Research

Type of research:

In the area of research, the Linnaeus Competence Centre for Hemp focuses on applied research that follows on from basic research. “Applied research” serves as an interface to practical application in production.

Within the framework of a business network for bioeconomic value creation through hemp, the Competence Centre also serves as a central research and development point for questions of concrete solution approaches in connection with the transfer of basic knowledge into production.

Research approach

The nature of the research object justifies an interdisciplinary research approach, the basis of which is the so-called “design research”, a discipline that is still relatively little used. Design here refers not only to pure product design, but above all to how the development process is shaped (see e.g. “DesignThinking”).

Design research holds promising methodological approaches from various life-world fields, which are combined with product development in a very innovative and very creative way. This results in a particularly high practical orientation along all stages of value creation, especially with regard to feasibility, economic viability and “desirability”.

The research approach focuses on the consistent orientation towards the needs of users, taking into account their socio-cultural environment, lifestyles, wishes, but also traditions and customs.

One core of the approach is to involve user groups as early as possible in the development processes for future products and to provide basic information through methods of empirical social research. Another core is the design of production processes and the consistent consideration of the life cycle of products and materials in the sense of a closed-loop circular economy, e.g. “Cradle2Cradle”.