--- title: "Nature as measure: ecosystems and business - AlmaScience" description: "What biological ecosystems teach us about building a green-tech entrepreneurial ecosystem, and what that means for sustainable business." url: "https://almascience.pt/news/thought-piece/nature-as-measure-ecosystems-and-the-future-of-sustainable-business" date: "2026-10-16T06:11:50+00:00" language: "en-GB" --- # News ![Nature as measure: Ecosystems and the future of sustainable business]() ## Nature as measure: Ecosystems and the future of sustainable business Claudine Boeglin, Rui Braz [Thought Piece](https://almascience.pt/news/thought-piece) 22 April 2025 10 minutes read - [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Falmascience.pt%2Fnews%2Fthought-piece%2Fnature-as-measure-ecosystems-and-the-future-of-sustainable-business "Facebook") - [ ](https://twitter.com/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Falmascience.pt%2Fnews%2Fthought-piece%2Fnature-as-measure-ecosystems-and-the-future-of-sustainable-business&text=Nature+as+measure%3A+Ecosystems+and+the+future+of+sustainable+business "X (formerly Twitter)") - [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Falmascience.pt%2Fnews%2Fthought-piece%2Fnature-as-measure-ecosystems-and-the-future-of-sustainable-business&title=Nature+as+measure%3A+Ecosystems+and+the+future+of+sustainable+business "LinkedIn") An ecosystem is a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment (e.g., the marine ecosystem). It can also refer to an interconnected system, such as the green-tech entrepreneurial ecosystem AlmaScience is building. ### Rhizomatic networks: nature & human flow **Air** is invisible but essential, like a shared language or a creative current. **Water** sustains life, much like knowledge that feeds innovation and adaptation. **Soil** anchors the way public spaces foster human interaction and cultures. **Winds** stir things up, akin to social shifts and cultural momentum. **Heat** is the soothing sun or the heatwave felt in collective gatherings or surges of motivation. Ecosystems are symbiotic; they thrive on mutual benefit, much like networks and creative ecosystems. In nature, **the spiderweb, the radial web, or the neural net** inspired by the human brain all rely on structures where no single part dominates, but all parts are connected and interdependent. If one node breaks, the entire structure feels the tension. In nature, as in society, the shape of an ecosystem often mirrors its mode of interaction. From the branching trees of hierarchical systems to the entangled roots of rhizomatic networks, the forms we observe echo the ways we organize knowledge, collaboration, and convening in action. “Influenced by botany, the rhizome is a non-hierarchical root system, a collective, or an assemblage of ever-changing interconnecting multiplicities with no central control system” (Tanja Tillmann and Alfredo Salomão Filho, “[Reflecting on Partnerships of Sustainability Learning: Enacting a Lewin–Deleuze–Guattari Rhizome](https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9776)”). Portuguese designer and theorist [Manuel Lima](https://www.mslima.com/) has charted this evolution, showing in his TED Talk how we have shifted from the rigid, top-down structure of the tree – an enduring symbol of centralized authority –to the fluid, decentralized patterns of the web and the rhizome as defined by Deleuze & Guattari as a metaphor for culture and knowledge. Rhizomatic learning or rhizomatic networks exist in tech, agriculture, or art ecosystems. Knowledge no longer flows downward but spreads outward – like mycelium underfoot, like the veins of a leaf. These interlaced ecosystems of people, ideas, and data describe a collective intelligence shaped not by nostalgia for old forms or powers, but by the forward momentum of shared and sustainable growth. We no longer build pyramids, we grow webs and circular economies. This is true in knowledge systems, as well as increasingly in architecture. From the city of Almada, which sits on the southern shore of Lisbon along the Tagus River – the way Brooklyn faces Manhattan – one can gaze across at MAAT, Lisbon’s Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology: a reptilian shape stretching in striking symbiosis with the surrounding natural elements. The building is covered with what evokes fish scales, in reality nearly 15,000 three-dimensional crackle-glazed tiles, that reflect and transcend the mutable southern light of Lisbon, as if the structure were a living organism of perpetual mutation. ![]() MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology, Lisbon When asked about sustainability in architecture, MAAT architect Amanda Levete said in 2022: > *It is completely central – we build because we believe in a future, and we won’t have a future unless we put sustainability at the heart of everything we do. Wherever we build, whatever the context, we have a responsibility to address sustainability, biodiversity, and wellbeing – to create places where we can live better together and live better with nature.