"<< Background >>Modern world has met with plastic/polymeric materials for the first time in the 1400s after Columbus encountered a natural rubber ball in Haiti. Today, polymers have found a wide range of applications thanks to their lightness, easy formability, and find a wide range of uses, from kitchenware to artificial heart valves.A large amount of polymers is used in packaging of food, textile, and machinery, and they are important parts of solid waste disposed of in solid waste landfills. According to the EU reports, PM packaging parts represent about 8% of the overall refuse in the landfills. Besides all, microplastics which are tiny fragments below 5 mm in size, are a big problem for leakage of rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. They can remain intact for many years. Reuse in manufacturing, incineration for energy generation, biodegradation in compost or in soil can be counted as disposal processes for plastic wastes. To reduce all negativities caused by polymers, ""A EU Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy"" and “Plastic Waste: a EU strategy to protect the planet, defend our citizens and empower our industries” has been developed. In the EU, around 25.8 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced every year. EU reports also states that only 6% of plastic products are demanded in the EU as recycled plastics. Polymeric waste is frightfully increased with ‘single-use’ plastics each year. Reusability and nature-degradable polymer production are important parts of these strategies. According to the European Green Deal Communication, reducing wastes, compensating carbon footprint emissions, saving resources, and sustainability are key priorities for the EU now and in the future. For a more liveable and GREEN world, biopolymers should be developed and used. The FutureBio project was carried out to contribute to these basic priorities. Project aims to make the use of innovative practices among university students, academic staff, industry employees, and the community and to increase the competencies of academics and students with in-place training.This project has been prepared in accordance with the European Union's strategy of developing cooperation, increasing quality and encouraging innovation in the learning activities of individuals and groups in the field of education and training. In the preparation of the project, especially the difficulties and crisis caused by Covid-19, the importance of digital education for digital transformation in accordance with the Digital Education Action Plan was taken into consideration. Considering these issues, it is our priority to develop a high-performance digital technology for university students and industrial workers within the scope of the project. In this way, we aim to develop high quality digital technologies for education of universities and industrial institutions providing information of polymer and biopolymer and theirs manufacturing technologies all over Europe. We aim to improve capacity and flexibility in education by making digital tools. The project will apply the most innovative training technologies based on E-LEARNING and mobile learning tools with INTERACTIVE VIDEOS and animation applications in game format and VIRTUAL REALITY tools that contribute to improve the trainees’ motivation and engagement. The learning material will be structured according to a competency based learning approach. The use of e-learning and other related technologies in the FutureBio project can provide new opportunities for learners increasing flexibility, motivation and engagement.Students can take control of their own learning and be an active part of the learning process. In addition, mobile learning offers a number of new opportunities for learners and teachers, including the relatively low cost of Technologies.<< Objectives >>Our primary target group is university students. Academicians and scientists also constitute our other target group. From the industry side, plastic manufacturing firms and their employees, other public and private bodies related to polymers/biopolymers are among our target groups in terms of the use, dissemination and promotion of educational materials.Since a sustainable environment, less carbon emission, promotion of non-harmful plastics, and contributing to the use of these plastics are among the goals of the project, the entire EU community is also among our target groups.We aimed to determine the basic knowledge level of our target groups on biopolymers by preparing a short survey during the preparation phase of the project. Survey results revealed how necessary our project idea is. In the second phase of our project, more detailed needs analysis will be conducted for all of our target groups.The results of the project are to develop a curriculum, preparation of a guide book, and to produce education materials with innovative and interactive tools for university students (PR1,PR2,PR3,PR4). The project will apply the innovative technologies based on E-LEARNING, mobile learning, and VR tools with interactive videos and animations in game format. The learning material will be structured according to a competency based learning approach. The use of e-learning technologies in the FutureBio project can provide new opportunities for learners increasing flexibility, motivation and engagement. Students can take control of their own learning and be an active part of the learning process. In addition, with the in-place training activity(C2), the selected students will learn BDPs and related technologies. It is thought that the project results will contribute to the career development of university students and to close the qualified workforce deficit. All the students, academicians, scientists, and sector workers need new teaching methods and tools to match modern implementation. Mobile learning offers new opportunities for learners and teachers, including the relatively low cost of technologies, also.With game-based animations, videos, and interactive presentations, distance learning tools will be prepared for those who are interested in polymers from all age groups and want to learn about biopolymers. It is expected that the interest in the subject will increase with the online webinars that will be held during the project process.Our project team consists of experts in the fields of polymers and biopolymers, development of training methodology and innovative education materials. During the project , mutual information transfer, know-how, and brainstorming are carried out, and the partnership will be more efficient. It will develop its scientific knowledge related to the BDP through the training activity(C1) for the project staff. Therefore, we aim for the project partnership to develop itself in innovative education technologies. Thus, the potential of using these technologies in new projects will also be increased.Sustainable environment, green and reduction of harmful waste are among the needs of the EU. For this reason, it is of great importance to raise awareness on BDP among industrial institutions and employees, to research production methods, and to develop university-industry collaborations. FutureBio will act as a bridge in this regard. The needs of the industry will be investigated in partner countries and a guiding road map will be created. Thus, it is aimed to contribute to the sustainable economy and to be beneficial for the creation of a qualified workforce.along with the contribution to the sustainable environment.In the project's detailed awareness/needs analysis and dissemination activities (E1-E8), a collaboration with public and private sectors will be done. We plan to spread project results faster by taking the opinions of these institutions.In this way, new projects can be produced.