Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ShapingBio (Shaping the future bioeconomy across sectoral, governmental and geographical levels)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-02-29
In the light of global challenges (i.e. climate change, increasing depletion of fossil fuel sources), the EU is in need for responsible transition process in bioeconomy towards circularity and sustainability. The future development of different bio-based sectors has a crucial impact and decisive role in achieving a sustainable bioeconomy ecosystem. Currently, however, bioeconomy innovations is hampered by different challenges, such as the fragmentation of, and the presence of sectoral silos, lack of policy coordination and coherence between different levels of governance, and collaboration along new value chains or across sectors, leading to inefficient technology and knowledge transfer, and are obstacles in terms of financial constraints. To master these challenges is a tremendous task for policy makers and other stakeholders, especially since there are major differences be-tween countries, regions and local areas in Europe regarding capabilities, resource endowment and industrial focus. Hence, better coherence and coordination of policy, mutual learning and cooperation between stakeholders from different sectors, countries and stages of bio-based value chains is needed.
The overarching objective of ShapingBio is to strengthen and deploy innovation in bio-based sectors, including food systems, across Europe - by ensuring an inclusive and sustainable growth at local level, thus contributing significantly to the bioeconomy strategy and Action Plan, the Farm to Fork strategy, the EU Green Deal policy priorities and the EU's Climate ambition for 2030 and 2050.
The specific objectives are:
Objective 1: Providing a better understanding and information basis of the bioeconomy innovation eco-system. In order to support evidence-based decision-making towards a strengthened innovation ecosystem, decision-makers' knowledge base will be broadened: Information on structures, instruments and initiatives, their interactions and complementarities, spill-overs, causes of fragmentation, good practices and their transferability between sectors and geographical areas will be provided.
Objective 2: Reducing the fragmentation of the bioeconomy innovation ecosystem. Cooperation between structures, instruments and initiatives, both within and between countries and sectors and between different governance levels will be strengthened and expanded. Knowledge and technology transfer and mutual learning will be stimulated further and improved both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Objective 3: Contributing to better governance in the bioeconomy innovation ecosystem. ShapingBio will contribute to establishing well functioning, novel collaborations and value chains within and across sectors by recommending and establishing fora, good practice procedures and actions for new modes of governance between heterogeneous actors and entities which, among others, exploit transdisciplinarity, citizen involvement and co-creation processes as a source of innovation.
Objective 4: Improved exploitation of the bioeconomy’s potential. ShapingBio will deliver recommendations, actions, concrete tools and good practices how different types of bioeconomy innovations and the deployment of new knowledge, technologies and practices can be improved with the aim of creating new business opportunities, and how the impact, resilience and sustainability of the innovation ecosystem can be raised.
The overarching objective of ShapingBio is to strengthen and deploy innovation in bio-based sectors, including food systems, across Europe - by ensuring an inclusive and sustainable growth at local level, thus contributing significantly to the bioeconomy strategy and Action Plan, the Farm to Fork strategy, the EU Green Deal policy priorities and the EU's Climate ambition for 2030 and 2050.
The specific objectives are:
Objective 1: Providing a better understanding and information basis of the bioeconomy innovation eco-system. In order to support evidence-based decision-making towards a strengthened innovation ecosystem, decision-makers' knowledge base will be broadened: Information on structures, instruments and initiatives, their interactions and complementarities, spill-overs, causes of fragmentation, good practices and their transferability between sectors and geographical areas will be provided.
Objective 2: Reducing the fragmentation of the bioeconomy innovation ecosystem. Cooperation between structures, instruments and initiatives, both within and between countries and sectors and between different governance levels will be strengthened and expanded. Knowledge and technology transfer and mutual learning will be stimulated further and improved both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Objective 3: Contributing to better governance in the bioeconomy innovation ecosystem. ShapingBio will contribute to establishing well functioning, novel collaborations and value chains within and across sectors by recommending and establishing fora, good practice procedures and actions for new modes of governance between heterogeneous actors and entities which, among others, exploit transdisciplinarity, citizen involvement and co-creation processes as a source of innovation.
