BIOEAST stands for Central and Eastern European Initiative for Knowledge-based Agriculture, Forestry and Aquaculture in the Bioeconomy which is an intergovernmental initiative between 11 CEE countries (Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia) to support the development of knowledge and cooperation based circular bioeconomies. 

From March 5th to the 7th, the BOOST4BIOEAST (B4B) project Kick-Off and the Annual BIOEAST Bioeconomy Conference made Budapest the center of the bioeconomy community in the Central Eastern European and Baltic Countries. 

The project already had its official kick-start on 31 January online, however the consortium was committed to meet in-person at the early stage of implementation as well to focus on the strategic planning, practical realization of main activities – namely to develop national bioeconomy action plans and the BIOEAST Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) – and building synergies between tasks for the first year.

Co-creation approach using different participatory methods were applied during the project meeting to arrive to a comprehensive and rich exchange and inclusion of different points of view between partners. Both national stakeholder networks (HUBs) and macro-regional Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) foresee the participation of a variety of stakeholders, and B4B is set to consider the different needs, barriers, challenges, and opportunities of the concerned actors. 

Following the B4B Kick-off, the Annual BIOEAST Bioeconomy Conference  took place between 6-7th March, jointly organized by the project and the BIOEAST Initiative. 
The conference represented an important occasion to address pivotal strategic, policy-related, economic and political challenges concerning the macro-region’s goal of implementing a transition towards a sustainable, circular and socially fair bioeconomy by facilitating the creation and expansion of BIOEAST HUBs. 

Over 130 participants attended the conference from the BIOEAST macro-region across all bioeconomy related fields from research, public administration, primary sector, and industry making the event a great opportunity for networking, too. 

Read the full press release 

An emerging call for sustainable transition is echoing across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), as the BIOEAST Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) launch a pioneering initiative. The Stakeholder Manifesto on “Sustainable supply chains and strengthened local processing of bioresources in Central and Eastern Europe” has been unveiled, spearheaded by dedicated TWG members committed to catalyze change. Recognizing the macro-region’s valuable natural assets, such as fertile soils, freshwater resources and renewable biomass, the Manifesto stresses the need for enhancing local knowledge on environmentally friendly technologies. It emphasizes the importance of involving stakeholders from the CEE macro-region in the deployment of research, innovation, and sustainable solutions to achieve Europe’s transition towards a circular and sustainable future. Therefore, it calls for increased public investment in joint research and innovation partnership to unlock the region’s potential, aiming to produce renewable biological resources and convert them sustainably into value-added products. The Manifesto urges decision-makers to prioritize the nexus of soil, freshwater, food systems, and biomanufacturing to shape a sustainable future for the macro-region. 

The message is clear: Europe’s journey toward a sustainable and circular future on healthy soils, freshwater, food system security and modern biomanufacturing demands collective effort. The TWGs are  calling for signatures from individuals and organizations, both within our macro-region and beyond. It’s a call to action for all who believe in the transformative power of sustainability. Whether from Central and Eastern Europe or elsewhere in the Europe, every voice matter. 

We are looking for signatures from individuals and organizations, from within the CEE region and beyond. 

Join us in shaping a brighter, greener future for all! 

Read and sign the Manifesto

Policy Forum on Advancing Research and Innovation in Central and Eastern Europe within the Framework of Sustainable Natural Resource Management, Food Systems Security, and Biomanufacturing Policy Development 

On 4 July 2024, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, in collaboration with the BIOEAST Initiative, organized a high-level policy debate focusing on the potential role of Central and Eastern Europe within the overarching framework of European Strategic Autonomy, European Food System Security, and European Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing initiatives. The primary aim was to engage all European Union Member States in a comprehensive dialogue concerning research and innovation priorities specifically tailored to the needs of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), encompassing the Western Balkan countries, plus Ukraine and Moldova, to foster continent-wide benefits.   The conference is part of a series of events linked to the Presidency priority on supporting knowledge-based and innovative agriculture. The target audience was Brussels-based envoys and EU institutions.  

At the event, the Joint BIOEAST Declaration signed by 10 Ministers of Agriculture and 10 Ministers of Research was also presented, showing strong political commitment from the macro-region in strengthening cooperation in research and innovation by establishing a new joint research and innovation-driven partnership. In line with the Declaration and the Stakeholder Manifesto, Tthe policy forum discussed priority areas for the macro-region, namely, four thematic areas – healthy soils, freshwater resilience, food systems security, and locally based biomanufacturing – to support the adoption of Council conclusions in the Competitiveness Council later this year. 

Read more 

What an eventful summer for BOOST4BIOEAST!  

Three new BIOEAST HUBs have kick-offed activities between May and early September bringing the project closer to achieving its milestone of 11 BIOEAST HUBs by end of 2024. Four more to go!✔️ 

Croatian HUB kickoff 

Read more 

Slovenian HUB kickoff 

Read more 

Hungarian HUB kickoff 

Read more 

This is the map of 11 national BIOEAST HUBs planned to be established by the project by the end of 2024. The already existing, functional HUBs are highlighted in green while the ones that still need to be launched are with yellow. 

