IECO - Institute of Eco-Industrial Development
KIT has created a virtual institute for eco-industrial development, the Institute for Eco-Industrial Development (IECO), in collaboration with three Chilean partners. The project was initiated by KIT together with its partner universities, the University of Chile (UCh) in Santiago de Chile, the University of Concepción (UdeC) and the Austral University of Chile (UACh) in Valdivia. The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with almost 900,000 euros since November 2017.
IECO was a network project that designed and built a research structure around the topic of industrial ecology in Chile. As a binational and multilateral institute, IECO conducted interdisciplinary research on industrial ecology, i.e., improving the sustainability of industry by imitating the principles of ecosystems. The aim was to develop strategies for sustainable regional industrial development in Chile that also include urban areas. IECO was based on three fields of action: (1) science and research, (2) higher education, and (3) innovation and technology transfer.
IECO promoted, supported, and coordinated the implementation of research projects by KIT stakeholders with their Chilean counterparts at the three universities. Five key topics related to industrial ecology were selected:
- Sustainable use of water and energy in an urban context;
- Sustainable material and energetic use of biomass;
- Eco-industrial use of subsoil resources;
- Urban eco-industrial development in South America;
- Land use and industrial sustainability.
In all Topics, researchers collaborated in an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional and international way and activities took place in all three IECO action fields.
IECO was coordinated by Prof. Dr Michael Janoschka (Institut für Regionalwissenschaft, IfR). International Affairs supported the project, which was also accompanied by Prof. Dr. Thomas Hirth from a strategic point of view. Contact persons at International Affairs is Pascale Kohler.