Objective 4: Improved exploitation of the bioeconomy’s potential. ShapingBio will deliver recommendations, actions, concrete tools and good practices how different types of bioeconomy innovations and the deployment of new knowledge, technologies and practices can be improved with the aim of creating new business opportunities, and how the impact, resilience and sustainability of the innovation ecosystem can be raised.
The following key activities were performed within ShapingBio during the first reporting period:
1) Assessment of the relevant information needs of the stakeholders and collecting and integrating their knowledge on the issues identified.
Main achievement: Improved and comprehensive knowledge base and understanding on key challenges and gaps for the stakeholders in the bio-based sectors and food systems and its dissemination.
2) Mapping the structures, initiatives and instruments covering key innovation and deployment issues such as financing, collaboration, technology transfer across all EU-regions.
Main achievement: Provision of a basis for an in-depth overview of the bioeconomy situation in the EU, including initiatives and instruments their role and purposes in the second half of the project.
3) Deeper analysis of status-quo, best practices, mutual learning across member states for policy & governance, applied R&D and tech transfer, collaboration and financing
Main achievement: Set up of Multi Actor Group for each core topic (4 groups in total) with leading experts across the EU and stakeholder Groups. We derived a common understanding of key analytical bottlenecks/topics to be addressed in second project phase.
4) Elaboration and testing of good practices and guidelines resulting for stakeholder integration.
Main achievement: Various networking and matchmaking events were executed in order to promote the dialogue and collaboration among different stakeholders and across the different sectors of the bioeconomy and food-systems and validation the findings from good practices. These events were mostly done as side-events of different existing larger conferences
1) Assessment of the relevant information needs of the stakeholders and collecting and integrating their knowledge on the issues identified.
Main achievement: Improved and comprehensive knowledge base and understanding on key challenges and gaps for the stakeholders in the bio-based sectors and food systems and its dissemination.
2) Mapping the structures, initiatives and instruments covering key innovation and deployment issues such as financing, collaboration, technology transfer across all EU-regions.
Main achievement: Provision of a basis for an in-depth overview of the bioeconomy situation in the EU, including initiatives and instruments their role and purposes in the second half of the project.
3) Deeper analysis of status-quo, best practices, mutual learning across member states for policy & governance, applied R&D and tech transfer, collaboration and financing
Main achievement: Set up of Multi Actor Group for each core topic (4 groups in total) with leading experts across the EU and stakeholder Groups. We derived a common understanding of key analytical bottlenecks/topics to be addressed in second project phase.
4) Elaboration and testing of good practices and guidelines resulting for stakeholder integration.
Main achievement: Various networking and matchmaking events were executed in order to promote the dialogue and collaboration among different stakeholders and across the different sectors of the bioeconomy and food-systems and validation the findings from good practices. These events were mostly done as side-events of different existing larger conferences
The key impact of ShapingBio is strengthening bioeconomy deployment by enabling collaboration and knowledge transfer activities across EU countries, EU macro-regions for the two focal bioeconomy sectors – food and bio-systems.
The uptake of new knowledge generated in the project can enable acceleration of innovation and market deployment actions, by securing behavioural change of target groups, through tuned dissemination and outreach strategies and co-creation processes in a multi-actor approach. To secure that activities and outputs will meet the short and long-term impacts, ShapingBio will develop early on a PEDR (Plan for the Exploitation and Dissemination) strategy. During the project all necessary conditions for a behavioural change can be established, while ongoing dissemination activities will assure the outreach to other target groups and therefore creating the pathways towards long-term impact on society.
The uptake of new knowledge generated in the project can enable acceleration of innovation and market deployment actions, by securing behavioural change of target groups, through tuned dissemination and outreach strategies and co-creation processes in a multi-actor approach. To secure that activities and outputs will meet the short and long-term impacts, ShapingBio will develop early on a PEDR (Plan for the Exploitation and Dissemination) strategy. During the project all necessary conditions for a behavioural change can be established, while ongoing dissemination activities will assure the outreach to other target groups and therefore creating the pathways towards long-term impact on society.