologies". Alexandre Moreira from Fraunhofer IVV started the block presenting projects in Brazil, followed by Simon Vogel (Fraunhofer IME), talking about Vertical Agriculture, Waldir Junior (Fraunhofer Portugal) presenting Digital Agriculture and Pablo Antonio (Fraunhofer IESE), who brought examples about Cognitive Agriculture.
The last block had Brazilian and German specialists approaching the theme "Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Research in Bioeconomy". First, there was the presentation of the Director of ABBI (Brazilian Association of Bioinnovation), Thiago Falda, followed by Dr. Ana Salles of Fraunhofer ICT, Guilherme Stein of WWU Münster, the CEO of the startup Biosolvit, Guilhermo Queiroz, the Rector Cleinaldo Costa of the Amazonas State University (UEA) and Dr. Maritta Koch-Weser of the University of São Paulo (USP).
The four-hour event was a success and brought the approximation of several important actors for both countries, generating initial contacts for projects in Bioeconomy, mainly focused on applied science.
Watch the workshop at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4KA7bfm5dk