BIOARC took part in this years’ edition of the Festival of the New European Bauhaus in Brussels, Belgium. We are proud that we were selected for the NEB Fair section, which showcased projects and initiatives from around Europe and beyond. From 9–13 June, the Festival and its fair gathered communities, researchers, designers, policymakers, cultural actors, innovators and citizens around a shared ambition: to explore how we can shape more sustainable and inclusive living environments.
As part of the NEB Fair, BIOARC had the opportunity to present its work on bio-based construction materials developed from regional agricultural by-products. Our stand became a space for conversations about agriculture, construction, circularity and the role that local resources can play in rethinking the future of the built environment.
Throughout the Festival, we spoke with a wide range of visitors and stakeholders: architects curious about the performance and design potential of bio-based materials, researchers working on circular construction, policymakers interested in scalable solutions, representatives of other EU-funded projects, and citizens who simply wanted to understand how residues from crops such as rice, wheat, hops and sunflower could become part of tomorrow’s buildings.
These conversations were one of the most valuable parts of the experience. They allowed us to present BIOARC as a research project and as a bridge between sectors that are often treated separately. Agriculture produces large quantities of regional by-products. Construction urgently needs more sustainable, low-carbon and locally grounded material alternatives. BIOARC works at the intersection of these realities, exploring how biomineralisation and bioregional thinking can support new construction products such as insulation boards, acoustic panels, wall boards and modular partition walls.
The Festival was also an important moment of visibility for the project. We were pleased to welcome the BIOARC Project Officer to our stand and share the first steps of our journey, from the collection and characterisation of agricultural residues to the development of early material concepts. We were also honoured that BIOARC was selected as one of the five stands visited by European Commissioner Jessika Roswall – Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy.
This visit gave us the opportunity to present BIOARC’s approach in a concise and tangible way: starting from local biomass, working with bacteria as co-creators through biomineralisation, and developing construction materials connected to the landscapes and value chains from which they emerge.
A key part of our stand was the possibility to show materials physically. Samples help turn complex research into something people can see, touch, compare and question. They make abstract discussions about sustainability and circularity much more concrete, and visitors have indeed reacted positively to seeing and feeling them.
In that spirit, we were also happy to host samples from our sister project EU-CIRCBUILT at our stand. EU-CIRCBUILT is working on circular bio-based products for the built environment, developing construction solutions from secondary bio-based materials. Showcasing these samples alongside BIOARC’s work created a stronger shared story: across Europe, different projects are experimenting with new ways of transforming underused biological resources into meaningful building materials.
For BIOARC, being part of NEB Festival was an opportunity to speed-test our project’s idea and message through interacting with a wide and heterogeneous audience. We can say that we are satisfied with this test, as we return from Brussels with new contacts and renewed motivation. The conversations started at the NEB Festival will continue as BIOARC moves forward with its material development and bioregional activities across Europe.
