The Executive Committee of the ICA Community of Practice for Bioeocnomy Education (ICA-CoP Bio-Edu) is organising the workshop “Engaging with industry to ensure that graduates and professionals are well prepared for employment in the Bioeconomy“, to be held at Warsaw University of Life Sciences from 26 to 28 April 2023.

Download the flyer with details and agenda.

A  Workshop focus

Educators and employers are experiencing a gap between the competences of graduates and what is needed by the employer in the bioeconomy. Although it is not possible to prepare students for specific jobs, it should be possible with the support of industry to prepare students more effectively for their future careers in the bioeconomy

The key objectives of the workshop will be to:

• recognise and examine the gap between expectations of graduates and industry on the working ethos of the bioeconomy industries.
• identify the specific generic competences required by graduates for careers in the bioeconomy
• recognise the need to embed in our graduates the mindset for the bioeconomy  – referring back to the Colloquium in 2022
• exchange good practices in realising cooperation between representatives of employers and educational institutions to improve the engagement of industry employees in curricula at VET, Bachelor and Master education levels.
• examine how to develop life long learning cooperation between employers and educational institutions in support of up-skilling industry employees for the bioeconomy

B   Expected Outcome

It is expected that participants will:

• address how to realise an optimal engagement of employer partners in the educational programmes to prepare graduates and professionals for their future employment.

C  Target Audience

Degree programme coordinators, lecturers, members of committees responsible for the (strategic) development of curricula. National education advisors and employers, who have a special interest in cooperating with education institutions, are also invited to contribute to the discussion.

D  Workshop Format

On the Wednesday afternoon there will be a joint plenary session focusing on all three workshop themes.  The Thursday session has three parallel sessions, one for each Workshop Theme. The Friday session will start with the three parallel sessions and then come together for a final plenary session.

Each Session of the Workshop theme will be addressed by keynote speakers followed by round table breakout groups to discuss the issues raised, with a concluding report from the breakout groups of the issues raised in the final plenary session on Friday morning.

Overview of the three Workshops:

1)  ICA Network for Innovation in Life Sciences Higher Education (ICA-Edu)

Workshop Title: The Student Engagement Challenge

The nature of learning is changing with a greater emphasis on blended approaches and flexible learning paths.  Students themselves have changing expectations about how, when and where they learn and the types of extra-curricular activities they are interested in and willing to engage with.

2)  ICA Community of Practice for Bioeconomy Education in Europe (ICA-CoP Bio-Edu)

Workshop Title: Engaging with industry to ensure that graduates and professionals are well prepared for employment in the Bioeconomy.

Educators and employers are experiencing a gap between the competences of graduates and what is needed by the employer in the bioeconomy. Although it is not possible to prepare students for specific jobs, it should be possible for universities with the support of industry to prepare students more effectively for their future careers in the bioeconomy.

3)  ICA-Edu Special Interest Group (SIG) for Sustainable Entrepreneurship Education

Workshop Title: Embedding student challenges and competitions in sustainable entrepreneurship education

This ICA-SIG Workshop will focus on the role of student challenges and competitions as catalysts for entrepreneurial learning and student engagement within life science universities.

On February 14, 2023 the first Mobilisation and Mutual Learning workshop of the EuBioNet working group in “Standardisation, certification, labelling and monitoring” took place as a fruitful meeting organised under SUSTRACK project.

The event engaged 12 EU funded projects and 40 active participants in a discussion to facilitate networking, collaboration, share methodologies, lessons and plan future activities in order to maximise the joint efforts.

After a brief introduction by the main organisers and by Silvia Maltagliati, Policy Officer at the European Commission, DG RTD, the projects participating provided an overview of the main objectives, expected outcomes, sectors of interest and methodologies and tools.

During the second part of the workshop, the participants interacted with the collaborative online tool MIRO board to define opportunities for collaboration and an initial common action plan.

Are you a EU funded project working on Standardisation, certification, labelling and monitoring?
Join the EuBioNet working group! Write to Susanna Albertini – albertini@fvaweb.it

Busy week at Ecomondo for the Transition2BIO and EuBioNet people!

The week started with the speech “Addressing challenges to unlock bio-plastics potential: the contribution of EU-funded projects”, delivered by Susanna Albertini from FVA New Media Research during the Cluster meeting: Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects contributing to the EU Plastics Strategy organized by the European Research Executive Agency (REA), on the 8^th of November, as part of the Glaukos Project and European Bioeconomy Network activities.

Recordings available here.

During the speech two innovative formats were presented:

• Projects2Projects, facilitating collaboration and mutual learning among projects, that was validated in Brussels on the 5^th of October in a workshop organized by the European Bioeconomy Network and the European Commission, involving more than 40 project promoting the circular bioeconomy.
• Projects2Policy format, shortening the gap between EU funded projects and policies, facilitating the awareness and adoption of project’s results. The format is part of a series of workshops organized by Glaukos and Bio-Plastics Europe Projects, involving 49 projects and around 20 Policy Officers from different DGs. The last appointment is foreseen for the next 23th November.

On the 9^th of November, during the conference session “Commit to the Mission Charter to contribute to a healthy “pollution free” MED, organized by Ecomondo Scientific Technical Committee, BlueMed GSOs, Federchimica-PlasticsEurope Italia, Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Susanna Albertini delivered the speech “Experiences from EU funded projects contributing to the Mission Charter for a healthy “pollution free” MED”. During the speech some good practices from Transition2Bio, Biovoices, the European Bioeconomy Network and Glaukos have been presented.

Recordings available here.

The workshop was an important opportunity to learn how Mediterranean projects and initiatives, but also industrial and policy actors, as well as NGOs and citizens can become active “Missioners”, sharing their activities and ambitions to support the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” by adhering to the Mission charter. John Bell, European Commission’s ‘Healthy Planet” Director, delivered a very inspirational talk about the vision and objectives of the Mission.

On 11^th November, Serena Fabbrini from APRE presented the recently funded project GenB, aiming at inspiring, educating, involving and supporting the young generations to become the ambassadors of the circular bioeconomy in the European Commission area dedicated to EU funded projects. The book for kids “What’s Bioeconomy”, produced by the projects BIOVOICES and Transition2Bio was promoted as a good practice to engage the primary school students with these topics.

Finally FVA team, representing Transition2Bio and Glaukos, was involved in the expert focus group “Are Bio-based plastics the future for toy applications?”, organized by Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, in the context of Bio-Plastics Europe project and involving the most relevant stakeholders in bio-plastics and toys, to discuss is Bio-based and biodegradable plastics can be a suitable solution for the toys industry.