On May 13, 2025, the BIOBASEDCERT Final Conference in Brussels convened over 80 stakeholders from across Europe to explore the future role of voluntary sustainability certification in driving the EU’s green transition. Organized by the STAR4BBS, HARMONITOR, and SUSTCERT4BIOBASED projects, the event showcased key research results and sparked critical dialogue on the tools and policies needed to support a sustainable circular bioeconomy.

Certification at the Core of Policy Innovation

Central to the discussions was the BIOBASEDCERT Monitoring Tool (BMT), a novel framework developed to evaluate the effectiveness, comprehensiveness, and transparency of sustainability certification schemes (CSLs). Participants examined the tool’s potential use as a co-regulatory instrument within EU policy frameworks, particularly in the context of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the Empowering Consumers Directive.

Interactive sessions and expert panels provided insight into the integration of certification schemes into emerging EU legislative landscapes, including digital product passports, substantiation of green claims, and alignment with broader sustainability goals. Speakers emphasized that while certification schemes can enhance transparency and trust, their successful implementation depends on balancing credibility, cost-efficiency, and inclusiveness—especially for SMEs.

Key Takeaways and Policy Recommendations

The conference generated a range of policy insights and actionable recommendations:

• Promote co-regulation: Use voluntary certification schemes to complement EU legislative tools, particularly in complex bio-based value chains.

• Strengthen data systems: Develop harmonized, EU-wide standards for trade flow monitoring to support traceability and informed policymaking.

• Support SMEs: Offer financial incentives, training, and access to shared infrastructure to reduce certification costs and promote uptake.

• Enhance credibility: Standardize claims, improve transparency, and align certification with EU priorities on climate, circularity, and consumer protection.

• Stimulate multistakeholder dialogue: Address governance and power imbalances by fostering inclusive conversations across industry, civil society, and public institutions.

Spotlight on Innovation

A standout moment was the policy workshop led by DG RTD.B1 on the ESPR and Consumer Empowerment Directive, where experts explored how these regulations reshape sustainability claims, labelling, and market access for bio-based products. Discussions highlighted the role of digital product passports and the need to ensure that certification and traceability mechanisms are both rigorous and feasible.

Moving Forward

The event concluded with a co-creation session translating research findings into future policy actions. Using real-time audience feedback via Mentimeter, participants reaffirmed the importance of continuous engagement with policymakers, robust monitoring tools, and coordinated policy frameworks.

By bridging research, regulation, and real-world practice, the BIOBASEDCERT Final Conference positioned voluntary certification not just as a compliance mechanism, but as a catalyst for innovation and trust in Europe’s sustainable bioeconomy.

What an exciting week! From March 5th to the 7th, the BOOST4BIOEAST (B4B) project Kick-Off and the Annual BIOEAST Bioeconomy Conference made Budapest the center of the bioeconomy community in the Central Eastern European and Baltic Countries.
The project already had its official kick-start on 31 January online, however the consortium was committed to meet in-person at the early stage of implementation as well to focus on the strategic planning, practical realization of main activities – namely to develop national bioeconomy action plans and the BIOEAST Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) – and building synergies between tasks for the first year. Co-creation approach using different participatory methods were applied during the project meeting to arrive to a comprehensive and rich exchange and inclusion of different points of view between partners. Both national stakeholder networks (HUBs) and macro-regional Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) foresee the participation of a variety of stakeholders, and B4B is set to consider the different needs, barriers, challenges, and opportunities of the concerned actors.

Following the B4B Kick-off, the Annual BIOEAST Bioeconomy Conference took place between 6-7th March, jointly organized by the project and the BIOEAST Initiative.
The conference represented an important occasion to address pivotal strategic, policy-related, economic and political challenges concerning the macro-region’s goal of implementing a transition towards a sustainable, circular and socially fair bioeconomy by facilitating the creation and expansion of BIOEAST HUBs. Over 130 participants attended the conference from the BIOEAST macro-region across all bioeconomy related fields from research, public administration, primary sector, and industry making the event a great opportunity for networking, too.

