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Fermented flour a food waste breakthrough
Ninna Granucci, a former University of Auckland international student, is part of a new generation of thinkers contributing solutions with out-of-the-box thinking.
Ninna grew up in Brazil and saw for herself the amount of food waste primary producers there generated. Learning about the scale of the problem globally, she resolved to apply her skills to help bring about change.
“I wanted to use science in an area which fascinates me –microbiology and specifically, fermentation – to try and find a solution to this huge problem.”
University of Auckland a great place for new ideas
Ninna chose to study for her PhD in Biological Sciences under Dr Silas Villas-Boas at the University of Auckland in 2014. “The university environment was a great place for new ideas, to promote the spark to find solutions to problems, with the scientific approach to support it.”
It clearly worked. After only 18 months, she had a breakthrough in the lab which she knew could make a real difference. She refined a fermentation process to successfully convert waste pulp and peel from selected fruit and vegetables into a nutritious flour. Widening the range of ingredients in her trial, she proved she was on to something.
Data from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)shows that almost 32 percent of plant-based product is wasted annually. Ninna’s technology has the potential to make substantial progress on this.
It turned out that the ingredients also tick all the boxes for health and sustainability-conscious consumers: high protein, high fibre, low calorie, gluten free, rich in vitamins, minerals and natural antioxidants. And the bonus is that they also have lowest CO2 footprint compared with other ingredients in the market today.
Entering her prototype into the University’s Velocity 100K Business Idea Challenge sparked media interest and a flurry of inquiries from supermarkets and other businesses wanting to buy the product. “That was when we realised it was not only an academic project but also something which could be much bigger and could help to address the problem of food waste,” Ninna says.
Green Spot Technologies has global plans
With support from Velocity, she and Silas co-founded sustainable food innovation company Green Spot Technologies, which has ambitious plans to go global. Ninna is now CEO and based in Toulouse, France, where the business is established in a start-up accelerator environment and employs 15 people.
But back in the early days, it was pretty nerve-wracking. “My plan was to complete my PhD first and then set up a company based around the project. But after the success in the Velocity Challenge, we decided the time was right to forge ahead with the start-up. It was quite challenging. My background is all scientific, I didn’t have any experience in business, and I had a lot to learn.”
She is grateful for the support she got at the University of Auckland and believes that her career path would never have progressed as quickly if she hadn’t chosen New Zealand as a study destination.
“I give a lot of credit to New Zealand for how things worked out”
“New Zealand was the catalyst,” she says. “I managed to secure a scholarship through Callaghan Innovation available to students looking to add value to waste streams. It allowed me to focus on the work and find opportunity. I give a lot of credit to New Zealand for how things worked out.”
Ninna worked in Auckland with other international students from around the world and says that, too, helped contribute to her success. “When you are in the same situation you can support each other and that was super important during my PhD.”
New Zealand education the right decision
Ninna remains passionate about sustainability and reducing food waste. It is at the heart of her business and is important to her personally. The mission of Green Spot Technologies is “challenging the food waste paradigm to feed the future”. The company has won multiple awards, both in New Zealand and in Europe, highlighting the unique nature of its technology and products.
With food insecurity spreading to hundreds of millions of people around the world, the UN has set a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to halve food waste by 2030. It is an ambitious target and needs innovative thinkers like Ninna to make it achievable.
“I think it is incredible that we waste so much food, knowing that we need more food in the world. It doesn’t make any sense, but it motivates me to work on solutions,” she says.
The decision to study in New Zealand was a critical part of Ninna’s journey from international student to international businesswoman and innovator. “I could not have imagined that it would lead to such huge changes in my life in such a short time,” she says.
“A New Zealand education provides a truly enriching experience. I really think I made the right decision.”
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Mortal Engines offers ENZ opportunity to showcase education strengths in creative arts to prospective students
The New Zealand premiere of Mortal Engines took place in Auckland last night and the film is released to New Zealand audiences from today.
ENZ and the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) have partnered with Universal Pictures, MRC and Hungry City Limited on the film as part of the New Zealand Screen Production Grant 5% uplift.
ENZ Chief Executive Grant McPherson says this partnership is a great opportunity to build awareness of New Zealand’s world-leading education system – particularly in the creative industries.
“Mortal Engines marks a real shift in the New Zealand story we want to tell the world,” Mr McPherson says.