* > – Amanda Levete, British architect (interview by [The Wick Culture](https://thewickculture.com/interview-award-winning-architect-amanda-levete/)) ### An ecosystem in the making In Almada, this past March, the whole of AlmaScience gathered at the incubator space [Quarteirão das Artes](https://www.novalmadavelha.pt/quarteirao-das-artes/) (Arts Quarter). Mónica Simões, a PhD researcher in paper technology at AlmaScience, echoed Levete’s words on stage, introducing [AERA](https://almascience.pt/sustainable-technology/demos/aera): > *There is an urgent need to reduce the consumption of fossil-based thermal insulator foams like polyurethane or expanded polystyrene because their environmental impacts are colossal and detrimental from production to end of life. They are non-biodegradable, rarely recycled, and part of the microplastic generation.* > – Mónica Simões, AlmaScience Researcher In fact, this pernicious pair – polyurethane (PU) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) – poses environmental challenges in both forests and oceans. PU, derived from fossil fuels, contributes to pollution during production and persists in the environment, while the lightweight and insulating EPS is a common form of marine litter. It breaks down into microplastics that harm wildlife. ![]() Example of various polyurethane foam products AlmaScience researchers, leadership, and communicators had gathered to experience and review the project pitches, each presented by a researcher on stage, using a slide deck. Though this was, for now, a closed-door, intimate rehearsal performed in front of MBA students and prospective business associates, the intention is for this to become a recurring series. As part of its 2025 strategy, AlmaScience aims to orchestrate similar events to expand its reach, build deeper connections, and foster invested interest, openly seeking funding and support from financial and industrial partners. At this stage, the dozens of projects presented are all in various stages of development. AERA, the concept introduced by Mónica Simões, emerged from AlmaScience within the context of the EU-backed Portuguese National Recovery and Resilience Plan “From Fossil to Forest”, which aims to develop cellulose-based packaging and products to replace fossil plastics with sustainable alternatives. AERA is a 100% biodegradable, cellulose-based rigid foam with thermal insulation properties. It offers a light, biodegradable casing for a variety of precious goods – be it fresh fish, smartphones, medicine, high-end beauty products, branded liquors, decade-old cheeses, and more. ![]() Mónica Simões, researcher at AlmaScience, holding a sample of AERA In Mónica’s hands, the AERA sample is seen softly wrapping a GELA-wrapped beer bottle. Why should drinking beer – made from barley, water, hops, and yeast – be harmful to the planet? Why not purify this fun, refreshing drink across its entire operational chain from any form of environmental threat? And why should a fast-cooling wrapper like GELA or a thermal insulation foam like AERA last forever? Especially when we know that most packaging ends up in (or outside) overflowing recycling bins, so massive is our packaging consumption. These two distinctive products by AlmaScience – GELA, previously presented by Fausto Queda, and AERA – epitomize how researchers at the Portuguese co-lab shape their concepts with intention: 1. Can the solution be supported by materials found in nature? 2. What should the product's lifespan be, and what should its end-of-life strategy be? 3. What conditions are required for the product to fulfill its function while remaining biodegradable and financially sustainable? These questions never leave the bench – they precede testing. The principle is true for all other projects presented, some of which we have written about in detail in previous articles: [PetriTag®: the sustainable, paper-based, portable bacterial detector for the fish transport system](https://almascience.pt/news/latest/petritag-the-sustainable-paper-based-portable-bacterial-detector-for-the-fish-transport-system); [Luís Pereira is building a sustainable, BRIGHTer future at AlmaScience](https://almascience.pt/news/interview/luis-pereira-is-building-a-sustainable-brighter-future-at-almascience); [AlmaScience presents PaperWeight AI to revolutionize technology in the retail sector](https://almascience.pt/news/press-release/almascience-presents-paperweight-ai-to-revolutionize-technology-in-the-retail-sector); GELA: [Hello Sunshine! Fancy a cool drink?](https://almascience.pt/news/latest/hello-sunshine-fancy-a-cool-drink); and more. The good news: AERA is in the final phases of research and ready to be tested in a commercial environment, whereas GELA is already cruising in wide-open seas, with engaged stakeholders and no competition on the horizon. ![]() The afternoon has a feel-good energy, driven by the coherence and connection among the concepts presented. It feels like a softer and quieter version of what [Techstars](https://www.techstars.com/) events used to stand for. And in essence, this series of presentations aims to fine-tune pitches with Techstars’ similar level of quality control. Each researcher steps solo on stage to lay out a concept, succinctly describing the scientific and financial workflow, its development stage, potential challenges, and possible applications. Mónica Simões, who stepped on stage twice, received her Ph.D. in Chemical and Process Engineering in 2021 from the Graz University of Technology as part of the [FibretNet](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/764713) project, an innovative Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions ITN initiative focused on bio-based fibers. Her R&D engineering background includes work on stimuli-sensitive drug delivery systems, intelligent