Mainstreaming the Bioeconomy in Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) Projects in the Western Balkans

Emilija Mihajloska; Vladimir Gjorgievski; Natasa Markovska

Mainstreaming the Bioeconomy in Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) Projects in the Western Balkans

Policy Brief

Publication: Policy Brief
Citation: Mihajloska, E., Gjorgievski, V., Markovska, N. (Eds) 2021: Funding for bio-based business models. Policy Brief. Ecologic Institute.

The brief highlights opportunities for agricultural residue utilisation to foster competitiveness, calls for stronger cooperation across borders and sectors, and stresses the need for participatory regional bioeconomy strategies. It also points to IPARD (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for Rural Development) as a funding instrument for circular, rural development and recommends embedding the bioeconomy in national strategic documents to ensure long-term policy coherence.

This policy brief, including its template design, was produced by Ecologic Institute within the BE-Rural project. It shows how the EU's IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance) can strengthen bioeconomy in the Western Balkans. It highlights ways to channel funding towards sustainable initiatives, helping rural regions make better use of local resources and embed bio-based approaches in their development paths.

This policy brief, including its template design, was produced by Ecologic Institute within the BE-Rural project.

Harnessing EU pre-accession funds through strong governance, cross-border cooperation and place-based strategies can drive sustainable bioeconomy development in the Western Balkans.

Contact

Holger Gerdes

Coordinator Bioeconomy

Senior Fellow

Evaluation of BE-Rural's Stakeholder and Public Engagement Activities

Year 2022

Publication:Policy Brief

How can small-scale bio-based businesses secure the support they need to thrive? This BE-Rural policy brief highlights the main barriers to financing and outlines key recommendations for policymakers.

Funding for Bio-based Business Models

Policy Brief

Year 2022

Publication:Report

Through capacity-building exercises in five European regions, facilitators worked with entrepreneurs and stakeholders to design locally-adapted business models and assess their market potential. The results provide concrete building blocks for regional bioeconomy strategies and roadmaps.

Small-scale Bio-based Business Models and their Market Potentials

Summary Report

Year 2021

Publication:Document

This hands-on guidance document supports regional actors in designing viable business models for the bioeconomy. Based on practical experiences from five Open Innovation Platforms (OIPs) across Europe, it outlines how to analyse regional market conditions, engage diverse stakeholders and translate promising bio-based product ideas into actionable business strategies. The result: a modular toolkit to unlock local biomass potential and drive sustainable rural development.

Analysing Market Conditions and Designing Business Models within BE-Rural's OIPs

Deliverable 5.1 H2020 research project BE-Rural

Year 2020

Event:Conference

After 40 months of collaboration, the BE-Rural project concluded with its Final Conference, held in Frombork, Poland, from 11 to 14 July 2022. Approximately 40 project members and regional bioeconomy stakeholders – representing research organisations, universities, cluster associations, local action groups and regional authorities from eight EU Member States and candidate countries – gathered to reflect on BE-Rural's achievements.

Inspiring Regional Agendas for Inclusive Bioeconomies

BE-RURAL Final Conference

11 - 14 July 2022
Frombork, Poland

Event:Workshop

Within the framework of the Global Bioeconomy Summit 2020, Holger Gerdes and Zoritza Kiresiewa, together with the POWER4BIO project, organized a breakout session on "Local-Level Bioeconomy" on 18 November 2020. This session formed part of the workshop "Rebooting the economy – sustainability, growth, and climate action delivered by the bioeconomy," which the European Commission's DG RTD hosted in collaboration with BE-Rural, POWER4BIO, and other partners. Holger and Zoritza took charge of the program design: they introduced BE-Rural, implemented participatory methods, and coordinated the flow via digital platforms so that more than 30 participants engaged interactively.

Benefits of Participatory Development of Regional Bioeconomy Strategies

18 November 2020
online

Publication:Book Section

Cover of the book "Zukünfte nachhaltiger Bioökonomie. Kommunikation und Partizipation in neuen Wirtschaftsformen"

A democratic dialogue with a broad spectrum of stakeholders and the society is considered necessary for the transformation to a sustainable bio-based economy. As such, several dedicated bioeconomy strategies across Europe and beyond outline objectives towards broader stakeholder and public engagement. In this book chapter Zoritza Kiresiewa, Laurens Duin and Holger Gerdes address the degree of participation and the role of the individual actor groups and society in strategy development processes and recommend concrete actions for more inclusive and effective stakeholder and public engagement.

