Seit dieser Woche haben wir eine neue Kategorie auf der Website. Unter "Projects" findet ihr ab sofort Einzelheiten zu unseren aktuellen Unternehmungen wie das PhD Projekt "Innovative bamboo composite materials for civil construction
in emerging countries" oder Neuigkeiten zur Hochschulbildundskooperatiob "Brasil Norte-Sul". Eine neue und sehr spannende Tür hat sich Richtung Bambusfahrräder geöffnet. Unter dem Arbeitstitel (!) "BambUHHCycle" arbeiten wir zusammen mit einer Berliner Fahrradschmiede an der technologischen Optimierung von Bambusrahmen.

Rückmeldung und Kritik aller Art ist wie immer stets willkommen!

Last week a exploratory visit in Acre, Brazil, was organized. In order to extend our network in South America, several research institutions and private companies willing to work with bamboo were consulted. One of the next steps will be a map of competences in bamboo research on state level. This step should help to coordinate development activities in the regional bamboo sector as well as clearly define research topics of each partner. Abroad investors as well as our German home institution (University Hamburg) will prospectively benefit of these infrastructure overview. Among a number of innovative ideas in the private sector, a special meeting with institutional representatives resulted in a possible cooperation between Paraná State University, Acre State University and University Hamburg.

More information (portugues): http://www.ufac.br/portal/news/entidades-discutem-acoes-para-o-desenvolvimento-integral-do-bambu

 

Only five weeks are left until we head to Brazil. I will lead an excited group of six students from our home institute in Hamburg. Already today we have some preliminary reporting which I simply wanted to share (see below)

Für die gemütlichen Abendstunden ein paar interessante Beiträge über Brasilien, Acre usw. 
Die Amateur-Doku "Mata?" ist von einigen Studenten 2012/2013 erstellt worden. Ein kleiner Vorgeschmack auf das was euch erwarten könnte. Im Falle von sprachlichen Barrieren: Pula! Spring!.

By Renato Robert, Project Coordination “Brasil Norte-Sul”, Prof. for Engineering and Forest Technology (UFPR), slightly modified by GS (UHH):

Brazil has a total area of 851 million hectares, 477.7 million of which are covered by natural forests,  grouped  into  six  Brazilian  biomes:  Amazon,  Caatinga  (xeric  scrubland  and  forest), Cerrado  (savannah),  Atlantic  Forest,  Pantanal  (tropical  wetland)  and  Pampas  (grassland), besides  5.6  million  hectares  of  plantation  forests.  Alone,  the  Amazon  biome  corresponds  to 49.29% of the national territory, being the largest continuous  area of tropical forest on Earth.  Also,  it  harbours  a  quarter  of  all  fauna  species  on  the  planet  and  more  than  20  thousand different  plant  species  that  grow  exclusively  in  that region.  It  plays  an  important  role  in climate regulation,  water quality  maintenance, erosion control, and  the provisioning of  other ecosystem services. However, according to the National Institute of Amazon Research (INPA) 
(on  www.amazonia.org.br  as  of  March,  2013),  the  Amazon  has  had  207.6  km²  of  its  area deforested  between  the  months  of  November  and  December  of  2011,  an  area  equivalent  to over 20 thousand soccer fields  and  50% more than what was registered over the same period the year before. 

For  some  years  there  has  been  a  growing  concern  with  the  sustainability  of  our  economic models.  Along  this  tendency,  the  year  of  2011  was  declared  by  the  United  Nations  as  the International Year of Forests. This aimed at raising awareness in  the global  society as to the importance of the conservation and preservation of forests in order to ensure the continuation of  life  on  the  planet.  In  2012  Brazil  hosted  the  UN  world  conference  on  the  Environment 
“Rio+20” in Rio de Janeiro, which was the sequel to the  Earth  Summit in 1992. These events also considered  the growing concern of the general community, scientific as lay,  regarding  the policies that have been made in the Amazon region. And despite the discussion about adopted policies in 2011 and international efforts to increase awareness, there are still many setbacks to be overcome.

Thus,  there  stands,  still,  the  importance  of  the  year  of  2012  in  the  political,  historical  and economic context in Brazil, as much as the basic functions of public universities, i.e., the role of teaching,  research  and  extension.  The  extension  is  the  most  efficient  interaction  between students  -  future  professionals  that  represent  the  mentality  of  the  university  -  and  the community in which they are inserted.

Study tours, field trips and summer courses are one of the main examples of extension programs, which provide to the participants complementing knowledge and fulfillment of academic learning through hands-on experience. Accordingly, it is intended to bring to students of Forestry from Federal University of Paraná and from partner universities such as the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the German Universities of Eberswalde Freiburg and Hamburg, the reality of Forest Management in the Brazilian Amazon associated to concepts of Sustainable Development, Forest Based Industries, teaching institutions and companies which use non wood forest products. It is the purpose of this trip to provide valuable insights into the realities of forest management in the Brazilian Amazon as well as gaining experiences on how forest-related  products and value-chains work in this unique environment. Groups of students from various backgrounds and regions will work together to create the multinational fundaments for prospective and responsibly acting decision-makers.

In some parts the following information is to prepare and communicate the actual "viagem" in July 2014. Comments and critics are always warmly welcome!

In the bamboo and biking subculture everyone knows frames made out of bamboo nowadays. Nearly every continent has its own manufacturers and tiny niche markets with some more or less wealthy or freaked-out bamboo-bike-enthusiasts.
Since my own PhD project deals with laminated materials out of African and Brazilian bamboo species, it was exciting to see the first (known) bike which was made out of a bamboo composite. BME Design, a innovative and experimental frame producer from Bratislava, Slovakia, presented the experimental frame on the NAHBS 2014 in Charlotte, NC, USA.

BME already showed up with the first full MTB frame out of bamboo and called attention to several alternative custom frames. I am really excited to get to know more about the technique they are using. Is it laminated veneers? Fibre bundles? How does it work bamboo girls & boys?!?
See more here and here!

Since my last stay in Ethiopia, working out my master thesis in cooperation with African Bamboo PLC, some interesting developments came up. The company has been in a financially constrained situation and due to some quite unpopular decisions a year ago, the team was totally restructured. In this time, I contributed  a tiny part to a fundraising project executed by my dear (ex-)colleagues Mr. Weber and Mr. Hamperl. The project's objective to get AB  awarded for a USAid support was now finally achieved. They won the 'Powering Agriculture Grand Challenge' funded by USaid, German Federal Ministry BMZ and other international partners. This means a massive financial boost for the company, so that a restart may get possible. A delegation visited the facilities in Addis and everything seems to get back on a better track. 
However, I hope this is not only a lot of money on a burning bamboo pile, but the beginning of a fresh and productive period with AB as a pioneer in Ethiopia. Further information may be found here. Good luck everyone!