“This film was made in New Zealand not because of the beauty of our landscapes but because of the depth of talent and level of technical sophistication available here.
“The partnership allows us to showcase New Zealand’s education strengths in the creative arts. It supports our brand positioning of New Zealand as a modern, dynamic and innovative country with a lot to offer in the highly competitive international education market.”
The last few years have already seen growing numbers of international students studying creative arts in New Zealand – 5,139 in 2017, up 24% on 2012.
Principal photography took place in Wellington in early 2017, and involved more than 1000 New Zealanders including crew, cast and craftspeople. The film was shot at Stone Street and Avalon Studios and at a few small local exterior locations. Post production was completed by Park Road Post Production with visual effects work realised by Academy-Award winning company Weta Digital.
Crew members included recent graduates (including several former international students): an assistant props designer who studied Industrial Design at Victoria University of Wellington, an apprentice editor who studied at South Seas Film School in Auckland, a film editor with a Bachelor of Digital Design from Auckland University of Technology, and a visual special effects capture booth photographer who studied animation at Yoobee School.
Grant says the partnership has provided an opportunity for ENZ to tell graduates’ stories to other prospective international students through an integrated promotional campaign, including PR, digital marketing and social media activity across our channels which have more than one million followers.
The campaign will begin in January 2019. There will be a Mortal Engines page on the Study in New Zealand website which will encourage prospective students to sign up to ENZ’s database. A series of emails will follow to this qualified audience providing information about a variety of design disciplines and courses related to filmmaking.
“Our goal is to generate awareness of New Zealand’s specialised courses and hands-on learning style in the creative industries through sharing videos and profiles celebrating our graduates who worked on the film,” says Grant.
“We look forward to getting the marketing campaign underway next month, and attracting more high-quality, creative international students to study in our institutions.”
You can read the full media release here.
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New Zealand-China Early Childhood Education Symposium to be hosted in New Zealand for the first time
The fifth annual New Zealand-China Early Childhood Education Symposium – themed around digital transformation in early childhood education – is set to take place at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) in Christchurch on 3 December.
This is the first time that the symposium will be hosted in New Zealand.
A 31-strong delegation from China across 21 universities, schools, kindergartens and government agencies will attend the event.
Co-organised by Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ), the China Center for International People-to-People Exchange (CCIPE) of the China Ministry of Education and UC, the symposium will see at least 25 presenters and 80 attendees from New Zealand and China present on a range of topics related to digital transformation in early childhood education. Audiences in New Zealand and China will also attend the symposium virtually.
Broad topics this year include emerging opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence in teachers’ work in early childhood education, the use of digital technologies for early childhood education assessment, and digital transformation for communication and collaboration with families.
The event aims to foster academic exchanges and cooperation in early childhood education between New Zealand and China.
In June, during the visit by Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Education Minister Huai Jinpeng to New Zealand, UC signed a partnership agreement with the CCIPE at the New Zealand-China High-level Education Forum in Auckland. UC is also a current New Zealand-China Tripartite Partnership Programme recipient with two Chinese partners, Shanghai Normal University and Qufu Normal University, around early childhood education.
ENZ Acting General Manager International Ben Burrowes said the symposium highlights the long and fruitful bilateral engagement between New Zealand and China across a number of education areas.
“I am delighted to have New Zealand host the event for the first time. We have seen the symposium grow and go from strength to strength over the last five years and nurture relationships between our early childhood education providers.
“I look forward to hearing from presenters across the education landscape in both our countries sharing insights on digital transformation in early childhood education,” Burrowes said.
The University of Canterbury is honored to be the first tertiary institution in New Zealand to host the symposium, says Professor Joce Nuttall, Executive Dean of UC’s Faculty of Education Te Kaupeka Ako.
“As a university committed to future-focused education and the creation of meaningful local and global impact, the symposium is an invaluable opportunity for UC to engage in discussions with peers across New Zealand and China on the future of early childhood education between our two countries.”
Since 2020, the New Zealand-China Education Symposium has explored a rich range of themes and inspirational presentations on early childhood education, including exploring best practice for developing high-quality early childhood education teachers, and sustainable development in early childhood education and care.
For further information:
Justin Barnett | Director of Communications, Education New Zealand
+64 21 875 132
