JOIN THIS PHYSICAL NETWORKING EVENT ON 26 SEPTEMBER AT THE SHERATON BRUSSELS AIRPORT HOTEL

Click here to download the event programme

This pitching, matchmaking and networking event brings together the networks of seven important bioeconomy platforms: Pilots4U, Tech4Biowaste, BioeconomyVentures, The ProteInn Club, Waste2Func, BIOMAC and Bio Base Connect. As such, we can guarantee a diverse attendance reaching from SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups, large companies/corporates, investors, research organisations, technology providers to organisations offering relevant innovation services such as access to finance, scale-up trials, application testing, business plan writing, feedstock analysis, life cycle assessment, social acceptance, etc.

Participants are invited to submit a pitch application for a 6 minutes pitch. As we are organising 6 pitch sessions of 90 minutes each, we are looking for at least 66 inspiring pitches. Not to exclude any interesting developments, pitch categories are not defined upon registration but should be relevant for further development of the bioeconomy.

The matchmaking are one-on-one meetings of 20 minutes aimed at finding new partners. The scheduling of these meetings will be supported by an online matchmaking system, easy to use on a smartphone or laptop.

More info at this link.

The high-level conference ‘The Bioeconomy – Enabling the European Green Deal in Challenging Times’ will take place on 6 and 7 October in the Charlemagne building in Brussels. In addition, all sessions will also be live-streamed to allow everyone to get involved from anywhere.

In this context, there will be the presentation of the findings of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy Progress Report, adopted in June 2022 and highlight the role of bioeconomy policy to enhance policy coherence and system thinking. A series of bioeconomy success stories from EU research and innovation will be presented, alongside evidence for a successful implementation of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy. There will also be an opportunity to discuss how the bioeconomy can help to better manage certain trade-offs, by addressing the question of how increasing biomass demand for energy and industrial needs can be matched with increasing climate and biodiversity objectives.

Bioeconomy encompasses all sectors and associated services and investments that produce, use, process, distribute or consume biological resources, including ecosystem services. From the food we eat to the furniture in our house and the clothes we wear, the bioeconomy, as one of the Union’s largest sectors, is already present in our daily lives. Bioeconomy can be the natural enabler and result of the European Green Deal transformation.

You can find all the details at this link.

According to a study conducted by the UN Environment, plastic is one of the greatest environmental challenges of the 21st century.
It is estimated that every year around 13 million tons of plastic waste is deposited in nature. Another problem is that approximately 40% of all plastic produced in the last 150 years was used only once, before being discarded.
The fact that global plastics production has been in excess of 300 million metric tons since 2014 (and reached 367 million metric tons in 2020) means that urgent initiatives aimed at handling the “plastic problem” are needed.

Based on the need to handle the management of plastic and to promote approaches and methods aimed at fostering the production of bio-based plastic, BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE is preparing the book “Innovative Approaches to Handle Plastic Waste and Foster Bio-based Plastics Production”.

The book will be structured in 2 parts: part 1 focuses on plastic waste management and part 2 focuses on bio-based plastics production and use.

We are looking for papers related to innovative means to manage and prevent plastic waste taking into account health and safety standards, to end-of-life solutions as well as environmental and economic life cycle assessments of plastic products. Furthermore, we are interested on works which showcase efficient means to produce bio-based and biodegradable plastic on the one hand, and foster its reuse and recycling on the other, ensuring the safety of recycled materials for both the environment and the society.

The book will be produced as part of the World Sustainability Series, the leading peer-reviewed book series on matters related to sustainable development.

As it is a peer-reviewed publication, contributions to the book are acknowledged as high-quality academic outputs. Authors may have their contributions officially submitted for promotion and tenure purposes. For PhD students, accepted papers are an acknowledged sign of high-quality academic performance.

