In 2025, BIOARC partners launched the project with the aim of addressing the issue of unused agricultural waste that could be redirected into the production of organic-based building materials.

What makes this vision feasible for BIOARC is the CrescoBind™  process, a Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) technology. This biomineralisation process allows the crop waste to be transformed into lightweight and durable building products.

For this purpose, in 2025 the BIOARC partners started working directly in their local environments. They collected natural MICP strains – microorganisms capable of biomineralisation. These bacteria can precipitate calcium carbonate and act as natural binders, offering a biological alternative to conventional cement-based systems.

Once collected, the strains were characterised to better understand their behaviour and performance. This process also examined how they interact with real environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and regional climate. This step was essential for understanding how bio-based binders could function outside laboratory conditions.

The CrescoBind™ biomineralisation process was successfully established at Northumbria University, ensuring the process was reproducible and scalable while significantly enhancing R&D capacity and enabling comprehensive materials characterization. This foundation supported the first experiments with bio-cemented composites made from natural fibres sourced from various European agricultural residues.

Material development at Cresco Biotech successfully established the critical compatibility between various agricultural wastes and the CrescoBind™ process. This milestone led to the initial testing of a range of bio-cemented composites, which continue to be refined and developed.

Beyond material research, BIOARC also focused on building connections. In 2025, the project established links with a sister EU-funded initiative and began mapping relevant organisations, networks and R&D activities with shared objectives, all centred around the New European Bauhaus universe. This growing synergy landscape will support knowledge exchange and collaboration throughout the project’s lifetime.

Public engagement was another important step. BIOARC participated in regional science events in Nürnberg and at Barcelona Design Week, bringing bio-based construction topics into various professional communities, as well as to a broader public interested in these topics.

Perhaps the most visible activities were those of Carolin Schelkle, the Bioregional Weaver of BIOARC. Through dedicated summer field trips to four European bioregions, as well as her Italian residency focused on rice production, Carolin began working on another important and ambitious aspect of the project: creating bioregional circularity between the various stakeholders involved in the production process. This is intended to extend the project’s impact well beyond the construction industry and into social, economic, geographical and cultural spheres.

Alongside material development, BIOARC focuses on grounding its work in bioregional contexts by understanding regional characteristics and value chains and actively engaging local stakeholders. Led by Carolin Schelkle in her role as the Bioregional Weaver, this effort began with a field trip across the four BIOARC bioregions to establish early insights and connections.

Building on this, Carolin has since completed the project’s first in-depth residency in Italy, in the bioregion Terre d’Acqua, also referred to as the “Triangle of Rice.” In close collaboration with the local partner InnovaTech, the residency focused on engaging stakeholders across the rice value chain and collecting region-specific knowledge on its byproducts.

Together, these activities contribute to grounding BIOARC’s research and design outcomes in local realities, with the aim of generating impacts that extend beyond the construction sector to social, economic, territorial and cultural contexts.

In the coming months, a series of dedicated blog posts will shed more light on each of these stories, so make sure to subscribe to the BIOARC Newsletter to avoid missing any of them.