NSF Engines Development Award: Building an sustainable plastics innovation ecosystem in the Midwest (MN, IL)

NSF 引擎发展奖：在中西部（明尼苏达州、伊利诺伊州）建立可持续塑料创新生态系统

• 批准号: 2315247
• 负责人: Annabelle Watts
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-15 至 2026-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2315247&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Engines; Development; Award; Building

This Regional Innovation Engines Development Award seeks to create an ecosystem to facilitate the transition to a sustainable, new circular plastics economy. Led by University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, it is comprised of use-inspired research, translation of solutions to adoption, workforce expansion, and a culture of inclusivity. The project team is comprised of 11 academic institutions, 4 non-profit/community organizations, 5 government facilities, 16 industry partners, and 6 economic development groups, with the University of Minnesota serving as the lead institution. The region served is urban/suburban areas around Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul and parts of Indiana and Wisconsin.The project will build the foundations for an innovation ecosystem that will: a) create a hub for identifying and solving use-inspired research problems, b) fill critical gaps in the innovation ecosystem and c) enable equity-centered growth across the ecosystem. Society is at a crossroads with how it makes, uses, and discards plastics, and the current course is demonstrably unsustainable. The ubiquitous use of plastics, coupled with low recovery rates, depletes resources and leaks plastic waste into the environment, harming environmental and human health and disproportionately impacting economically and socially disadvantaged groups. Modern societies need plastic but can no longer afford the unsustainable and damaging consequences of the current plastics ecosystem. The concentration of relevant expertise and resources in the Midwest make it ideally suited to recreate and re-imagine the plastics industry as a circular economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这一区域创新引擎发展奖旨在创造一个生态系统，以促进向可持续的、新的循环塑料经济的过渡。它由明尼苏达大学双子城分校领导，由受使用启发的研究、对收养解决方案的翻译、劳动力扩张和包容性文化组成。该项目团队由11个学术机构、4个非营利/社区组织、5个政府设施、16个行业合作伙伴和6个经济发展团体组成，明尼苏达大学是牵头机构。服务的地区是芝加哥和明尼阿波利斯-圣彼得堡周围的城市/郊区。该项目将为创新生态系统奠定基础，该生态系统将：a)创建一个中心，用于识别和解决受使用启发的研究问题；b)填补创新生态系统中的关键空白；c)在整个生态系统中实现以股权为中心的增长。社会正处于如何制造、使用和丢弃塑料的十字路口，目前的进程显然是不可持续的。无处不在的塑料使用，加上回收率低，耗尽了资源，并将塑料垃圾泄漏到环境中，损害了环境和人类健康，并对经济和社会弱势群体造成了不成比例的影响。现代社会需要塑料，但不能再承受当前塑料生态系统不可持续和破坏性的后果。相关专业知识和资源集中在中西部，使其非常适合将塑料行业重建和重新想象为循环经济。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。