Category: Regional potential, bioeconomy strategies and action plans

 Bioapp project

 Bioapp project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Overall Objective of the Project: 

The main objective of the project was to establish a new technology platform by strengthening cooperation between research organizations and key economic stakeholders to accelerate the development of pilot technology in the field of advanced biopolymers. The project has made a positive contribution to the specific objectives of the cross-border cooperation program, namely through the mentioned technological platform, which paves the way for innovative business initiatives and encourages the necessary exchange of knowledge, technology and innovation

Project summary: 

Global aquaculture and shellfish production currently produces over 10 million tonnes of biomass per year, generating a considerable amount of waste in the form of shells and exoskeletons. These abundant yet under-utilised renewable biomasses have enormous potential for the production of advanced materials (biopolymers), and fall within the scope of the Key Enabling Technologies and the key areas of the Smart Specialisation Strategies identified by the “New Materials, Green Chemistry and Health” program.
Numerous research institutes and companies are actively involved in various biopolymer product development stages; however, the synergies and technology transfer dynamics between them are still insufficient.

To overcome these obstacles, the BioApp project developed a new supra-regional technology platform and combined the complementary knowledge and skills of partners, with a vision to promote solutions, development and applicability of commercially interesting highly innovative biopolymers and biomaterials.

Through a regional cooperation effort involving complementary and interdisciplinary partners, ranging from the academic world (UNITS), to public and private research institutes (COBIK, KI), start-ups (BIOPOLife) and medium-sized companies (ACIES BIO), the project provided an integrated solution that uses natural resources to produce materials designed to improve people’s quality of life. All project partners benefit from the developed pilot technology for technology transfer, social and eco-innovation and strengthen links and synergies between companies, research and development centres and in the field of higher education. This trans-regional platform facilitates the integration of new stakeholders through the development of the technology and the commercialisation of the relative product, according to the “economy of closed material cycles” principle, as regards the new business models for a circular economy.

Contacts: Uros Novak, Coordinator: uros.novak@ki.si

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 BIO4ECO project

 BIO4ECO project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

BIO4ECO aims to improve regional and national policy processes and policy implementation and delivery addressing the transition to a low carbon economy, in relation with renewable energy use, energy efficiency of building, and forest and agricultural biomass.
The main expected outcomes are:

  • increase the share of renewable energy in the overall energy mix (17 M€ of ERDF funding benefited by the project)
  • take into account bioenergy and bioeconomy in all planning and decision-making
  • lay the groundwork for future integrated strategies and programmes for regional bioeconomy and carbon neutrality.

BIO4ECO will organise interregional and local learning process by thematic workshops, study visits and local stakeholder groups meetings, to achieve a greater integration among the lessons learned. These are going to be the cornerstone of the learning process.
Topics that will be worked in these events are the following:

  • Role of forests within regional and national low carbon and bioeconomy strategies and programmes
  • First-hand experience on integral solutions for bioenergy policies and strategies
  • The Energy-Foof-Water land use nexus: possible equilibrium for the low-carbon transition
  • How to increase social acceptance of bioenergy policies?
  • Priorization of bioenergy production at different geographical scales

Contacts: Adriano Raddi: adriano.raddi@ctfc.cat

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 BE-Rural project

 BE-Rural project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

The overall goal of BE-Rural is to realise the potential of regional and local bio-based economies by supporting relevant actors in the participatory development of bioeconomy strategies and roadmaps.

BE-Rural will investigate the particular characteristics of the selected regions at a macro level, as well as existing best practices and business models geared towards the bioeconomy.

This higher-level analysis will aid in the assessment of the ‘bioeconomy potential’ of the selected regions. This work will set the foundation for the implementation of a series of regional Open Innovation Platforms to kick-start the co-creation process, bringing together key stakeholders from academia, policy, business and civil society to develop ideas and capitalise on this bioeconomy potential. Activities will include research & innovation capacity building workshops, educational seminars and webinars, summer schools, and Bio-based Pop-up Stores. Building from this, the proposed ‘Network of Knowledge’ will aim to share knowledge and lessons learned from the Open Innovation Platforms at an inter-regional level, further disseminating best practices, closing the information gap on issues related to sustainability, and increasing capacities of regional authorities and stakeholders.

Contacts:  Holger Gerdes: holger.gerdes@ecologic.eu
Zoritza Kiresiewa: zoritza.kiresiewa@ecologic.eu

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 BERST project

 BERST project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
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

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 BalticBiomass4Value project

 BalticBiomass4Value project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

The Baltic Sea Region (BSR) holds a great potential for circular bioeconomy development. Therefore, the BalticBiomass4Value project aims to enhance capacity of public and private actors within the BSR to produce bioenergy in more environmentally sustainable and economically viable way by utilizing new biomass sources (chiefly, biological waste) for energy production, as well as possibilities to use bioenergy side streams for higher value bio-products. Biomass from different sources (agriculture, food and feed industry, forestry, wood industry, municipal waste and sewage sludge, fishery, algae), its logistics, various biomass conversion technologies and value chains will be mapped to identify best practices of bioenergy generation and the potential of more efficient and sustainable deployment of biomass in the BSR.

Seventeen partners from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Norway and the Russian Federation will bring together the producers of biomass and bio-based products, as well as relevant public authorities and policy stakeholders for the implementation of the project.

Contacts: Virginija Kargytė: virginija.kargyte@vdu.lt
Lena Huck: l.huck@fnr.de

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