We are pleased to announce that the BIOSAFIRE project will participate in the SETAC Europe 36th Annual Meeting, one of the most influential international conferences in the field of environmental toxicology, chemistry, and sustainability science. This year’s edition focuses on an inspiring and challenging theme: embracing outliers as catalysts for innovation and new scientific perspectives.
Outliers as Opportunities for Insight
The conference theme highlights a powerful message: in science, unexpected or unconventional results are not merely anomalies—they can be windows into novel phenomena. Outliers in experimental data may reveal emerging risks, new mechanisms, or unexplored environmental interactions that hold the potential to reshape current understanding.
This philosophy strongly resonates with the mission of BIOSAFIRE, which aims to advance the safety, sustainability, and regulatory readiness of bio-based technologies. As environmental challenges evolve and new biotechnological solutions emerge, it becomes essential to adopt flexible, open-minded approaches that integrate the latest research, even when it comes from non-standard methods or innovative forms of evidence.
Inspiring Innovation for a Safer, Sustainable Future
The SETAC Europe 36th Annual Meeting encourages researchers, regulators, industry representatives, and innovators to explore new perspectives and test emerging ideas across practical case studies. By acknowledging and investigating outliers, the community aims to broaden discussions, stimulate creative thinking, and collaboratively build solutions that contribute to a safer and more sustainable future.
Our participation in the meeting will allow the BIOSAFIRE team to present ongoing work, exchange knowledge with leading experts, and gather insights that will support the next steps of our project. It will also be an opportunity to engage with stakeholders who are not always involved in traditional scientific or regulatory dialogues—an approach that is crucial to fostering inclusive and resilient innovation ecosystems.
Looking Ahead
We look forward to contributing to this vibrant scientific forum and sharing BIOSAFIRE’s perspective on how emerging bio-based technologies can be assessed, developed, and deployed responsibly. Stay tuned for updates from the conference, including highlights from our presentations and reflections on the discussions that will help shape the future of sustainable biotechnologies.
Together, we move toward a future where curiosity-driven research, openness to outliers, and collaboration across sectors drive meaningful and lasting impact.
What is BIOSAFIRE all about?
BIOSAFIRE will develop and upscale innovative products upgrading nature’s best fire retardants (FRs): lignins and tannins. To ensure that these novel products are safe and sustainable, while retaining their desired technological functionality, they will be thoroughly assessed by applying the SSbD framework at different stages of their development and the results will be iteratively fed into the further design and optimisation of the technologies. Involving the full material value chain, these flame retardants will be upscaled to TRL7 and demonstrated in five different applications.
Excited for the journey ahead and the positive impact we’ll create together!