The conference was opened by Dr. András Tompos, director of Institute for Material and Environmental Chemistry of the Research Center for Natural Sciences and Dr. Adrienn Baksa, head of department for agricultural modernization of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture.

The keynote speaker of the conference, Dr. Barna Kovács, secretary general of the BIOEAST Initiative took stock of the Initiative’s results since 2016 and rolled out the new BIOEAST agenda for 2024 onwards explaining: “ In light of the multiple crises we experience in Europe, from COVID19, the war in Ukraine to weather extremities (like unprecedented heatwaves), there is an opportunity in rethinking the role of Central Eastern European and Baltic countries, including Western Balkan to contribute to the management of this critical period in the EU. Therefore, the BIOEAST countries should take the opportunity to build up an R&I driven joint programming structure (BIOEAST Partnership) that aims to build a bridge between Eastern European countries and other parts of the EU to secure knowledge transfer for sustainable transition toward circular bioeconomies.”
Therefore, the creation and strengthening of national expert communities (BIOEAST HUBs) at the national level is an important preparatory step for the BIOEAST Partnership as they will represent national bioeconomy innovation ecosystems that support collaboration and knowledge transfer across the Partnership countries. Korinna Varga (Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture) gave an overview of the B4B project aiming to support the BIOEAST Initiative in its goals to facilitate the development of national bioeconomy action plans and BIOEAST SRIA. María Beatriz Rosell (Geonardo) presented the CEE2ACT project having similar activities and therefore, close collaboration is foreseen with B4B when creating the national bioeconomy stakeholder communities.

Inazio Martinez, coordinator of Bioregions Facility at the European Forest Institute, talked about the role of stakeholder networks in bioeconomy transition building on the good practices and experiences of the Network of European Regions for Innovation in Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ERIAFF). Martinez highlighted that building collaboration between stakeholders across sectors, policy domains, science-business-society and regions is essential for creating successful bioeconomy networks just as providing shared vision, economic, environmental and societial benefits for all actors involved.

Marie Kubankova, coordinator of the Czech BIOEAST HUB presented the most important lessons learnt in developing the first BIOEAST HUB in the marco-region while Dasa Beric, Head of Department for Coordination of Implementation of International Commitments in the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture explained how the Croatian bioeconomy strategy was developed though the engagement of wide range of stakeholders. The strategy aims to develop sustainable production and raw material market and increase the added value in the bioeconomy by 2035 financed by the combination of European and national funds.

Tomasz Calikowski, Policy Officer at the DG RTD Directorate B “Healthy Planet”, unit B1 “Green Transitions” talked about the recent developments in the EU bioeconomy policy, relevant research and innovation opportunites under the Horizon Europe Cluster 6 targeted for regions, while Luisa Mascia, Project Officer at the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) more specifically highlighted CBE JU’s widening strategy and its action plan and related call opportunities.

The conference also offered practical workshops aimed to involve participants in identifying the main barriers of a more active European Research Area (ERA) participation of CEE countries, good practices in stakeholder engagement in bioeconomy and on the funding and financing opportunities of bioeconomy innovation.

The BIOEAST Thematic Working Groups also had the chance to discuss with their representatives the future of their work in B4B aligned with the vision of the BIOEAST Partnership in closed sessions. The event was a perfect opportunity to identify key points (challenges, enablers, good practices, incentives, youth involvement) that support the establishment of national HUBs and foster long-term collaboration between national and macro-regional bioeconomy stakeholders.

As closure of the conference, two field trips to Hungarian biorefineries were organised to Hungrana and Pannonia Bio that represent successful case studies for the production of added value products such as bioethanol, various starch, sugar and feed products from grains.

We would like to thank all speakers and participants for offering their insights and ideas on shaping the future of the macro-region’s bioeconomy and hope to meet again next year in Bucharest, Romania.

