Fostering partnerships and
collaboration to realise the
potential of Bioeconomy in Europe
Make the
connection
ver the past couple of years,
the European bioeconomy has
become a key discussion point
for policy makers, scientists and industry
alike. The European Commission aims
to move towards a more low-emissions
and innovative economy “reconciling
demands for sustainable
agriculture and
fsheries, food
security, and the
sustainable use of
renewable biological
resources for industrial
purposes, while ensuring
biodiversity and environmental
protection”. Investing solely in the
development and commercialisation
of new sustainable technologies and
products is not enough to achieve such
an ambitious goal. One important point to
realise the potential of the bioeconomy
is strong mobilisation and collaboration
between actors in the bioeconomy and
the bio-based industries, throughout
all segments of the value chain. New
partnerships can result in new ideas
which in turn can help to more rapidly
deploy bio-based solutions, including at
regional and local level. Cooperation, new
initiatives, eforts and knowledge exchange
between actors such as entrepreneurs,
brands, local communities, policy makers,
scientists, producers and journalists are
thus key factors to raise awareness about
the potential and benefts of the
bioeconomy. Several alliances,
partnerships, clusters, and
projects have been put in
place over the last years
and will remain important
vehicles for change,
not least in view of the
implementation of the
recently updated European
Bioeconomy Strategy.
These important endeavours
have included the creation in 2015 of
the European Bioeconomy Alliance,
where EuropaBio is a founding member.
This group is composed of 12 members
representing sectors active in the
bioeconomy, namely agriculture, forestry,
biotechnology, sugar, starch, vegetable
oils, pulp and paper, bioplastics, renewable
ethanol, and research & innovation.
Bringing critical mass, connecting key
sectors and creating new value chains in
the bioeconomy are amongst the driving
forces behind the Bio-Based Industries
Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), launched in
2014. EuropaBio played a leading role
as founding partner in the initiation
and development of this €3.7 billion
public-private partnership between
the European Union and the Bio-Based
Industries Consortium. BBI JU has a
diverse project portfolio, covering value
chains based on agro-food by-products,
forest biomass, bio-waste and aquatic
biomass, and the activities are well-
balanced between research & innovation
actions, demonstration, fagship and
coordination and support actions. Due
to these BBI JU projects, sectors that may
have never collaborated before, are now
working together under one pan-European
structure. By building bridges between key
stakeholders from across a diverse range of
relevant industrial sectors, including large
companies and SMEs, academia, regional
and technological clusters, relevant
knowledge is combined to achieve
innovation objectives and leverage
investments. It will be important to keep
building upon these successes.
Another initiative that promotes a more
Joanna
Dupont-
Inglis
By Joanna Dupont-Inglis, Secretary General, EuropaBio