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Flanders Biobased Valley

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General Information
The date when the cluster organisation was established: 
Friday, 1 July, 2005
Number of staff in the management team of the cluster organisation : 
1-5
Legal form of the cluster organisation: 
Non-Profit
Regions: 
Prov. Oost-Vlaanderen
Membership to other networks/partnerships: 
NameWebsite
Vanguard Initiative
http://www.s3vanguardinitiative.eu
Big-C
CINBIOS
www.cinbios.be
Cluster Management Team: 
NameSurnamePositionTelephoneEmail
Dobbelaere
Sofie
Cluster Manager
+32 9 264 62 26
sofie.dobbelaere@fbbv.be
Ruyters
Stefan
ECCP Responsible Person
+32 9 335 70 01
stefan.ruyters@fbbv.be
Link to team description on the cluster's website: 
http://www.fbbv.be/en/contact
Languages spoken: 
Dutch
English
French
Sectoral and Industrial Focus
Sectoral Industries: 
Downstream Chemical Products
Plastics
Technology fields: 
Biobased chemical building blocks
Fermentation
S3 EU priority areas: 
Industrial biotechnology
Chemicals & chemical products
Emerging industries: 
Environmental Industries
Areas of specialisation of the cluster not covered above: 
Biobased economy
Composition of the cluster
Total number of members: 
16
Number of SME members: 
2
Number of larger company members: 
9
Number of research organisations/universities/technology centres: 
1
Number of other ecosystem actors : 
4
Link to the cluster members’ list: 
http://www.fbbv.be/en/members-and-partners
Entrepreneurship and scale-up support facilities in the cluster's ecosystem (see "Organisation type"): 
Name and link of major players: 
NameWebsiteType
Ghent University
www.ugent.be
Research Organisation
City of Ghent
www.gent.be
Port of Ghent
www.portofghent.be
Larger Company
Provincial Development Agency East-Flanders
www.pomov.be
Alco Biofuel
www.alcobiofuel.com
Larger Company
Bioro
www.bioro.be
Larger Company
Engie-Electrabel
https://www.engie-electrabel.be/
Larger Company
DuPont-Genecor
http://biosciences.dupont.com/
Larger Company
Cluster Strategy
Mission/Objectives: 

Flanders Biobased Valley is a non-profit organisation supporting the development of biobased activities and resulting economic growth in the region of Flanders, Belgium.

Flanders Biobased Valley promotes the development of the biobased economy of the future through collaborative programs, joint initiatives and synergy creation between the partners in the fields of Research & Development, structural measures and policy, logistics and communication towards the general public.

Flanders Biobased Valley promotes the development of the biobased economy through:

  • Technological innovation: building research and development expertise in the field of biobased products and bio-energy by coordinating and facilitating national and international collaborative projects with and for industry;
  • Cluster & Integration: building synergies between industrial partners through networking and joint initiatives;
  • Communication: informing the public, industry, academia and government about the biobased economy, improving general and specialized understanding and raising awareness through communication (workshops, site visits, public debates, information campaigns,...);
  • Customised services: technological advice, partner matching, assistance with project proposal submission, …
Do you have a formalised strategy?: 
Yes
Do you have a specific strategy focus that addresses internationalisation ?: 
No
Services
Support services provided: 
Access to public support (regional/national programmes, innovation vouchers, etc.)
Access to technology services
Facilitation of collaboration between members
Facilitation of cross-sectorial cooperation
Trend-scouting (Ideas for innovative projects)
Details of support services: 
  • Privileged access to information on recent developments (technology, policy, financing,...)
  • Privileged access to a large network of active stakeholders in the biobased economy
  • Members-only information sessions on topical subjects (eg lunch meetings)
  • Information on technology offers or technology requests in the field of the biobased economy
  • Information about project calls (eg Horizon2020, Biobased Industries Joint Untertaking, VLAIO)
  • Project application support
  • Profiling of members' organisation (logo and company name on the website and in diverse presentations/leaflets)
  • Free access or reduced admission fee at certain conferences in which FBBV is participating
  • Invitations for specific trade missions and visiting international delegations
  • International partnering, access to international networks via Big-C, Vanguard initiative and Malaysian Biotech Corporation
Cooperation Activities
International Cooperation
The main countries targeted by the cluster organisation: 
Malaysia
Our cluster organisation undertook the following international activities to support our members: 
Participation at missions/events/study visits/fairs
Trans-national Cooperation
The main countries targeted by the cluster organisation: 
France
Germany
Netherlands
Spain
United Kingdom
Our cluster organisation undertook the following trans-national activities to support our members: 
Support to collaborative activities/etc.
Which clusters do you collaborate with?: 
Toulouse White Biotechnology (France)
Corporacion Tecnologica de Andalucia (Spain)
Polish Technology Platform of Bioeconomy (Poland)
Clib2021 (Germany)
Biobased Delta (The Netherlands)
Technology Centre for Biorefining and Bioenergy (Irland)
Nov&Atech - Cluster normand des agro-ressources (France)
Support Programmes
Participation in Funded Support Programmes: 
European ProgrammesProject NameLinkName & Description (Regional/National)Link (Regional/National)
H2020
INTERREG

