ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
IKEBANA stands for International Centre of Knowledge/Expertise on Bamboo - Northern Campine & Antwerp.
The IKEBANA-project is a European project of the department of Bioscience Engineering at the University of Antwerp and Oprins Plant NV and promotes bamboo as a source of biomass and an instrument for phytoremediation. The department has a great interest and expertise in ecophysiological modeling, for example of bamboo. Oprins Plant NV, who has been working for more than 30 years with bamboos, is one of the world leading producers of temperate and tropical bamboos. Oprins was also the promoter of two previous international projects: Bamboo for Europe (1996 - 2004) and Bamboo Thematic Network (2001- 2004).
IKEBANA aims to be at the heart of an international collaboration network of different stakeholders to enlarge the scientific knowledge about bamboo, more specifically its cultivation, yield techniques, potential for phytoremediation, use in the wood industry and in the renewable energy sector. Practical know-how will be built up through a supply chain analysis and the interaction with different stakeholders (scientists, farmers, investors in bioenergy, government, etc.).
The main mission is to introduce bamboo as an alternative crop in temperate regions, as a crop that is able to generate biomass very efficiently and that is also suitable for marginal, fallow and purified land. To this end, IKEBANA functions as library, network and distributor of information. Knowledge is dispersed through the internet, publications (folders, brochures and books), newsletters, press campaigns and meetings.
IKEBANA is a project funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), for the period 2010-2012. The Fund aims to promote economic and social cohesion by correcting the main regional imbalances and participating in the development and conversion of regions. Not only was the European organization convinced of the importance of the IKEBANA project, the project is also supported by the Flemish government and the Province of Antwerp. After two years of ERDF support, IKEBANA will be commercially self sustainable. The 9th World Bamboo Congress will be the ultimate closing activity for IKEBANA as a ERDF project and the start of IKEBANA as autonomous Bamboo Knowledge Centre. To this end, hosting this international congress is one of IKEBANA's primary goals.
National Organizing Committee
The 9th WBC National Organizing Committee members are comprised of the IKEBANA team and three employees (two professors and one PhD student) of the University of Antwerp.
Promoter of the IKEBANA project
Geert Potters graduated as a biologist. Currently he is a postdoc at the department of Bioscience engineering of University of Antwerp. In the department, he combines scientific research and teaching. He wrote over 20 peer reviewed articles. Over the past years he coordinated several master theses about bamboo. He is also the co-promoter of a running PhD thesis “Phytotechnical use of bamboo for biomass production and soil purification”.
Johan graduated as a horticulture engineer. His career focused on bamboo and he developed successful tissue culture technologies for tropical and temperate bamboos at Oprins Plant NV. Along the way, research was performed in biotechnology, molecular markers and physiology. He is also editor of the peer reviewed journal Bamboo, Science and Culture, published by the American Bamboo Society. Recently he became deputy coordinator of "IUFRO 5.11.05 Bamboo and Rattan".
Frances finished her studies of Bioscience Engineer with as specialization agriculture in 2008. Since January 2010, Frances is working on the IKEBANA project. She is responsible for translation scientific results into practical guidelines for farmers. Currently she is developing and preparing various guidelines, brochures and booklets, etc.
Roeland Samson is professor at the department Bioscience Engineering of the University of Antwerp. He has authored 40 peer reviewed articles and is the promoter of several PhD’s about plant ecophysiology and of a running PhD thesis “Phytotechnical use of bamboo for biomass production and soil purification”. The growth of bamboo is modeled by an ecophysiological model that Roeland made during his PhD.
Els Prinsen is professor at the department Biology of the University of Antwerp. She is a world reknown expert on phytohormones and their role in the metabolism of plants. She is also doing research on the regulation of bamboo growth by phytohormones. She is co-author of over 70 peer reviewed articles.
Davina Van Goethem is an Engineer in Bioscience specialization agriculture. Davina started a PhD in July 2009. Her research is the “Phytotechnical use of bamboo for biomass production and soil purification”. She has a lot of field experience in Western Europe. Every year she has 3 field campaigns in Ireland where she measures different parameters to develop a detailed ecophysiological model for bamboo.
Sonja De Nollin is a doctor in Biology and a member of the University of Antwerp as well as the head of a company, Scipress, that specialises in science communication and conference organisation. As such, Sonja is the coordinator of MENS, a popularising scientific journal. In 2008 she founded Outliving, an Irish firm that promotes to use of bamboo as alternative bioenergy crop in Ireland. Since then, Sonja became closely involved in the IKEBANA project and the driving force for new bamboo projects in Western Europe.
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