From April 7th to the 9th, the BOOST4BIOEAST (B4B) project meeting and the Annual BIOEAST Bioeconomy Conference, held at the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences in Bucharest successfully brought together more than 180 stakeholders from across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to initiate discussions on the renewal of BIOEAST-specific research and innovation priorities.

At the annual project meeting (8–9 April), all 30 partners of the B4B consortium took stock of last year’s progress and prepared for upcoming activities. During the past year, B4B marked significant progress with the kick-off of 9 national HUBs (11 in total), the renewal of BIOEAST website and launch of the Knowledge Platform along with 11 mini-HUB pages. Significant preparatory work has been done by the launch of multidimensional mapping in all HUBs to assess macro-regional bioeconomy competences, biomass availability, educational needs and innovation systems. Moreover, the methodologies for the development of national Action Plans and update of the BIOEAST Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) have been established. The main goals for 2025 are to strengthen and animate national HUBs in an engaging manner, starting the Action Plan development process for the 11 BIOEAST countries, shaping the next phase of the BIOEAST SRIA and organizing an impactful Open Innovation Challenge with pitching events across the macro-region.

After the project meeting, the Annual BIOEAST Conference (9–10 April), co-organized by the B4B project and the BIOEAST Initiative served as a critical milestone in revising the SRIA. The event focused on aligning macro-regional research and innovation (R&I) priorities with emerging EU strategies and policy developments, while reflecting the unique needs of the CEE macro-region.

The conference was opened by Zoltán-József Mihály, State Secretary and Viorel Morarescu, Director for Vegetal Sector of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dumitru-Daniel Botănoiu, State Counsellor of the Prime Minister’s Office, and Valeriu Tabara, President of the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences.

Barna Kovács, Secretary of the BIOEAST Initiative, opened the plenary with a call to strengthen the European Research Area through an enhanced bioeconomy R&I ecosystem. Looking ahead to 2025, Mr. Kovács described it as a pivotal year for the Initiative. He noted a significant shift in the EU bioeconomy landscape—from being research-driven to being oriented around market competitiveness and sustainability. He connected this to broader policy discussions, including post-2027 CAP reforms, the design of the next Research and Innovation Framework Programme (FP10), and upcoming Council presidencies, all of which are increasingly focused on issues of security, competitiveness, and sustainability. He concluded with three core questions intended to guide the strategic discussions of the coming year: whether the biomass of the CEE is being recognized as critical for Europe’s sustainability and competitiveness; whether the gaps facing the region are being adequately documented and addressed; and whether political and financial commitment exists to ensure that bioeconomy-related research and innovation can thrive long-term.

Keynote speaker Veronique Sante-Lhoutellier from the FutureFoodS Partnership – a long-term European co-funded partnership running from 2024 to 2034 aimed at transforming food systems toward sustainability – offered insights on building effective SRIA from a research management perspective. She stressed the importance of collaboration and ongoing stakeholder engagement. The methodology used in developing the SRIA—particularly its focus on co-design, multi-stakeholder involvement, and a systems perspective—sets a model for how complex societal challenges like food security and production sustainability can be addressed through research-driven partnerships.

Tomasz Calikowski from DG RTD provided an in-depth look at the European Commission’s current thinking and plans regarding the revision of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy (the public consultation is currently open for the Strategy until 23 June). He highlighted the strong alignment with the BIOEAST Initiative. Recent Council conclusions under the Hungarian presidency explicitly supported a Europe-wide R&I initiative to advance sustainable natural resource management and bioeconomy development, particularly in the CEE. Several recent events, including the “BIOEAST and Beyond” conference and various SCAR working group meetings, have informed the strategy’s direction. The 2025 work programme for Horizon Europe Cluster 6 includes a specific draft topic aimed at enhancing bioeconomy R&I in BIOEAST countries, with a focus on soil and water resilience, sustainable biomass use, and food system security. Mr. Calikowski closed by reaffirming the importance of aligning EU policies with regional realities, and by calling for continued engagement as the bioeconomy becomes a central pillar of Europe’s clean, circular, and competitive future.

