Periodic Reporting for period 2 - RuralBioUp (Empowering EU Rural Regions to scale-Up and adopt small-scale Bio-based solutions: the transition towards a sustainable, regenerative, inclusive and just circular bioeconomy)
Reporting period: 2024-04-01 to 2025-09-30
RuralBioUp strengthened the development of sustainable, locally anchored bioeconomy solutions in rural areas across Europe. Working through nine Regional Hubs in Italy, France, Ireland, Portugal, Latvia, Slovenia and Romania, the project brought together farmers, SMEs, researchers and public authorities to identify local resources, co-design value-chain opportunities and support the transition toward circular and bio-based practices. RuralBioUp delivered extensive capacity-building activities, including training sessions, mentoring and coaching, regional networking events and study visits, altogether supporting more than 10.000 stakeholders. These activities strengthened regional cooperation, improved innovation readiness and enabled stakeholders to adopt new technologies and business models. Each Regional Hub developed an Action Plan and a sustainability pathway to ensure continuity beyond the project’s lifetime. RuralBioUp also collaborated with sister projects to produce a shared policy paper and its own policy brief, providing recommendations for integrating the bioeconomy into rural development strategies and EU policy frameworks. A central achievement of the project is RuralSpot, an open-access digital platform that consolidates all project outputs and tools. It integrates practical training materials, mentoring resources, funding guidance, study visit documentation, Action Plans, lessons learned and policy outputs. The platform also features a dedicated Community section showcasing synergies with other EU initiatives, enabling users to explore solutions, access methodologies and connect with relevant networks. Overall, RuralBioUp supported rural communities in enhancing their innovation ecosystems, increasing awareness of bioeconomy opportunities and accelerating the uptake of bio-based solutions, with all resources openly accessible through RuralSpot.
WP1 ensured smooth coordination through 15 online and 2 physical consortium meetings (Bologna, Brussels) and organised the final conference with five EU bioeconomy projects - European Rural Circular Bioeconomy Conference (180 participants). The WP delivered all due reports, including D1.4 Data Management Plan 2, and conducted internal technical and financial reporting (Dec 2024). It maintained continuous communication with the Advisory Board and supported data management, including GDPR guidance and creation of the RuralBioUp Zenodo community.
WP2 delivered D2.2 (biomass assessment and Biomass Model Tool) and D2.3 (final data consolidation). It harmonised datasets for RuralSpot (Biomass 21 resources; Business & Markets 104 resources ; Technologies 65 resources ; Soil 21 resources; Funding 13 resources; Knowledge 103 resources) and developed a structured data framework linking biomass, technologies and business models. Major upgrades to RuralSpot included an interactive European resource map, a Success Stories page and improved biomass data visualisation. The final platform was launched at M36, supported by strengthened partner collaboration and validated methodologies.
WP3 supported the implementation and monitoring of the nine Action Plans (D3.3). It organised 10 facilitator meetings, two rounds of local Hub on-site workshops (for progress review and good practices) and two MML workshops (Bologna in October 2024 and Brussels in May 2025 ). WP3 concluded with the Lessons Learned Report (D3.4) and produced five fact sheets for wider dissemination.
WP4 delivered extensive capacity building: 94 training sessions (4,611 participants), 3,980 mentoring activities, 39 regional networking events (1,971 participants), two EU-level networking events (333 participants) and 24 study visits (562 participants). Furher, ruralbioUp offered 112 traiing topics (all available in RuralSpot).
WP5 completed three rounds of impact assessment (T5.1) and refined the methodological approach following the first survey. It produced stakeholder recommendations (T5.2) the Replication Manual (T5.3) and long-term sustainability strategies for each Hub (T5.4).
WP6 exceeded all dissemination KPIs: 8,364 website users, 26,900 page views, 680 LinkedIn followers, 315 newsletter subscribers, and 51 YouTube videos (>5,100 views). It delivered the Exploitation Plan (D6.4) established IPR rules (CC-BY-NC for all KERs) and submitted RuralSpot to the Horizon Results Platform. WP6 also ensured strong policy and networking engagement: continuous participation in the Rural Bioeconomy Alliance, co-organisation of the European Rural Circular Bioeconomy Conference and dissemination of its outcomes. Following JRC unavailability, RuralBioUp established collaborations with ERRIN and Climate-KIC, resulting in joint activities and the submission of D6.5. By project end, RuralBioUp actively engaged with over 50 EU-funded initiatives.
WP2 delivered D2.2 (biomass assessment and Biomass Model Tool) and D2.3 (final data consolidation). It harmonised datasets for RuralSpot (Biomass 21 resources; Business & Markets 104 resources ; Technologies 65 resources ; Soil 21 resources; Funding 13 resources; Knowledge 103 resources) and developed a structured data framework linking biomass, technologies and business models. Major upgrades to RuralSpot included an interactive European resource map, a Success Stories page and improved biomass data visualisation. The final platform was launched at M36, supported by strengthened partner collaboration and validated methodologies.
WP3 supported the implementation and monitoring of the nine Action Plans (D3.3). It organised 10 facilitator meetings, two rounds of local Hub on-site workshops (for progress review and good practices) and two MML workshops (Bologna in October 2024 and Brussels in May 2025 ). WP3 concluded with the Lessons Learned Report (D3.4) and produced five fact sheets for wider dissemination.
WP4 delivered extensive capacity building: 94 training sessions (4,611 participants), 3,980 mentoring activities, 39 regional networking events (1,971 participants), two EU-level networking events (333 participants) and 24 study visits (562 participants). Furher, ruralbioUp offered 112 traiing topics (all available in RuralSpot).
WP5 completed three rounds of impact assessment (T5.1) and refined the methodological approach following the first survey. It produced stakeholder recommendations (T5.2) the Replication Manual (T5.3) and long-term sustainability strategies for each Hub (T5.4).
WP6 exceeded all dissemination KPIs: 8,364 website users, 26,900 page views, 680 LinkedIn followers, 315 newsletter subscribers, and 51 YouTube videos (>5,100 views). It delivered the Exploitation Plan (D6.4) established IPR rules (CC-BY-NC for all KERs) and submitted RuralSpot to the Horizon Results Platform. WP6 also ensured strong policy and networking engagement: continuous participation in the Rural Bioeconomy Alliance, co-organisation of the European Rural Circular Bioeconomy Conference and dissemination of its outcomes. Following JRC unavailability, RuralBioUp established collaborations with ERRIN and Climate-KIC, resulting in joint activities and the submission of D6.5. By project end, RuralBioUp actively engaged with over 50 EU-funded initiatives.
A key innovation is RuralSpot - a one-stop digital platform enabling rural stakeholders to identify complete, region-specific bio-based value chains and improve decision-making. At territorial level, RuralBioUp consolidated nine Regional Bioeconomy Hubs shifting from ad-hoc engagement and capacity building toward durable innovation support structures. At policy level, the projectl strengthened the science–policy interface through a policy brief jointly developed with sister projects translating regional evidence into actionable recommendations.