Limitations of Stakeholder and Public Engagement in Bioeconomy Strategy Development Processes

Year 2022

Publication:Policy Brief

First page of the BE-Rural Policy Brief "Enabling rural regions to recognise the ecological boundaries framing the bioeconomy"

BE Rural developed and piloted a new framework to help decision makers consider ecological limits when drafting regional bioeconomy strategies and roadmaps, and with this to contribute to Priority 3 of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy: "Understand the ecological boundaries of the bioeconomy".

Enabling Rural Regions to Recognize the Ecological Boundaries Framing the Bioeconomy

Year 2022

Publication:Report

This report provides the context and justification for the development of BE-Rural's Sustainability Screening, a description of its methodological procedure, and the syntheses of results from the two experimental implementations of the approach in the Stara Zagora and Vidzeme regions, which are included in full as annexes to this report. The last chapters present the main lessons learned from these two pilots and the overall conclusions of the task.

Note on the Development of a Sustainability Screening for Regional Bioeconomy Strategies

Deliverable 5.4 H2020 Research project BE-Rural

Year 2022

Language

English

Authorship

Emilija Mihajloska (The International Centre for Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems)

Vladimir Gjorgievski (The International Centre for Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems)

Natasa Markovska (The International Centre for Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems)

Credits

Production: Ecologic Institute

Design Template: Beáta Welk Vargová

Funding

European Commission, Directorate-General Research & Innovation (DG Research & Innovation), International

Published by

Ecologic Institute, Germany

Year

2022

Dimension

7 pp.

Project

Bio-based Strategies and Roadmaps for Enhanced Rural and Regional Development in the EU (BE-Rural)

Project ID

2815

Keywords

Bioeconomy

bioeconomy Western Balkans, IPA funding, IPARD programme, pre accession assistance, EU rural development, sustainable bioeconomy, cross border cooperation Balkans, place based strategies, rural development funding, bio based economy Europe, agricultural residues valorisation, circular economy Western Balkans, EU integration and bioeconomy, regional bioeconomy strategies, rural innovation Balkans, value chain development, sustainable agriculture Western Balkans, EU pre accession funds, bioeconomy policy brief, capacity building Western Balkans

Western Balkans, North Macedonia, Strumica region, Bulgaria, Greece

stakeholder consultations, policy analysis, case study review, strategic recommendations

Attachments

2815-BE-Rural-Policy-Brief-IPA.pdf (374.9 KB)

Further Links

EventConferenceEffective Stakeholder and Public Engagement in the Bioeconomy – BioSTEP Conference

Over a period of three years the BioSTEP project developed participation tools to involve the public in the development of the European bioeconomy. Different types of participation were sought. During the final conference on 22 February 2018 in Brussels, the... Read more

Conference:Effective Stakeholder and Public Engagement in the Bioeconomy – BioSTEP Conference

Date: 22 February 2018
Location: Brussels, Belgium

EventWorkshopBeyond Sectors – Chances and Challenges of Multi-stakeholder Collaboration in the Bioeconomy

On the 13 May 2019, Ecologic Institute organised the workshop "Beyond sectors – chances and challenges of multi-stakeholder collaboration in the bioeconomy" in the context of the 8th International Bioeconomy Conference in Halle (Saale). The aim of the... Read more

Workshop:Beyond Sectors – Chances and Challenges of Multi-stakeholder Collaboration in the Bioeconomy

Date: 13 May 2019
Location: Halle (Saale), Germany

EventWorkshopChallenges and Opportunities in the Bioeconomy

What kind of solutions are required to increase the market share of sustainable bio-based and circular products in Germany and Europe? Which products and product properties do consumers demand? What are the innovations that can be developed and what are suitable... Read more

Workshop:Challenges and Opportunities in the Bioeconomy

Date: 29 May 2019
Location: Bonn, Germany

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