Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BioRural (Accelerating circular bio-based solutions integration in European rural areas)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-02-29
The EU economy is dependent on linear production systems and non-renewable resources and materials while simultaneously, rural areas, which are inhabited by around 137 million people (≈30% of the EU population) and account for over 80% of EU territory, face a multitude of overlapping economic, demographic and climate related challenges that are often increasingly pronounced. People in rural areas on average have higher risk of poverty and social inclusion, worse access to basic services and infrastructure, higher gender employment gap, lower level of education and digital skills as compared to other areas in the EU.
The transition to a circular bioeconomy and in particular circular bio-based rural solutions that drive local transformations can help address these challenges while developing renewable resources, ensuring European competitiveness, and the natural environment. BioRural supports this transition through:
• the establishment of a European Rural Bioeconomy Network that brings together and fosters cooperation between key stakeholders on a local, regional and European level
• the provision of practical support and scientific knowledge for the development of small scale biobased solutions
• identifying the needs of rural bioeconomy stakeholders and the drivers that will accelerate the transition to a circular bioeconomy and synthesizing these in key policy guidelines
• analyzing and showcasing best practice examples of circular biobased businesses
• the creation of rural development blueprints for Bioeconomy businesses from conception to scale.
All of the above are hosted in a publicly available BioRural Toolkit that provides stakeholders with a one-stop EU wide-tool driving the transition to a circular bioeconomy and to scale-up inclusive and small-scale biobased solutions in rural areas categorized according to the following themes: food and agriculture, forestry and natural habitats, aquatic/water systems, bioenergy and biomaterials.
The transition to a circular bioeconomy and in particular circular bio-based rural solutions that drive local transformations can help address these challenges while developing renewable resources, ensuring European competitiveness, and the natural environment. BioRural supports this transition through:
• the establishment of a European Rural Bioeconomy Network that brings together and fosters cooperation between key stakeholders on a local, regional and European level
• the provision of practical support and scientific knowledge for the development of small scale biobased solutions
• identifying the needs of rural bioeconomy stakeholders and the drivers that will accelerate the transition to a circular bioeconomy and synthesizing these in key policy guidelines
• analyzing and showcasing best practice examples of circular biobased businesses
• the creation of rural development blueprints for Bioeconomy businesses from conception to scale.
All of the above are hosted in a publicly available BioRural Toolkit that provides stakeholders with a one-stop EU wide-tool driving the transition to a circular bioeconomy and to scale-up inclusive and small-scale biobased solutions in rural areas categorized according to the following themes: food and agriculture, forestry and natural habitats, aquatic/water systems, bioenergy and biomaterials.
A report conducting review of the “Current rural Bioeconomy status” was produced. This study provides a review of the current status of the European Bioeconomy, covering key indicators, biomass flows, bioeconomy related policies and strategies, trends and opportunities and assesses the potential of small scale biobased solutions, and an in-depth analysis of the bioeconomy status in 14 European countries.
A report based on the results of a a survey of 417 bioeconomy stakeholders and 46 experts across 14 European countries was produced which provides a detailed overview of the drivers and barriers to the adoption of biobased solutions across the EU.
The European Rural Bioeconomy Network (ERBN) was created and has more than 350 registered stakeholders through BioRural Toolkit. The ERBN is designed to address the fragmentation between local Bioeconomy actors and ensure an inclusive transition to a circular bio-based economy by connecting stakeholders, stimulating knowledge exchange, and encouraging cooperation in developing circular rural bioeconomy initiatives. The ERBN is split into 4 regional Rural Bioeconomy Platforms (RBP) in a geographic context covering the EU.
A report was produced providing an assessment of the factors and innovation processes behind the development of biobased success stories. This assessment was based on detailed research conducted on the 8 success stories that are part of BioRural. Based on this assessment, 12 additional circular success stories, in addition to the 8 that are part of the project, have been identified and reported. The identification and promotion of these serves as a pool of best practice examples to show that such interventions are applicable and profitable.
19 national multi-actor innovation workshops were held by M18. Each workshop: presented innovative biobased solutions that can reach the rural communities and be adopted into local practice, gathered feedback from various stakeholders on feasibility and replicability of presented solutions to their contexts and captured grassroots level ideas about biobased innovations as well opportunities and challenges for growing the sector.
