The bioeconomy can be a catalyst for sustainable systemic change and transition, tackling key economic, societal and environmental challenges faced by EU Member States (MS). For bioeconomy transitions to occur there is a need for policy to support interactions among multiple actors, including businesses, users, scientific communities, policy-makers, social movements and interest groups. Bioeconomy transitions will also involve the need to choose between alternative visions of the future and how to get there, pointing to the importance of public engagement to foster consultation and deliberation. In this light, bioeconomy transitions will also involve the need to prepare for unexpected consequences and new emerging issues which implies a need for both exploratory, analytical approaches (e.g. horizon scanning), as well as adaptive governance. In this context, targeted national bioeconomy strategies and/or action plans are necessary both to aid the addressing of the European Green Deal (EGD) but also to develop benefits and opportunities for rural, coastal, regional and urban areas in each MS. Based on the feedback from experts in the Mutual Learning Experience (MLE), and taking into account the principles of good governance and systems transition approaches, 10 Key Policy Messages have been identified to help guide national bioeconomy strategy and/or action plan development.

The updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy from 2018 "A sustainable Bioeconomy for Europe: Strengthening the connection between economy, society and the environment" provides the policy frame for the deployment of a circular and sustainable bioeconomy in Europe. In November 2019, the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on the 2018 EU Bioeconomy Strategy, calling upon the EC to deliver a Bioeconomy Strategy Progress Report by 2022. In response to this, the European Commission developed the Progress Report "European Bioeconomy Policy: Stocktaking and future developments". The report: Outlines the state of play of the European Bioeconomy and assess the progress in the implementation of the 2018 EU Bioeconomy Strategy and its Action Plan. Identifies the gaps and future opportunities of the bioeconomy policy, in light of recent policy developments under the European Green Deal.

The 2012 European Bioeconomy Strategy paved the way for a more innovative, resource-efficient and competitive society that reconciles food security with the sustainable use of renewable resources for industrial purposes, while ensuring environmental protection. A comprehensive review concluded that it has been a success, notably at mobilising research and innovation, boosting private investments, developing new value chains, promoting the uptake of national bioeconomy strategies and involving stakeholders. However, it also found that while the initial five objectives of the Strategy remain valid, their scope needs to be adapted and related actions refocussed in order to better use the potential of the bioeconomy to meet current and future EU priorities. This updated Bioeconomy Strategy proposes actions to scale-up and deploy locally the bioeconomy, capitalising on and going beyond the previous successful R&I investments, in order to create growth and job opportunities at local level, to reinforce the bio-based sector and contribute to the modernisation of EU industry, to protect the environment and enhance ecosystems’ functions and biodiversity.

The new EU Bioeconomy Strategy, adopted in 2018 is more relevant within the actual political, environmental and social context than ever before. In these times of acute awareness of global climate change impacts and related challenges for sustainable development, the EU Bioeconomy is perceived a crucial stepping stone to changing our whole development paradigm and to trigger systemic change. Bioeconomy is intended to contribute to the decarbonisation of our economy, to catalyse changes in consumer habits and will modernise our industries throughout the value chain. But is it all good? At what cost to primary productions systems? Can the bioeconomy really deliver on its promises while ensuring biodiversity enhancement and the improvement of our planet's overall health? To what extent will societies benefit from a transition from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy? This document describes the first year of the development of the EU Bioeconomy Monitoring System by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) in collaboration with experts throughout European and International organisations, EU Member States, Commission Services and other stakeholders to assess questions such as those posed above. The framework is designed to house several basic indicators that are, analogous to the instruments of a symphony, in themselves useful and meaningful but whose value is enhanced once they are placed within an orchestra. Only when the indicators interplay jointly the ensemble is capable of estimating the progress of EU bioeconomy and its contribution towards the Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting related trade-offs and synergies. In this first year, the development of the monitoring system has focused on structuring the framework, thus creating a better understanding of the bioeconomy as it is presented in various sources at national, EU and international levels. Criteria have been established to assess indicator quality, which is relevant to the final decision on indicator inclusion.

