Studio Nima

Circular Materials Workshop for students Join us for a hands-on session in our Studio in Munich exploring the future of bio-based materials – where science meets sustainability. You’ll get to: 🔬 Discover bio-based materials and how they’re used today 🍄 Dive into mycelium as a natural material alternative 🧪 Run real experiments 🌍 Discuss how innovation can tackle global challenges 📅 May 14, 2025 starting from 2 pm until 6 pm | 📍 Studio Nima 🎟️ Only 18 spots available – register now via Eventbrite https://lnkd.in/dHW5AKuP Let’s rethink what materials can do – together. The workshop is funded by Referat für Klima- und Umweltschutz der Landeshauptstadt München

There was so much going on at our Materials Lab at Keystone 2025, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation 's annual networking event in Amsterdam two weeks ago, that we wanted to share a second post. In our Materials Lab exhibition, we aim to showcase some of the most innovative bio-based solutions, that are applied in a broad range of applications and that come from various sources. We always aim to look at different development stages, including solutions from established startups and companies, materials that are in the prototyping and development stage, experimental solutions from material designers, as well as early-stage research from institutes and universities. Diving deeper in the fascinating world of algae, we were happy to show revoltech’s algae-based biodegradable leather alternative as well as beautiful algae panel prototypes that mimic the ecological function of corals designed by Peter Nasielski. Thinking about how to utilize various waste streams, we showed Reselo’s biobased elastomer that is made entirely from birch bark as a waste stream of the forest industry, and St3ms™ high-performance fibers made from banana plant waste. Arda Biomaterials has developed a leather alternative made of waste from beer and whiskey production, while Malai.eco from India developed a leather-like alternative from coconut water through bacterial cellulose. And there are so many more waste streams to explore and innovate with. And if you follow us for some time already, you know that we love mycelium. Fraxinea has developed a yoga mat made out of mycelium, the root-like structure of fungi. Also made from mycelium are the biodegradable packaging solutions from S.Lab. We are pretty excited working with so many innovators. The countdown is on for the next Materials Lab taking place at the CIRCULAR REPUBLIC FESTIVAL in Munich on May 22 and 23. 

Last week, at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's annual networking event, Keystone 2025, the global circular economy community gathered in Amsterdam to exchange ideas and accelerate the transition toward a circular economy. Held at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam, the flagship event brought together businesses, policymakers, financial institutions, and academics—key players shaping the future of circular systems. As part of the event, we featured our Materials Lab, a hands-on exhibition exploring biomaterial innovations. Our aim with the Materials Lab exhibition is to provide an inspiring platform for cross-sector collaboration, reinforcing the importance of partnerships in overcoming systemic challenges. The exhibition highlighted pioneering solutions derived from nature, including Spiber Inc. protein fiber produced by precision fermentation, Sway's bio-based plastic alternative made from seaweed, textiles made by bacteria-produced nanocellulose from Modern Synthesis, Ananas Anam Ltd's textile made from pineapple leaf fiber, traceless materials's natural polymers derived from agricultural waste, and Colorifix's colours produced by bacteria. We also featured KUORI's elastic bioplastics made from walnut shells and olive pits, and mycelium based leather alternatives by MY-THINGS. The BIOTEXFUTURE project, a biobased textile research space funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), was also part of the exhibition, showcasing the BIOTURF project, which features polyethylene pile yarns based on rapeseed oil and agricultural waste. These are just a few of the innovations we showcased—we’ll be sharing more in the coming days, so stay tuned! Special thanks to the team at Ellen MacArthur Foundation, especially Joe Iles, Jo Williams and Alec Wills-Eve, as well as Freek Heuberger from Beurs van Berlage, and all our exhibitors. Big thanks goes to the Studio Nima team as well, Leonhard Nima, Elisabeth Harwardt, Jana Maria Pichler and Szimona Zaharieva. We're excited to announce that our Materials Lab will have its next edition at the CIRCULAR REPUBLIC FESTIVAL in Munich on May 22-23 and at ISPO Munich 2025 on November 30 - December 2, where we will continue to share the possibilities of biomaterial innovations, so come join us and stay tuned for next updates!

New work opportunity...we are looking for a Working Student Sustainability as of March 2025 to join us in our office in Munich. We are looking for a passionate student with versatile experience in sustainability, circular economy and / or social innovation. You will find all relevant infos on our website (link in the comments). And feel free to share this with your friends and network if you know suitable candidates!

This is part 2 of a little recap with more impressions from our Material Lab & Circular Experience exhibition at ISPO Munich 2024. In this exhibition we showcased some of the most innovative bio-based materials on algae, mycelium, agricultural waste such as banana stems, walnut shells, olive pits, birch bark, and many more. We have also compiled a summary and a short overview of all exhibitors on our website. You will find the link in the comments.