After the plenary presentations, a science-policy panel discussion moderated by Maria Anghel from the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture showcased early findings from the BOOST4BIOEAST project’s multidimensional mapping of the bioeconomy in the macro-region, sparking valuable dialogue on knowledge gaps and policy implications. Andrea Violeta Arancibia Alfaro, from the European Forest Institute, is actively involved in strengthening national BIOEAST HUBs and leading mappings on bioeconomy education, skills, and stakeholder collaboration. Laura García, representing the German Biomass Research Centre, is leading the effort on mapping biomass use, potential and competencies (social, technological and economic). Csaba Bálint, from the Hungarian Research Institute of Agricultural Economics, is responsible for the mapping of innovation ecosystems. Dániel Ganszky, from Geonardo, represented the sister project CEE2ACT. As the project nears completion, he reflected on key achievements and explained how CEE2ACT’s results can support BOOST4BIOEAST’s mapping and Action Plan development. Panellist described the key findings from the multidimensional mapping and its connection to support decision-makers by informing the upcoming national bioeconomy Action Plans in each country.

The BIOEAST SRIA workshop formed the key part of the conference, serving as the first step in the consultative process focused on updating the SRIA of the BIOEAST Initiative.

The session began with a presentation segment, offering participants a recap of the original 2022 SRIA and highlighting why a revision is timely and necessary. Speakers Gábor Király from the Research Institute of Agricultural Economics (AKI), Valéria Csonka from the Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (ÖMKi), and Balázs Imre from the Budapest University of Technology (BME) provided key insights drawn from the ‘BIOEAST and Beyond’ high-level conference held on 4-6 December 2024, showed the planned SRIA update process of 2025-2026 as well as reflections on new drivers in the European and regional bioeconomy landscapes. They emphasized the importance of refreshing the SRIA to remain aligned with evolving EU strategies, the European Research Area priorities, and the specific innovation needs of the BIOEAST macro-region.

Beyond the sessions, the conference featured a poster exhibition which showcased 26 posters on bioeconomy best practices and projects from the BIOEAST countries or relevant to the macro-region. Best Poster Awards recognized outstanding contributions to the field which were given to “Boosting the bioeconomy innovation in Baltic Sea Region (BioBoosters project)” poster presented by Katrin Kepp and Lili Veesaar from the Estonian University of Life Sciences, and to “Boosting Knowledge Valorization from Bioeconomy Research” poster presented by Marian Butu from the Romanian National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences.

A field trip was also organised on 10 April to a newly set up local food bank with composting station which organises food distribution to sensitive and disadvantaged groups along with food education programs for children within Bucharest belonging to the municipality. In the afternoon, closed meetings of the BIOEAST Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) took place to discuss activities for 2025 and progress in updating the BIOEAST thematic SRIAs.

The conference was part of a series of events, organized back-to-back with the meetings of the BIOEAST Board, TWG Coordinators and B4B annual project meeting making the week between 7-10 April specifically dedicated to BIOEAST in Bucharest. By fostering collaboration among national networks, funders, researchers, and policy actors, the conference marked a significant step toward a more connected and impactful bioeconomy in CEE.

We would like to thank all speakers and participants for offering their insights and ideas on shaping the future of the macro-region’s bioeconomy and hope to meet again next year in Croatia.

Conference related materials are available on the BIOEAST Knowledge Platform here.

This upcoming webinar by the EU funded 3-CO project will showcase good practice examples of social innovation from all across Europe and beyond to inspire sustainable change and present policy recommendations on how to support and scale such initiatives. The webinar will be held on July 10th 2025, from 13:00 to 14:30 CEST.

This event will present a new brochure about 17 social innovation best-practise examples from across Europe and beyond. The brochure is designed to inform, inspire and guide policymakers, civil society organisations, private businesses and citizens, demonstrating that everyone has a role to play in adopting and supporting social innovations. The project further developed and recently published a policy paper that aims to foster social innovation. The included recommendations for policy makers will be presented in the webinar. Two social innovations holders will discuss challenges of setting and scaling up their initiatives and evaluate the generated societal and environmental change.