<< Implementation >>FutureBio project is aimed:To raise social awareness that plastic pollution is an issue that needs urgent and immediate actionTo obtain awareness about biodegradable and compostable productsTo increase the usage of bio bags replacing and selling plastic bags throughout the country and Europe.To encourage and guide the development of biodegradable and compostable materials and productsTo guide academicians and students to prioritize these issues in their academic career planningTo increase the competencies of academicians and students with in-place trainingTo create a value chain extending from laboratory to industry, from industry to environment and economyTo provide collaboration between university and industryIn order to achieve all these goals, the project implementation is based on phases which are characterized by activities and products.All project activities are designed to have the best overall impact and sustainability on defined target groups. We divided our project into phases in order to maximize efficiency by establishing quality standards, including project implementation, widespread impact, dissemination and sustainability of the project from the project preparation phase. The project implementation phases are characterized by activities, products, and quality indicators.Research conducted during the preparation phase of the project has shown that although plastics and BDPs are very important for the future of the world, it was determined that training and educational materials are not enough at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This point is the main idea of FutureBio. For this reason an innovative curricula (PR1) will be created to develop the knowledge and skills and to gain the ability of undergraduate and associate degrees within the scope of BDP applications. While creating this curriculum, the situation and needs analysis for companies in the sector, employees working in these companies, university students and academicians close to this field will be made. By laboratory videos and online modules(PR2), and VR applications(PR4) developed towards the curriculum. The foundations of distance education will be laid on this subject and open resources will be created for academicians, students, industry employees and interested people in this subject. As known, BDPs as material are crucial technology. Most of the current books are focused on medical or food industry applications of biopolymers. There is no Turkish educational material in this matter. To close the gap and be used as educational material all over the EU, a Lecture Guide Book (PR3) will be created in TR and EN. We will ensure the control and coordination of the project in terms of time and outcomes through 5 TPMs (M1-M5). 2 learning activities (C1,C2) will be organized in Italy. C1 will be an on-site seeing and sharing of experiences activity for academic staff who will prepare the educational modules and books. C2 will be a student training activity including theoretical and practical application. Informative meetings which will be helpful for raising the awareness of community will be held in all partner countries (E1-E7). At the end of the project, a workshop with international participation will be organized with the project closing meeting in Turkey (E8). This event will be organized to present all the outcomes of the project.<< Results >>In FutureBio, all project results have been designed in accordance with*The EU’s strategy of developing cooperation, increasing quality and encouraging innovation in the learning activities of individuals and groups in the field of education and training,*Digital Education Action Plan,*EU Green Deal Communication,*Environment and Climate Action.According to the EU Green Deal, reducing wastes, compensating carbon footprint emissions, saving resources, and sustainability are key priorities for the EU now and in the future. Compostable and biopolymers are also important keys in those strategies. And they have to be well promoted and their use must be made widespread. We believe that for a more liveable and GREEN world, biopolymer materials should be developed and used. That's why we created the FutureBio idea to combine the EU's Digital Education, Green Deal, and Environment and Climate Action Plans and Strategies. At the first stage, we first made a short preliminary study with students, academicians, and industrial workers from different professions such as engineering, social and health sciences, answered the survey from over the EU. The needs analysis showed that the awareness of BPs is far below the desired and required ratios among students, academicians and industry employees.Using a competency based learning approach, low-cost educational technologies for learners and teachers will be an effective and innovative way. For this purpose, we built our project within the framework of 4 project outputs:An innovative curriculum (PR1) will be created to improve the knowledge and skills of undergraduate students, teachers and individuals interested in the subject, in order to bridge the gaps identified between educational materials and the sector.The detailed situation analysis will be made with all target groups to reveal awareness situations for individuals and institutions. These analyses will be a road map for preparing digital modules and guide book.An online course platform will be created on the project website (PR2). The primary role of the platform will be enabling the student to learn on his own and encouraging them to evaluate themselves. It can provide new opportunities for learners, increasing flexibility and motivation. It is aimed to create innovative technologies based on e-learning and mobile learning tools with interactive videos/animations in game format.The digital materials will be tested by pilot applications. The lecture guide book (PR3), will contain examples from the project partners' works and industry applications. Most of the books are focused on the medical or food applications of BPs, and there are very few books on biodegradable plastics and their applications.On the other hand there isn't any course book in TR related to biopolymers. In this area, a scientific resource that can be used in TR universities and all over the EU and the world. To close an important interdisciplinary course material gap in TR and EU and to contribute to the literature, development of environmental awareness, to encourage biopolymers to be included in the study and research topics of students, academicians and industrial companies, raising awareness about sustainable environment and decarbonization are the aims of this Project result.The created VR training solutions(PR4) complement the PR1,PR2, and PR3.VR as a technology has the power to take the user into another place. This will be utilized in making more immersive, interactive and illustrative training materials which complement the more traditional book and online materials. Furthermore, VR solutions makes the training more motivating for all the target groups.All project results will highly impact on all target groups, and it has high potential of dissemination and transferability. As the book will fill a gap in the literature, it will be one of the basic works in the related field. The quality of each output will be controlled by its own quality tools."