We are beyond excited to see such engagement and excitement as we showcased innovative circular and bio-based materials in our Material Lab and Circular Experience at ISPO Munich 2024.   The Circular Experience was all about algae, showcasing its lifecycle from natural ecosystems, through its cultivation in the lab, to high-performing materials and products all the way to its end of life. We featured pioneering innovations from material designers, research projects, startups and companies available in the market. We showcased Keel Labs' Kelsun fiber made from seaweed, revoltech's new leather alternative material MATTR, Algaeing's dyes and inks, and a running shoe made from algae-based fibers from BIOTEXFUTURE, a joint research project from adidas and RWTH Aachen. One highlight certainly was the symbiotic swimsuit with bioluminescent algae designed by Bio Crafted and inspiring design works such as Carbogem, a concrete alternative made of microalgae, shells and oysters or fabrics dyed from algae-extracted pigments by Anna Cain.  In the Material Lab, visitors could explore a diverse range of biomaterial innovations and learn about their potential for circularity. We were happy to highlight promising innovations such as KUORI ’s biopolymer based on walnut shells and olive pits, Reselo's rubber polymer made from birch bark, St3ms fiber extracted from banana plant stem, Rheom Materials biopolymer resin and leather alternative based on bacterial processes, or leather alternatives based on mycelium, the root-like structure of fungi, developed by MYThings. And many more! We will compile more infos about all exhibitors and share them with you soon! Other highlights included several sessions on the Green Stage in the Sustainability Hub that Leonhard was moderating. He was speaking with Sarah Harbarth, Co-Founder of Kuori and François Delaunoy, CEO of Gecko Components, a spin-off of Decathlon Pulse, about their collaborative approach to bring bio-based materials into the sports industry. He was discussing the complexities of Supply Chain Transparency with Nick Allen, Director of Transparency at Patagonia, Bettina Roth, Head of Quality Management at VAUDE, Barbara Oswald Bader, bluesign technologies ag and Philipp G. Mayer, Co-Founder of Retraced, and finally with Josefin Larsson, Co-Founder at Reselo, Fred Dennis, Co-Founder at ESG Brands and Nicole Espey, Project Management at BIOTEXFUTURE, about current challenges and breakthroughs of circular materials in sports. A big thanks to the ISPO Team, Alexandra Denker, Anna Bachem, Lena Haushofer, Veronika Gstoettl, Christoph Rapp, Tobias Gröber; Anna Rodewald and Cira Riedel from GreenroomVoice; Tim Hempel from meplan GmbH, and to our exhibitors who were on site with us, we are excited about the great vibe that you all contributed to. And of course, a big thanks to the Studio Nima team for the exceptional work the last couple of weeks Jana Maria Pichler, Elisabeth Harwardt and Szimona Zaharieva 🙌

We are very excited to share that we have moved into a new space in the heart of Munich! Those of you who follow us for some time know that we love to work on a broad range of impact topics. For us combining different topics is an important aspect of our work since we see them all as pieces of a bigger puzzle. Now this new space is another important puzzle piece for us! This former factory is a creative hotspot, where we will work on our upcoming material exhibitions and living labs, showcase innovative circular materials from our global network, conduct our own experiments and develop impactful solutions for our various project partners. From time to time, we will also open our doors for workshops and other gatherings! You wanna get a first glimpse of what our new space looks like? Check out our website for some more impressions!

Studio Nima’s winter update is here! We're thrilled to share what we’ve been working on— our new studio space, upcoming exhibitions, quite a few events the last couple of weeks, and projects all focused on enabling impact and advancing circularity and sustainability. Take a look at our journey!

Impact Festival 2024 is a wrap! With 4.500 people visiting the Impact Festival, safe to say that the move to Messe Frankfurt was a big success!   Leonhard had the big pleasure to moderate the Impact Stage, this time together with Janina Klabes. Two days packed with a lot of good discussions and impulses, and many top speakers. Leonhard was on stage with Christiane Vorspel, Chief Operating Offer at Commerzbank, speaking about sustainability in IT and of course also the role of banks in the sustainability transformation; with Carlos Alvarez Pereira, the Secretary General at The Club of Rome, reflecting on 50 years of The Limits to Growth, and with Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert, German Institute of Economics on the status quo and outlook of Germany’s energy transition.   One highlight was the panel discussion with Dirk Messner, President of the German Environment Agency, Jeannette Gusko, CEO at correctiv, Dr. Katharina Reuter, CEO at German Sustainable Economy Association (BNW) and Darya Sotoodeh, Spokesperson for Fridays for Future Germany about climate and democracy, diving deeper into the interdependencies of two of the biggest topics of our time.   Big thanks to everyone involved who made the Impact Festival again a big success, in particular the great IMPACT FESTIVAL and neosfer team Mara Steinbrenner, Linda Köpper, Josa Gräber, Maëlyss Ménage, Fabian Demuth, Kai Werner, Matthias Lais and to Timo Brockmann for the great stage direction job! We hope to see many of you at the next Impact Festival in 2025! #impactfestival

Last Friday Leonhard was invited to hold a keynote at the Munich Urban Colab on “Circular Economy - a bumpy road head?!” at the HACK'N'TALK as the final event of the Circular Hackfest. Well, there are certainly a lot of bumps in the transformation to a circular economy, which is totally normal given the sheer magnitude of a transformation we are talking about. He was diving into several industry to learn more about these bumps and challenges, looking at the status quo of circular economy in sports and fashion, the automotive industry, packaging and bio-based materials and many more. It is quite insightful to explore what we can learn from these diverse industries when it comes to material flows, the amount and volumes of products, reverse logistics, implications for the retail landscape and of course the big question of how to financially scale impactful solutions. Big thanks to the teams at XPLORE and their partners CIRCULAR REPUBLIC, UnternehmerTUM MakerSpace GmbH and UnternehmerTUM for making the event happen! Big thanks also to Lisa Schebitz, Adrian Ng Gonzalez, Natascha Brunner, Sabine Feller