Background

BSUIN (Duration from 2017-2020) is an EU-project in the programme Interreg Baltic Sea Region. In BSR, there are world leading science organizations and industrial companies, specialized in geophysics, low background instrument manufacturing and underground construction. 14 partners enhance together the underground facilities to a network of underground laboratories (UL). The capabilities and the value of the ULs will be expanded for the requirements of scientific or commercial users. So, the access and the usage of underground facilities in BSUIN will reach together a higher standard for possible users.

Project

Around the Baltic Sea 14 partners create an underground innovation network and a unique knowledge base. This includes all important parameters of the underground laboratory like infrastructural, structural, geophysical or organizational characterization. The Baltic Sea Region ULs and their users benefit from transnational co-operation to speed up the development of the ULs capabilities to serve industries, maintain high quality of the UL operations, and create new services and joint marketing efforts. This enables innovations and the growth of underground businesses through co-operation. The network activities gain the development of efficient methodologies to standardize the characterization of the underground facilities for end users and will improve innovative service concepts to enable the more efficient use of BSR ULs as a “natural resource”. The joint development and sharing of best practices between the partners, especially for safety will save costs and effort. Also, a joint marketing increases the visibility and allows an easy access to and for customers.

Aims are to

• improve underground facilities as a working environment,
• enable a more efficient utilization of technical resources and expertise and
• offer a bigger variety of improved services and new innovation through cross-pollination.

The outcomes of the project are:

• Characterization of ULs to create shared methodologies for the assessment of technical properties of the underground facilities and the operational and legal requirements for using the underground infrastructures
•  Service design of methodologies and new service concepts so that the outside users can better utilize the ULs and the facilities as a capacity for innovation
• Facility development especially related to ergonomics, health and safety and visitor experience
• Networking, branding and business development activities to reach global market, providing easier access and one-stop-shop approach to BSR underground facilities

Additional information:

www.interreg-baltic.eu/news-detail/news/taking-innovation-underground-to-make-it-sprout.html