This publication is the final report of a study aiming to map and analyse the deployment of strategies related to the bioeconomy at regional level in the EU-27. The study was conducted from July 2021 to March 2022 and covered regulatory frameworks in place or under development as of November 2021. The focus of the study was on regions at NUTS 1 and NUTS 2 territorial levels. The NUTS 3 level was only analysed in cases where no relevant information could be found at higher levels. Usually, the research focused on the predominant sub-national NUTS level in each country, on what is usually classified as the 'regional level' in between national and local levels. The findings show that 194 regions in the EU-27 (NUTS 1, NUTS 2 or NUTS 3 level) have, or are working towards, a strategic framework related to the bioeconomy. Of these, 28 regions have fully dedicated bioeconomy strategies, while another region is elaborating such a strategy. 62 regions have strategic frameworks with a strong bioeconomy focus, with another 7 regions elaborating such a strategy. Lastly, 94 regions have strategies with minimum bioeconomy content, while another 2 regions are elaborating a strategy of this type. In relative terms, i.e. in relation to the overall number of regions per country, all regions in Belgium, France, Italy and the Netherlands have developed bioeconomy-relevant frameworks. Overall, there are 359 bioeconomy-related strategies at regional level in the EU-27. Of those, 334 frameworks have been published. Of these 334, 324 are regional and 10 are multi-regional (e.g. cross-border, interregional or macroregional, mostly Interreg-funded) strategic frameworks. The report includes a methodological note, a presentation of the data and visualisations resulting from the mapping, an analysis of commonalities and divergences between regional strategies across the EU based on their general characteristics and a focused summary for each Member State. It is complemented by the underpinning dataset, published separately.

The 2018 EU Bioeconomy Strategy aims to develop a circular, sustainable bioeconomy for Europe, strengthening the connection between economy, society, and environment. It addresses global challenges such as meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations and the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement. A circular, sustainable bioeconomy can be a core instrument for the Green Deal in the post-COVID-19 era, making the EU more sustainable and competitive. In this context, the EC (Joint Research Centre in collaboration with DG Research and Inno-vation) created an ad-hoc external Network of Experts (NoE) through individual contracts to contribute to the EC's Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy with forward-looking analysis needed for exploring possible scenarios towards a sustainable, clean, and resource-efficient bioeconomy, with a focus on climate-neutrality and sustainable development. The first work package concerned knowledge synthesis and foresight. This report presents the results of a collaborative foresight process which elaborated four scenarios for the future EU bioeconomy until 2050: Scenario 1: Do it for us - proactive policy, Paris target nearly achieved (2 °C global temperature increase by 2100), no societal change (Business As Usual trend for consumption) Scenario 2: Do it together - integrative policy, Paris target fully achieved (1.5 °C global temp. increase by 2100), fundamental societal change (towards sustainable consumption) Scenario 3: Do it ourselves - societal action, Paris target missed (global temperature increase 2.5 °C by 2100), fundamental societal change (towards sustainable consumption) Scenario 4: Do what is unavoidable - reactive policy, Paris target clearly missed (3.5 °C global temperature increase by 2100), no societal change (Business As Usual trend for consumption) Finally, this report presents initial reflections on transition pathways gained from these scenarios in 2050, and insights for the future of the bioeconomy in Europe, and abroad, with a focus on implementing a circular, sustainable, and transformative BioWEconomy, not only in the EU, but globally.

The recent revision of the EU bioeconomy strategy clearly signals the strong policy ambition for Europe’s renewable biological resources. The full deployment of the strategy will create and maintain many jobs in rural areas through the growing participation of primary producers in the bioeconomy value chain and diversification of economic activities. A sustainably-managed European bioeconomy will also make a significant contribution to the achievement of several of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs). Excitingly, the bioeconomy has a special resonance for rural areas. This edition of the EAFRD projects brochure illustrates how the mainstreaming of the bioeconomy is being accelerated by rural development programmes (RDPs) around Europe, leading to the production of sustainable food and feed, innovative bio-based products, renewable energy and other services.

This book focuses on opportunities and challenges in implementing a bioeconomy strategy from a research and education perspective. It draws on contributions presented during the 30th EURAGRI annual conference held in Tartu (Estonia) in September 2016, as well as on other workshops organised as part of EURAGRI. EURAGRI is an informal gathering of EU research and higher education organisations and ministries interested in agri-food research. It works as a platform of exchange and discussion on topics of common interest pertaining to the organisation, orientation and outlook of agri-food research in Europe in connection with global changes.