Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MainstreamBIO (MAINSTREAMing small-scale BIO-based solutions across rural Europe via regional Multi-actor Innovation Platforms and tailored innovation support)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-09-01 bis 2024-02-29
The development of the bioeconomy holds great potential for driving growth in a sustainable manner. Still, many European regions have to unlock this potential, despite considerable investments in research, innovation and business support. In this context, MainstreamBIO sets out to get small-scale bio-based solutions into mainstream across rural Europe, providing rural actors with the opportunity to engage in the bioeconomy. We establish regional Multi-actor Innovation Platforms (MIPs) in 7 EU countries (PL, DK, SE, BG, ES, IE, and NL) to enhance cooperation towards co-creating sustainable business model pathways in line with regional potentials. Alongside, we support more than 35 multi-actor initiatives to get bio-based innovations to market with hands-on technical and business support services, aspiring to accelerate the development of over 70 bio-based products and services. In parallel, we develop a Digital Toolkit to better match bio-based solutions and good nutrient recycling practices with available biomass and market trends as well as to enhance understanding of the bioeconomy with a suite of resources building on existing research results and tools. A monitoring and evaluation framework gauges the performance and impact of our measures, providing us with the intel required to catalyse mutual learning across regions and contribute to conducive policy frameworks for rural bioeconomy. In the process, we cluster with relevant EU initiatives and offer tools for the replication of our results, ensuring their long-term sustainability as viable solutions for local inclusive and circular rural bioeconomies in the EU.
MainstreamBIO has successfully established and mobilized 7 regional MIPs in PL, DK, SE, BG, ES, IE, and NL, with the to-date participation of 93 actors in total (biomass producers, business, research, civil society and policy actors). To define how to best support the regional MIPs, a baseline analysis with over 300 respondents has been undertaken to spot and analyse the needs, socio-economic context and framework conditions in target rural areas. To enhance understanding of the possibilities for bio-based and nutrient recycling solutions adoption, an analysis was undertaken of value chains in the 7 regions, which has mapped 27 value chains in terms of available biomass, waste streams and flows and actors involved. A catalogue of 16 technologies, 34 business models and 19 social innovations related to small-scale bio-based solutions has been developed, along with an inventory of 31 nutrient recycling practices, collecting info that can facilitate practical use while providing inspiration and guidance for rural actors. A multi-criteria decision support system has been developed for matching available biomass with waste streams and market and technology to guide rural actors to identify solutions that best fit their territorial dynamics, resource availability and socio-economic context. The multi-criteria decision support system has been integrated in the MainstreamBIO Digital toolkit, a user-friendly, online platform offering guidance, knowledge and networking for small-scale bio-based solutions, comprising of the following main components: catalogue of small-scale bio-based solutions, collection of nutrient recycling best practices, Decision Support System, Bioeconomy Repository with over than 500 resources, Tool Library gathering 7 tools from relevant past and present initiatives, and BioForum. A portfolio of 10 innovation technical and business support services has been developed, through a co-creation, participatory approach. In total 28 initiatives have been identified through open calls in our 7 MIPs to receive tailored innovation support services of their preference, involving 36 bio-based products/ services and 32 innovators in total . The provision of services is ongoing and results and conclusions will be analysed through the developed monitoring and evaluation framework and tools to fuel iterative improvement in the 2nd innovation round.
Experts advocate that small-scale bio-based solutions hold the key towards unlocking the potential of EU rural bioeconomy. To realize this potential though, existing scientific, technological and market knowledge should become easily available along with local information about potential biomass streams for exploitation, and key regional and local players should be brought together, to collaborate and innovate. Towards this direction, MainstreamBIO has developed a Digital Toolkit that provides online catalogues of small-scale bio-based solutions and best practices for nutrient recycling. A multi-criteria Decision Support System has been developed to facilitate the identification of solutions that make most of local biomass waste streams, market and technology information. The MainstreamBIO Digital Toolkit encompasses a rich Bioeconomy Repository of around 500 registrations, as well as a Tool Library, aggregating all in one place informative and educational material from various bioeconomy related projects and repositories (36 projects and 22 platforms, libraries and repositories). Additionally, ArcGIS -Pro maps of 27 local value chains have been developed, showing the distribution of different biomass streams arising within the MIP regions, along with a geographical representation of some the main identified value chain stakeholders (. At its current stage, MainstreamBIO has led the foundations towards local and regional collaboration of all stakeholders involved in rural bioeconomy, with the ongoing first round of innovation support services to 28 cases of bio-based innovations involving 32 innovators and 36 small-scale bio-based solutions, with the aim to reach more than 175 and more than 70 respectively by the end of the project. For further uptake of small-scale bio-based solutions, the folllowing measures are considered as important: financial incentives and direct financial support, education and outreach to biomass producers, raising awareness around benefits of applications, specific tax reliefs and shielding measures for SMEs and start-ups, support measures for young people, along with a clear policy framework for waste valorisation and standards for biobased products.