Expressions of interest to contribute to the book, consisting of a 300-words abstract with all contact data from the authors, should be sent to the project team at: bioplastics@ls.haw-hamburg.de by 31st August 2022. Full papers are due by 30th October 2022. Further details will be shared with the authors whose papers have been selected.

The hybrid high-level Conference ‘How to engage with the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” – A Mediterranean Lighthouse’ will take place the 13-14 June 2022 in Marseille.

The event is organised by the European Commission together with the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur Region, cluster “Pôle Mer Méditerranée”, City of Marseille and Aix-Marseille University.

It will focus on the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” implementation and its planned actions to accelerate the transition to zero pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. In particular, this event will outline the co-creation process of the Mission Charter by discussing with stakeholders and youth how to get involved in the Mission.

On the 13 June, there will be a series of side events, an exhibition, and a symbolic torchlight initiative. The high-level conference will take place on the 14 June.

Registrations are open at this link.
Please make sure you register by Wednesday 1 June.

You can explore the last version of the draft programme of the event and read more about the Mission here.

Should you not be able to join us in person at the Aix-Marseille University, Jardin du Pharo in Marseille, there will also be the possibility to follow the event and participate virtually.

Please do not hesitate to contact the helpdesk: MissionOcean2030@vo-europe.eu  should you have any questions.

Glaukos project, in collaboration with the EuBioNet, is organizing a multistakeholder workshop “Tackling microplastics pollution: can biodegradable textile and coating be a solution?”, which will take place online on 20 June 2022 from 10.00 to 13.00.

CONTEXT:

Microplastic pollutions is becoming one of the world’s environmental main concerns, since is widespread in the environment threatening human health[1] and biodiversity. The European Green Deal (EGD), the new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and the EU Plastics Strategy announce measures to tackle pollution from microplastics that are intentionally added or unintentionally released into the environment (from e.g. synthetic textiles). According to the EU Action Plan ‘Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil’ states that by 2030 the EU should reduce plastic litter at sea by 50% and microplastics by 30%[2].  The Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters” ambition is to meet these objectives and targets to restore the health of the EU’s ocean and waters by 2030.To respond to these challenges, there is an urgent need to explore innovative solutions to address microplastic pollution. Biodegradable plastics can play a role in reducing the accumulation of microplastics in the environment, especially for applications where it is difficult or expensive to remove it from the environment, but, according to the SAPEA Group of Chief Scientific Advisors[3] “biodegradable plastics are not a ‘silver bullet’ to solve the problem of plastic pollution”, since they also present certain challenges.The EC funded several projects and initiatives to investigate under which conditions biodegradable plastics (and microplastics) can ensure long term positive impacts on the ecosystems.

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/research_and_innovation/groups/sam/ec_rtd_sam-mnp-opinion_042019.pdf

[2] Microplastics pollution – measures to reduce its impact on the environment (europa.eu)

[3] Biodegradability of plastics in the open environment – SAPEA

The Glaukos workshop will start with a session to frame the problem, the political scene, the business context and the market perspective. Then, there will be three sessions with some  “setting the scene talks” in order to stimulate the discussion along the following specific life cycle stages:

• safe and sustainable by design
• purchase and usage
• end of life

EXPECTED OUTCOMES:

• scientific/research community
• policy makers
• textile and coating industries
• multipliers and innovation ecosystem enablers (associations, clusters, NGOs, Institutions, initiatives, etc.)
• Investors
• standardisation and certification bodies
• civil society representatives

TARGET PARTICIPANTS:

• scientific/research community
• policy makers
• stakeholder related to fishing and clothing (primary sector, industries, SMEs, retailers)
• multipliers and innovation ecosystem enablers (associations, clusters, NGOs, Institutions, initiatives, etc.)
• Investors
• standardisation and certification bodies
• civil society representatives

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

The workshop is free of charge.
To participate, please register at: https://forms.gle/eNnubap8H5Xvjd6q6
You can find the Agenda at this link.
For more information: Selenia Marinelli: marinelli@fvaweb.it