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.

Requested by the Council of the European Union in 2019, this report assesses the progress made in the implementation of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy from 2018 and its action plan, and identifies gaps for possible future EU bioeconomy action and initiatives.

The report reflects on the increased importance of the bioeconomy in the new political environment, framed by the European Green Deal. With our current fossil-based economy having reached its limits, the transition towards a new societal and economic model, based on the sustainable and circular use of biological resources, has become one of the Union’s core tasks. The bioeconomy, with its potential to improve policy coherence, and identify and resolve trade-offs, for example on land and biomass demands, enables countries and regions to design transition pathways according to their specific challenges and opportunities. Hence, the bioeconomy plays a crucial role in achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal, and help us to find solutions for the current food security and energy independence crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The report further shows that the actions set out in the Bioeconomy Strategy of 2018 are on track in achieving the strategy’s main objectives:

• An increasing number of national and regional bioeconomy strategies promote cross-sectoral cooperation and sustainability principles, and invest in bioeconomy innovation.
• Progress on bioeconomy deployment has been achieved in Central and Eastern European countries, aided by significant EU funding contributions and the establishment of new fora and networks.
• Mobilisation of private investments, start-ups and research and innovation in food and other bio-based industries are increasing and show promising developments. Europe has a strong position in the global market for bio-based chemicals and materials.

Yet, the report also identified gaps in the implementation of the action plan that require further action. First, increased focus on how to better manage land and biomass demands to meet environment and economic requirements in a climate neutral Europe. Second, work on more sustainable consumption patterns to enhance environmental integrity.

Following the relevant links to the report and the related documents:

• The Announcement page: https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/adoption-bioeconomy-strategy-progress-report-2022-jun-09-0_en
• The Report and Staff Working Document: https://ec.europa.eu/info/files/eu-bioeconomy-strategy-progress-report_en
• The Report in all EU languages: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2022%3A283%3AFIN&qid=1654765500860
• And an infographic on the bioeconomy and the findings of this Report: https://ec.europa.eu/info/files/eu-bioeconomy-strategy-progress-report-infographic_en

The University of Bologna, the University of Eastern Finland and the Horizon 2020 funded project Transition2BIO organise the co-creation workshop ‘Future skills for Bioeconomy’ – Forestry, which aims to identify the future skills and related educational needs in the European bioeconomy. The workshop will take place on 14 June from 15.00 CET/16.00 EET.

The workshop will focus on the Forestry sector and is the second of five co-creation workshops ‘Future skills for Bioeconomy’ focusing on different bioeconomy sectors. These workshops will be organised by Transition2BIO and the University of Bologna, together with external institutions leading each sector.

Providing the needed skills and meeting the educational needs in the European bioeconomy are key challenges for a change in our economy. The European Commission stated in its Updated Bioeconomy Strategy that “The systemic and cross-cutting nature of new and emerging bioeconomy approaches and new value chains will need new education and skills”.

Among its objectives, Transition2BIO will facilitate the identification of the educational and training needs towards the creation of an innovation ecosystem for the bioeconomy. The results of the co-creation workshops will be summarised in a public report and will be used for the delivery of a policy brief aimed to inform policymakers and other stakeholders about the issues and possible solutions to meet the identified skills and educational needs.

‘Future skills for Bioeconomy’ activities will use a bottom-up approach to identify and define the skills for the development of the new workforce in the bioeconomy, involving all the key stakeholders.
The participants will have the opportunity to provide their opinions and points of view on this topic, contributing to the research of the University of Bologna within the H2020 project Transition2BIO.
During the event, the main objectives and outputs of the project will be presented, as well as the results from previous projects and initiatives on bioeconomy education. Inputs from participants will be collected through an online survey and a moderated discussion using an online interactive platform.

The Agenda is available here.

Registration
Please register online for the workshop at this link:
https://forms.office.com/r/2PaA3hZrJ8
Participants will receive the link for the virtual meeting by email.
The deadline for the registration is 10th June 2022.

For more information, please contact Marco Maria Grande – marcomaria.grande@unibo.it

The EU funded project Transition2Bio and the European Bioeconomy Network, in collaboration with the BBI JU funded project BIObec and the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), are producing a series of short video interviews (max 10 minutes) in order to promote the excellence of European young entrepreneurs involved in the Sustainable and Circular Bioeconomy. 

The aim of this initiative is to inspire, inform and attract young generations towards educational and working careers in the bioeconomy, therefore contributing to raise the future generation of workforce informed and interested in this domain.

• Are you a young sustainable entrepreneur under 35?
• Are you willing to participate in our initiative sharing your business idea in circular bioeconomy?
• Tell us what inspired you, your study and career path, what are/was the main challenges in your activities and share your experience with students!

Contact Selenia Marinelli at this email: marinelli@fvaweb.it and make your voice heard!
We will conduct a video interview that will be part of a social media campaign in early summer.