Innovative & circular material for future shelters

Approach for process development, linking material, sustainability and emergency aid.

This project focused on an urgent social problem, the improvement of temporary housing for refugees. This took place in collaboration between education, research, companies and the creative sector. The end result is a circular and recyclable new textile that can be used not only for tents in refugee camps; but is also suitable for the festival industry or creative industry. A number of research objectives were formulated within this project. One was to develop a textile that could be reused under simple 'dishwashing' conditions. It was also important that the fabric had a recyclable, waterproof coating and that flexible solar panels could be attached. The research group New Materials and their Application coordinated this complex innovation process. With financial support from ClickNL and SIA KIEM, several designs were created. Every ten weeks there were design workshops that brought together involved students, researchers and companies from Brabant and beyond. Thanks to those inspiring meetings and the cross-pollination that made this project to a success.