Project concluded
The implementation of the European bioeconomy occurs under the impulsion of entrepreneurs (ranging from carbon-based industries to farmers and foresters) and political authorities, assisted by knowledge workers (R&D).
The drivers are (1) the search for alternative resources for fossil fuels, (2) the response to climate warming by becoming as CO2 neutral as possible and (3) the industrial demand for new functionalities offered by biobased materials and chemicals. Regions can be encouraged to apply new development strategies.
Regions can also be guided to find ways to support, encourage and enhance concrete actions towards the bioeconomy by current and potential entrepreneurs within a bioeconomy. All regions are potentially ‘bioregions’, and the BERST project provides tools (sets of criteria, catalogues both of instruments and measures as well as of good practices and case studies, and guidelines for elaborating regional profiles to prepare for smart specialisation strategies) to help regions in their trajectory of bioeconomic development.
The aim of this project is to take into account the bioeconomy potential and strategies of a range of different regions in Europe, and therefore to gain understanding of the possibilities and challenges related to the enhancement of biobased economies. The project also provides a support network in order to promote the development of smart specialisation strategies based on regional bioeconomic potential.
The results and outcomes of this project will be linked to each region’s “normal” planning and strategic development processes, and therefore to give additional tools for the regions to enhance their bioeconomies. This also means to promote stakeholder relations within bioregions, so that entrepreneurs can guide regional priorities in the development of the bioeconomy. The outcome of the project – with both a toolkit and an operating bioregional network – is intended to be taken over by the nascent EU Bioeconomy Observatory.
Contacts: Myrna van Leeuwen: Myrna.vanLeeuwen@wur.nl