Interested in learning more about their work at local level? Find your national HUB Coordinator’s contact details here! 

European Partnership for a sustainable Future of Food Systems (FutureFoodS) 

Pre-announcement of the 1st co-funded call for transnational research projects is available here. The opening of the call is expected by end of October 2024.  This call is open to proposals addressing the following R&I: Topic 1: The way towards sustainable and resilient food systems; Topic 2: New foods – Fostering innovations in food design, processing and supply via demand and supply reorientation; Topic 3: Empowering sustainable food choices – Enabling environments and dietary shifts.   

Read more 

IV. INTERNATIONAL GREEN BIOTECHNOLOGY CONGRESS – Biotechnology for agricultural sustainability in the era of climate change 

The Agricultural Academy, under the patronage of the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Bulgaria is organising the IV. International Green Biotechnology Congress which will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria on 7-8 November, 2024. The Congress will touch upon the prospects of green technologies for the development of sustainable climate-resilient agriculture.  

More about the event

BIOEAST SCIENCE-POLICY DIALOGUE: BIOENERGY- SMART CHOICES IN DIFFICULT TIMES

The Bioenergy Thematic Working Group of the BIOEAST Initiative – in the frame of the BOOST4BIOEAST project – has organised an online science-policy dialogue on the 27th November 2024 between 11:00-13:00 (CET).
The discussion will bring together policymakers and scientists to discuss how innovative bioenergy technologies can be tailored to meet the specific needs for the BIOEAST region.

Read more here

PARTNERING FOR THE FUTURE: BIOEAST AND BEYOND

The Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, in close cooperation with the European Commission, the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR), and the BIOEAST Initiative, is organizing the “PARTNERING FOR THE FUTURE: BIOEAST and Beyond” high-level Conference on Central and Eastern European Research and Innovation Priorities in the Context of Sustainable Soil and Freshwater Resilience, Food Systems Security, and Bioeconomy-Related Policies on 4-6 December 2024, in Budapest.

Read more 

The BOOST4BIOEAST project – coordinated by the Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (ÖMKi) and Sustainable Innovations (SIE) – aims to support the BIOEAST Initiative by connecting and empowering national stakeholders in the Central Eastern European and Baltic countries (CEE) for the development of national bioeconomy action plans and to build long-lasting structures and spaces of dialogue for national and macro-regional cooperation. The 30 partners of the project cover all BIOEAST countries and countries from Western Europe (Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain) have been included to stimulate dialogue and knowledge exchange throughout different regions.

Our project follows the footsteps of the BIOEASTsUP project, building upon the outcomes that laid the foundation for macro-regional networking among bioeconomy experts and policymakers through the development of its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) and 11 Bioeconomy Concept Papers.

At the core of BOOST4BIOEAST, there is the need to establish or improve national bioeconomy expert communities (BIOEAST HUBs) as focal points of capacity building and catalyst for stakeholder engagement at national level for decision-making through participatory processes. The BIOEAST HUBs will be linked to public administrations, ensuring a direct and efficient link to policymaking that highlights the relevance of the solutions identified by the HUBs’ actions. In the next three years, the HUBs will be engaged in the development of national bioeconomy action plans validated by public administrations, and in fostering national bioeconomy innovation ecosystems through cross-sectoral collaboration, capacity building and facilitating access to knowledge and networks to all bioeconomy stakeholders.  

The project will continue to rely on the already existing, macro-regional expert-policy networks, the seven Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) (Agroecology & Sustainable Yields, Bioenergy & New Value-Added Materials, Food Systems, Forestry Value Chain, Freshwater-based Economy, Advanced Biobased Materials and Bioeconomy Education), set up by the BIOEASTsUP project, to work on priority research topics on the macro-regional level and update the  BIOEAST SRIA of 2023 and to develop sustainability strategies for TWGs and national HUBs to secure their long-term functioning. 

We strongly believe that, to successfully support the bioeconomy transition, the active involvement of stakeholders across the board (industry, academia, policy and administration, and civil society) is essential, that is why BOOST4BIOEAST follows a co-creation approach relying on a diversity of participatory approaches. 

To boost the active participation of all  stakeholders and relevant, existing networks in bioeconomy policy development, through the national BIOEAST HUBs.

To co-develop and improve 11 national bioeconomy action plans and programmes.

To identify the possibilities of increasing the national investments in research, innovation and in education related to the bioeconomy, fostering multi-actor approach and cooperation across the macro-region.

To enrich and enhance bioeconomy-related knowledge by assessing educational needs, bioeconomy competences, biomass availability and innovation systems through a region-wide multidimensional analysis and expanding the network of BIOEAST  UniNet.

To develop and launch an online Knowledge Platform incorporating available bioeconomy-related knowledge on and from the BIOEAST macro-region.