The European Research Project 3-CO (Concise Consumer Communication through Robust Labels for Biobased Systems) is committed to supporting consumers and stakeholders in making more sustainable and environmentally responsible choices. Beyond its efforts to improve consumer communication and labelling, 3-CO actively aims to implement and promote social innovation practices that empower citizens, businesses, and actors in the public sector to adopt responsible behaviours.

Register here

The European project ALFA – “Upscaling the market uptake of renewable energy by unlocking the biogas potential of livestock farming” aims to promote the large-scale adoption of agricultural biogas as a driver for a sustainable energy transition in Europe. Funded by the Horizon Europe programme, the project supports livestock farms in starting up or modernising biogas plants, providing commercial and technical assistance, capacity building and awareness raising activities, while promoting innovative collaborative approaches.

During the Mutual Learning Workshop and field visit organised in Rome in April 2025, a common challenge emerged among many Italian stakeholders: although interest in biogas is growing, small and medium-sized farmers face economic, bureaucratic, and operational barriers. In this context, cooperation between farms—for sharing resources, by-products, and facilities—represents a concrete yet still underexplored opportunity.

This is the model promoted by Laura Brida, expert at the Circular Economy Cluster in Bolzano and co-founder of the start-up Eco8 srl. Through digital solutions and local network projects, she has long been advocating for cooperative models that make biogas accessible even to smaller farms. The idea is simple yet ambitious: to unlock the potential of agricultural biogas in Italy through shared development models and decision-support tools. As part of the project’s awareness-raising campaign, Luna del Pizzo, project manager at APRE (Agency for the Promotion of European Research), partner in the ALFA project, interviewed her to explore the potential of this approach and understand what is really needed today to spread agricultural biogas in Italy.

Interview with Laura Brida – Circular Economy Cluster of Bolzano

• Laura, could you briefly tell us how Eco8 srl was founded? What is the context in which your work takes place? And how do you address the issue of biogas accessibility for small and medium-sized agricultural and livestock farms?

Eco8 srl was established in an area characterized by small farms, scattered over mountainous terrain. This means that, in order to set up a plant, it is necessary to have a significant number of farmers, who are also willing to invest in a plant that in any case has high costs, both in terms of construction and management. Hence the difficulty of setting up a number of plants capable of recovering a significant percentage of the manure produced by the farms in the area. It was therefore clear that the first objective had to be to improve the interactions between the different actors that revolve around a biogas plant, first of all optimising logistics; the next step was to give measurability to the positive impacts in terms of CO2e of the entire management cycle of the circular economy through an accurate and scientific tool such as the carbon footprint. Through this calculation we compare a situation without a plant to a situation with a biogas plant. Finally, it became clear that this could only be done with a digital medium that was simple, immediate and updated in real time; thus ‘Biogas Optitool’ was born.

• In the Italian context, many rural realities/farms are interested in biogas, but hindered by high costs, regulatory constraints and management challenges. What do you think are the main barriers that need to be overcome today to enable the widespread adoption of biogas among livestock farmers?

In general, the main barriers are the incentive environment. With FER2, not only is the tariff lower than with FER1, against a considerable increase in construction costs, but it also adds a constraint such as the gasometric recovery of digestate storage, which is more than acceptable from an environmental point of view for large plants, but very impactful from an economic point of view for small plants. The management difficulties are minimal for the individual farmer who has the possibility of building his own plant, enormous from a logistical (and economic) point of view when the inputs of several farmers must be managed.

• During the ALFA project, the importance of collaboration between farms emerged as a potential key to unlocking access to biogas. What potential do you see in cooperative models involving shared biogas plants among multiple agricultural or livestock farms?

Shared plants are obviously crucial for farms that do not independently have the minimum amount of biomass necessary for the plant to be economically justified. The logistical problem remains the main one, both in planning and management.

