Natalia Matiz succeeds at the ideas competition at BMBF's Colombia Day

Goal of the "Colombia Day" of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research's (BMBF) on 25/26 March in Bonn was to strengthen the scientific cooperation between Germany and Colombia. In the context of an ideas competition 38 concepts for binational scientific workshops were submitted, six finalists were invited to present their ideas at the event.

Natalia Matiz from the University of Stuttgart convinced the selection committee with her workshop "Bioeconomy in Germany and Colombia - new value chains in the context of the UN's sustainable development goals". The workshop initiates a closer cooperation in the field of using agricultural residues for new materials and energy, and the sustainability assessment of new value chains between partners of the Research, Innovation and Education Cluster Bioeconomy Baden-Württemberg and Colombian universities, research institutes and companies in the Economy and Development Cluster Valle de Cauca. The concept also includes future cooperation in training young scientists based on experience with the BBW ForWerts graduate program in Baden-Württemberg.

The BMBF will support the workshop that is planned to take place in autumn 2019 in Cali.