Our ESSET programme has several interesting collaborations with partner universities. one of these is with the Ghent university of Applied Sciences in Belgium. Together with a number of ESSET students, our colleagues Samet and Marjon went to Ghent for the “Ghent-Breda exchange to work on an interesting environmental problem. Our colleague Marjon has written the following about this event:
“ESSET students worked together with Hogeschool Ghent students from environmental management, environmental chemistry and environmental technology. The assignment was related to discarded textile seat covers of the NMBS (the official Belgian Railways company). Some student groups worked on upcycling of discarded seat covers, while other groups worked on coming up with new biobased materials for seat covers, and some groups worked on coming up with a circular and social business model for the seat covers. All groups had to work from the view point of a seat cover manufacturer, and convince the sustainability coordinator of NMBS to go with their idea.
The students worked on an MCA and an LCA for their idea and pitched them to the teachers. The three best pitches went on to present for the sustainability coordinator of NMBS. The winner of the group assignment was a group that came up with the idea of using reversible train seats (see here: https://youtu.be/DxDrPeb2mxs?si=4BKR1U4gTxDCafVB) to reduce wear and tear in one specific place, combined with train seats that have less textile, also reducing textile waste.
In their business model they also included providing a work space for people with (mental) disabilities and repurposing the discarded textile to e.g. fanny packs. Other groups came up with mycelium seat covers, or creating tote bags from discarded textile (they even sewed one to demonstrate). The sustainability coordinator of NMBS was impressed by the creative ideas.
Of course, there was also a lot of socialising going on with the international student groups, eating Turkish pide together and sampling the extensive Belgium beer collection.
It was a very enjoyable and successful exchange!”
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