• What role can consortia, cooperatives, or local authorities play in supporting the development of biogas plants at the territorial level?

Farmers already have their own organization for cooperation; the role of local authorities, on the other hand, is fundamental because one of the main problems is precisely the location of the plants, as well as acceptance by the population. One of our goals is to initiate territorial agreements with public authorities to act as a ‘facilitator’ for the realisation of small biogas plants.
In view of the climate commitments of the territorial authorities, the cluster can be a very important tool for territorial planning (and the realisation of objectives), as it provides data based on a rigorous and certified calculation system. A possible territorial agreement can foresee, with the goal of the realisation of a series of plants, not only the simulation of improvements in terms of GHG or the financing during the realisation/management phase of the plants, but also bureaucratic simplifications, both for plants and digestate storage, e.g. by approving their landscape impact in a cumulative manner.

• Have you analyzed or supported projects based on the sharing of manure or agricultural by-products? What technical, logistical, or administrative conditions need to be in place to make this model truly replicable?

From our experience, apart from the logistical problem that we hope to have solved, the problem remains bureaucratic-administrative. Providing simplified authorisation procedures for small plants is crucial.

• In your opinion, are the agricultural and livestock sectors sufficiently informed today about the opportunities offered by biogas? What tools or communication channels are lacking to raise awareness and support informed decision-making among farmers?

I think the problem is more information overload, where the individual farmer is no longer able to understand which information is reliable and which is not. This is why associations are important, as they remain the point of reference for the farmer, as well as initiatives such as the ALFA project.

• Many livestock farmers, although interested, are afraid they lack the skills to manage a biogas plant or assess its feasibility. What kind of technical support, including digital tools, can help facilitate this decision-making process—especially for those starting from scratch?

For those starting from scratch, I believe that the sector associations can give all the technical support necessary to make a technical-economic assessment. Instead, we use our software as a simulation tool for the CO2e savings of a potential cluster and for calculating the ‘break-even point’ in terms of CO2e.
For the subsequent management, I believe the technical problem does not exist; all plant manufacturers provide a remote control system that supports the plant operator.

• During the Mutual Learning Workshop organized in April in Rome by the Italian Hub of the ALFA project, we visited a successful example of a small yet efficient biogas plant connected to several local farms. In your opinion, how important is it to start from these real-life cases to inspire and convince other farmers?

I would define it as crucial; from our experience, it is crucial for farmers to talk about practical problems with people who live the same reality and ‘see with their own eyes’ how the plant works. Creating a network for exchanging experiences, which has the necessary reliability (compared to what you might find on the net), is certainly a very important step.

• Simplifying regulations, introducing targeted incentives, strengthening technical support: which measures do you consider most urgent to facilitate the development of collaborative plants locally?

The priority is definitely to change the incentive system for smaller plants. When the business plan of a plant is credible with a long-term incentive, the rest will follow. If to this, as I said before, we add the support of a local authority, the conditions are all there.
The contribution we can make is to valorise the GHG savings given by these plants compared to a situation without a plant. Indeed, it is important to emphasise that biogas plants running on livestock manure not only produce green energy, but also remove nitrous oxide and methane from the environment that would otherwise be lost.
When it is possible to put an economic value on this saving, it will contribute significantly to the development of the sector. Small farms will then be able to see livestock manure as a resource, which is all the more profitable when it is better managed; this can also be a small part of ensuring their survival.

• Looking ahead to the next few years, how do you imagine the evolution of biogas in Italy? What, in your opinion, are the necessary steps to make it a real widespread opportunity also for small farms?

The incentivisation of biomethane was a fundamental step towards decarbonisation, but it is equally important not to forget that this is technically only possible for larger plants. It will therefore be crucial to continue to valorise biogas electricity, which not only represents a continuous renewable energy (as opposed to photovoltaics and wind power) but also removes GHG emissions from the environment. Proper incentivisation and economic valorisation of the savings, as well as support from local authorities, remain fundamental.