SuperBIO (H2020): SUPERBIO aims to develop new and disruptive value chains in the bio-based economy. Therefore it offers support in value chain and partnership building to SMEs. Once a new value chain has been constructed, SMEs can apply to receive vouchers. With these vouchers innovation services provided by our partners can be bought. Project website with more information can be found here

BioBase4SME (Interreg NWE): The BioBase4SME network, representing many leading bio-based economy experts, will advise SMEs active in the bio-based economy from across North-West Europe. The BioBase4SME project intends to help Start-ups and SME to overcome technological and non-technological barriers to bring their innovation to market. The project offers Professional Training, Innovation biocamps, Innovation vouchers to support the transformation of new ideas into marketable products. See also http://www.nweurope.eu/BioBase4SME

BioBaseNWE (Interreg NWE): To accelerate the growth of the biobased economy, EU and local partners joined forces by providing financial, technological, training, networking and political support to enterprises in North West Europe (NWE) innovating in biobased products and processes. The project leveraged €71million of investments and the creation of 320 jobs in the Northwest European biobased economy.

http://www.fbbv.be/en/what-does-fbbv-do/technological-innovation

VLAIO (regional)

BioKatalyse: This project aims at introducing biocatalysis as Key Enabling Technology in the traditional chemical industry. Biocatalysis is a technology that uses enzymes instead of anorganic catalysts to speed up chemical processes. Replacing traditional chemical processes by biocatalytic processes has many advantages, all leading towards greener production processes. Custom-made information sessions and high level advice from national and international experts is used to demonstrate the potential of biocatalysis.

BioCluster: The aim of BIOCLUSTER is the transition of the Flemish industry to a sustainable biobased economy. This is done through the development of new economic value chains around the 5 major product groups of the biobased economy: bioplastics, biosurfactants, biomaterials, biosolvents and biolubricants. Seminars and discussion groups were used to further elaborate on the themes.

VISIONS: VISIONS is a collective research project on the valorisation of organic waste or side streams. VISIONS aims to achieve this through the development of an inventory comprising all organic/biologic waste streams in Flanders, the development of 2nd generation technology for the valorization of lignocellulosic waste streams and waste fats and oils, and the study of the logistic and economic feasibility of these valorisations.

Ghent Syngas Cluster: This project investigates the technological and economic feasibility to construct a demonstration plant for syngas fermentation in the port of Ghent. This technology offers great potential to convert waste gases into valuable chemicals or sustainable fuels.

DemoProBio: This project investigates possible productivity increases of bioprocesses by integration of a membrane technology, namely pervaporation. The bioprocess under study is the production of biobutanol through ABE fermentation.

Roadmap KET Industrial Biotechnology: This roadmapping exercise was performed at the request of the Flemish Government with the aim to deliver the necessary data to support and justify a new innovation- and industrialisation strategy for the Flemish economy based on biological resources and processes. This study gathered input from more than 150 stakeholders from industry, research institutes and Flemish administrations. It has identified potentially interesting value chains for Industrial Biotechnology and the Biobased Economy in Flanders and formulated some recommendations towards the policy makers. The roadmap will help to realise "the vision, strategy and action plan of the Flemish government for a sustainable and competitive bio-economy in 2030".

http://www.fbbv.be/en/what-does-fbbv-do/technological-innovation
Relevant Project References: 
The BioBaseNWE project advised over 500 SMEs, 27 SMEs received financial innovation support by the project, resulting in up to €71 million of investments and the creation of 320 new jobs in the biobased economy in the coming years.
Promotion
Success Story / Achievements: 

Flanders Biobased Valley was founded as Ghent Bio-Energy Valley (GBEV) at the initiative of Wim Soetaert in July 2005 as a Public Private Partnership between Ghent University, the City of Ghent, the Port of Ghent, the Development Agency East-Flanders and a number of industrial companies related to the Ghent region, active in the fields of generation, distribution, storage and use of bio-energy.

The driving force for the establishment of GBEV was mainly of a political nature.  By joining forces, companies were hoping to obtain an as large as possible production quotum for biofuels from the Belgian government. In addition, the partnership should help them to tackle common problems related to production, feedstock or infrastructure. GBEV also provided a platform to inform the general public on these new products and technologies in a concerted way.

GBEV finally succeeded in acquiring 80% of the Flemish quotum for biofuels in October 2006, leading to  an investment of 120 million EURO in the port of Ghent.  Production at Bioro and Alco Bio Fuel started in the spring of 2008. The Rodenhuizedok biorefinery cluster represents today one of the largest integrated production sites for bio-energy in Europe, producing biodiesel, bio-ethanol and bio-electricity on a single site.

Flanders Biobased Valley is also founder of the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, an open innovation center for the development of biobased products and processes, which has developed over recent years into one of the leading pilot plants in Europe.

Why should partners choose you for cooperation?: 

Flanders Biobased Valley is the reference for the biobased economy in Flanders (Belgium). It works in close collaboration with other related sectors such as chemistry, biotechnology, food and agriculture and is well embedded in an international network via active participation in Big-C and Vanguard, where it is the coordinator of the gas conversion case within the bio-economy pilot. Activities are currently focussing on resource efficiency, second generation feedstock, value chain construction and the conversion of (waste) gasses to chemicals through fermentation.