3 three-day knowledge exchange workshops were held on Biochemicals and biomaterials (25–27 October 2023), Aquatic biomass (28–30 November 2023), and Food and Agriculture (14-16 February 2024). These workshops are part of the design to present and expand knowledge in biobased solutions on 5 bioeconomy themes (Food & Agriculture, Forestry & habitats, Aquatic systems, Bioenergy, Biomaterials) and were developed to motivate, encourage and provide tailored and independent support to potential adopters, leading to the development of marketable biobased solutions in European rural areas. Recordings of all the presentations are available through the BioRural Toolkit.
The BioRural Toolkit was launched and became publicly accessible to all stakeholders involved in the rural bioeconomy. It acts as an open-access user-centered one-stop webtool supporting the transition to a circular bioeconomy. The BioRural Toolkit contains the European Rural Bioeconomy Network (ERBN), 14 national, regional and EU-wide factsheets, 10 success stories, 3 online tutorials from the knowledge exchange workshops, 353 items in the bioeconomy inventory (193 scientific papers, 55 research projects, 32 funding opportunities, 78 commercial biobased solutions), 27 practice abstracts.
A report based on the results of a a survey of 417 bioeconomy stakeholders and 46 experts across 14 European countries was produced which provides a detailed overview of the drivers and barriers to the adoption of biobased solutions across the EU.
The European Rural Bioeconomy Network (ERBN) was created and has more than 350 registered stakeholders through BioRural Toolkit. The ERBN is designed to address the fragmentation between local Bioeconomy actors and ensure an inclusive transition to a circular bio-based economy by connecting stakeholders, stimulating knowledge exchange, and encouraging cooperation in developing circular rural bioeconomy initiatives. The ERBN is split into 4 regional Rural Bioeconomy Platforms (RBP) in a geographic context covering the EU.
A report was produced providing an assessment of the factors and innovation processes behind the development of biobased success stories. This assessment was based on detailed research conducted on the 8 success stories that are part of BioRural. Based on this assessment, 12 additional circular success stories, in addition to the 8 that are part of the project, have been identified and reported. The identification and promotion of these serves as a pool of best practice examples to show that such interventions are applicable and profitable.
19 national multi-actor innovation workshops were held by M18. Each workshop: presented innovative biobased solutions that can reach the rural communities and be adopted into local practice, gathered feedback from various stakeholders on feasibility and replicability of presented solutions to their contexts and captured grassroots level ideas about biobased innovations as well opportunities and challenges for growing the sector.
3 three-day knowledge exchange workshops were held on Biochemicals and biomaterials (25–27 October 2023), Aquatic biomass (28–30 November 2023), and Food and Agriculture (14-16 February 2024). These workshops are part of the design to present and expand knowledge in biobased solutions on 5 bioeconomy themes (Food & Agriculture, Forestry & habitats, Aquatic systems, Bioenergy, Biomaterials) and were developed to motivate, encourage and provide tailored and independent support to potential adopters, leading to the development of marketable biobased solutions in European rural areas. Recordings of all the presentations are available through the BioRural Toolkit.
The BioRural Toolkit was launched and became publicly accessible to all stakeholders involved in the rural bioeconomy. It acts as an open-access user-centered one-stop webtool supporting the transition to a circular bioeconomy. The BioRural Toolkit contains the European Rural Bioeconomy Network (ERBN), 14 national, regional and EU-wide factsheets, 10 success stories, 3 online tutorials from the knowledge exchange workshops, 353 items in the bioeconomy inventory (193 scientific papers, 55 research projects, 32 funding opportunities, 78 commercial biobased solutions), 27 practice abstracts.
BioRural implements a unique and innovative methodology to capture the opinions, needs and drivers for supporting the transition to a circular rural bioeconomy through combined top-down and grassroots processes, the results of which go beyond the current state of the art on supporting the transition to a circular bioeconomy.
The potential impacts of BioRural’s results include:
• local and regional transitions to a circular bioeconomy through knowledge exchange, capacity building, support to innovators and developed policy guidelines.
• supporting European competitiveness and resource independence through the development and scaling of small-scale biobased solutions.
• Increased citizen awareness and involvement in the circular bioeconomy through the ERBN and associated actions.
• Supporting biodiversity and the natural environment including in the forestry sector, natural habitats and water systems.
The potential impacts of BioRural’s results include:
• local and regional transitions to a circular bioeconomy through knowledge exchange, capacity building, support to innovators and developed policy guidelines.
• supporting European competitiveness and resource independence through the development and scaling of small-scale biobased solutions.
• Increased citizen awareness and involvement in the circular bioeconomy through the ERBN and associated actions.
• Supporting biodiversity and the natural environment including in the forestry sector, natural habitats and water systems.