textiles, nanoscale inter-fiber contact measuring techniques, and paper performance and technology. AERA is a collaboration between four AlmaScience researchers: Tomás Freire, Filipe Matos, Fausto Queda, and Mónica Simões. The invention was developed in tandem with another cellulose-based development by Fausto Queda: GELA, itself a collaboration currently involving eleven AlmaScience researchers. Science relies on collaborative ecosystems. Similarly, fields such as design, architecture, and urbanism thrive on interlinked networks and multidisciplinary cooperation. Complex, interdependent, and socially responsive problem-solving is most agile and robust through collective intelligence. In science, collaborative labs, interdisciplinary journals, and data-sharing consortia enable knowledge to emerge from multiple entry points and evolve across boundaries. AlmaScience’s afternoon gathering ended with a dozen projects presented, each conceived within a rhizome of researchers, each seeking to expand its reach and attract support. ### Escaping the legacy of extraction Today’s technologies have steadily shifted away from the legacy of the 18th-century Industrial Revolution that locked generations into a cycle of over-extracting natural resources, accelerated production and underpaid labor. This was justified by a widespread belief in Social Darwinism that today’s “tech-lordism” and its dystopian vision of Earth as a “doomed planet”, inspired by mid-century space myths and video game dark narratives, echoes and amplifies. Whereas some remain caught in a retroactive mindset of isolationism, rebranded through nostalgic slogans, the 21st century, with its exponential technological advancements, vast knowledge databases, and networked scientists and innovators, remains deeply promising. Even as we face temporary convulsions and hiatuses, often imposed by an aging generation, the capacity for renewal and transformation remains. Meanwhile, nature’s real systems are being re-understood through science and research organized around collaborative, flexible networks that foster and accelerate sustainable solutions to climate change and ecological collapse. When an electronic device begins with cellulose as a sustainable substrate for electronic systems with an [appropriate lifespan](https://almascience.pt/sustainable-technology) (contrary to the man-made “eternal chemicals” poisoning the environment), then nature becomes both the input and output of invention. > *Humans make up approximately 0.01 percent of all life on Earth. Yet a vast majority of all we do is done with them in mind. If we want to invest in sustainability and reduce negative impacts on the environment, we need to stop centering on the human. We need to put our egos aside. We must understand the problem from the viewpoint of nature – investigate its unique needs and requirements, identify its fragilities, and embrace the immense opportunities it offers for cooperation.* > – Manuel Lima, "The Destruction of the Ego" ### The Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem AlmaScience is eager to demonstrate that green technologies, such as sustainable functional materials and printed electronics, are not only environmentally urgent but also a sustainable business strategy for Portugal and Europe. The CoLab is determined to extend its reach and showcase its solutions in order to build deeper involvement among like-minded companies, institutions, and investors – all of those who believe innovation can advance in alignment with nature (and in compliance with recent [EU regulations](https://almascience.pt/news/thought-piece/2025-2030-charting-europes-green-future), for example). Therefore, AlmaScience is building the [Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem](https://almascience.pt/sustainable-innovation-ecosystem), a robust ecosystem for green technology, circular economy models, supply chain reform, and digital transformation ventures in Portugal and abroad. This ecosystem is already made up of nine of the most important and innovative Portuguese companies and institutions from academia, that have seen firsthand how AlmaScience’s collaborative model accelerates sustainable growth and keeps them ahead of industry shifts. AlmaScience is now inviting forward-thinking organizations to be part of this dynamic, cutting-edge ecosystem dedicated to sustainable technology, research, and innovation. Partners will gain access to a thriving community of practice, high-impact R&D opportunities, and strategic partnerships that accelerate their innovation journey. Is your company ready to innovate? Join AlmaScience’s [Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem](https://almascience.pt/sustainable-innovation-ecosystem) and secure your position at the forefront of your industry. Start your innovation journey today! --- *This work is supported by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) and by the Next Generation EU European Funds through the Green Agenda for Business Innovation “FF2F - From Fossil to Forest” (Project nº 8), a consortium led by The Navigator Company.* - [ Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem ](https://almascience.pt/component/tags/tag/sustainable-innovation-ecosystem) - [ Innovation ](https://almascience.pt/component/tags/tag/innovation) - [ Sustainability ](https://almascience.pt/component/tags/tag/sustainability) ### Continue reading... 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