Mobilization of a plurality of voices and mutual learning to accelerate the Bio-based sector

Project Information

BIOVoices

Grant agreement ID: 774331

DOI

10.3030/774331

Project closed

EC signature date 4 October 2017

Start date 1 January 2018

End date 30 April 2021

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 2 996 427,50

EU contribution

€ 2 996 427,50

Coordinated by

AGENZIA PER LA PROMOZIONE DELLA RICERCA EUROPEA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - BIOVoices (Mobilization of a plurality of voices and mutual learning to accelerate the Bio-based sector)

Reporting period: 2019-07-01 to 2021-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The successful transition towards the bioeconomy requires a profound transformation both on the supply and the demand side of the economy. On the demand side, consumers and their behaviour play a major role in this transformation process. As demonstrated by a number of studies, consumer awareness and knowledge are important factors determining responsible consumption behaviour. Additionally, raising awareness is also important to accelerate the implementation of Bioeconomy strategies at national, regional and community level, and also to allow the citizens to have their say and provide their feedback on bioeconomy-related issues, such as through the EU Citizens’ Initiatives tool.
BIOVOICES overall aim is to ensure the engagement of all relevant stakeholder groups and tackle BIO-based related challenges by establishing a multi-stakeholder platform, involving a plurality of actors (voices) with different perspectives, knowledge and experiences, and animating open dialogue and Mutual Learning between the different stakeholders. BIOVOICES is expected to increase the quality, the relevance, the social acceptability and the sustainability of research and innovation outcomes in various domains supporting pro-active discussion and co-creation among relevant stakeholders and promoting the direct engagement of citizens and society at large in a co-creation research and innovation process.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

To achieve the strategic objectives, BIOVOICES has produced the following activities and results:
1. Definition of a framework (WP3) for the organisation of the Mobilisation and Mutual Learning (MML) workshops, by:
a. Presenting an overview of the existing barriers and opportunities to commercialise bio-based applications in Europe, as described in current literature, to indicate key issues in the transition to the bio-based economy.
b. Identifying the quadruple helix stakeholders’ interests and motivations to participate in the BIOVOICES MML community collecting 82 interviews within 10 countries.
c. Mapping the bio-based products (applications) based on stakeholders' interests to define the challenges to be addressed during the MML workshops.
d. Developing the guidelines for the design of the BIOVOICES MML approach that are relevant, attractive and motivating for the quadruple helix stakeholders to contribute to and deliver impactful outcomes.
2. Launch of the BIOVOICES multi-stakeholder community (WP4), supporting and enabling discussion, workshops and MML workshops, through the:
a. Creation of a stakeholders’ classification to set up the best way to identify the thematic groups to be involved in MML activities. To achieve these objectives, BIOVOICES considered different literature and opinions from experts in this area.
b. Engagement of stakeholders, leveraging of existing networks, contacts, initiatives and similar projects, to create a database according to the thematic stakeholders´ classifications identified in WP3.
c. Production of the methodology that supports the design of MML workshops. Additionally, the M2EED online tool was created to support the design of MML workshops and other co-creation events, enabling the selection of the most appropriate format (i.e. conference, Focus group, etc.).
3. Creation of the BIOVOICES social platform and online mutual learning activities (WP5) to foster the BIOVOICES community activities and deliver related knowledge and contents to the different stakeholders and design the social media strategy, infrastructure, actions and tools to increase the impact of the BIOVOICES activities and outcomes:
a. Design, implementation and population of the BIOVOICES social platform, representing the technical infrastructure for managing participatory tools, co-production of contents, knowledge co-creation, launching initiatives, etc., supporting online communities (starting from e-communities already existing in the bio-based sector, and applicable in other application domains) in their work. https://www.biovoices-platform.eu/login.
b. Creation of the BioArt Gallery App, an online dynamic slideshow with a menu and drag-and-drop navigation features registered under the URL: https://www.biovoices.eu/gallery/ as part of the BIOVOICES website.
c. Production of a Book for kids (5-8 years old), first of its kind. More than 14,000 copies in 11 languages will be distributed around Europe.
d. Social media profiles for BIOVOICES were created (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram with more than 7,000 followers). Creation of a multiplicity of contents for the animation of the social media channels: videos, games, interviews, quiz, campaigns, educational cards.
4. Improvement of the framework conditions for new bio-based market opportunities (WP6), including action plans and processes by involving the stakeholders in co-creation MML events at European, National and Local/Regional levels:
a. 77 MML workshops were organised by the partners, involving Total participants: 4.190 Research: 1.444 Industry: 1.187 Civil Society: 705, Public Sector: 444, Investors: 76, Others: 334.
b. Transformation of the experience of the BIOVOICES community into Actionable Knowledge for the different stakeholders, publishing four Policy Briefs and an Action Plan for Citizen Engagement to address the challenges related to the development and delivery of the bioeconomy.
5. Ensure that the BIOVOICES outcomes will have an impact on the different stakeholders through the early impact, dissemination, communication and exploitation strategy (WP7):
a. All partners were involved in dissemination and communication activities in order to maximise the BIOVOICES outreach and impact.
b. The Exploitation and Sustainability Plan summarises the main assets of the BIOVOICES project that will be exploited.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

An important impact of BIOVOICES is the creation of the “European Bioeconomy Network”.
Initiated in March 2018, the European Bioeconomy Network (EuBioNet) is a proactive alliance of more than 80 EU funded projects and initiatives dealing with the promotion of the bioeconomy, communication and support. The main goal of the EuBioNet is to maximise the efforts of the projects, increasing knowledge sharing, networking, mutual learning and co-ordination of joint activities and events. The EuBioNet partners benefit from the mutual promotion of outcomes, new partnerships, joint event planning and knowledge sharing. The EuBioNet is also supported for the implementation of the bioeconomy by the 2018 updated Bioeconomy Strategy. (www.eubionet.eu)
The BIOVOICES social media channels represent a success story for the EU funded projects and initiatives in the bioeconomy (with more than 7,000 followers). Dozens of formats, ideas, solutions and engagement activities have been experimented and validated in the different social media. The BIOVOICES social media channels have different identities corresponding to the diverse target audiences. The strategic approach adopted was continuously revised, enabling BIOVOICES social media channels to reach a wide range of target audiences, being responsive to the inevitably evolutions of the societal megatrends with regards to sustainability questions.

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