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BIOEAST has been a collaborative initiative by agricultural ministries since 2016, bringing together so far eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. One of the goals of this international cooperation was to identify specific research and innovation priorities for bioeconomy development within the region, along with providing actionable recommendations. To this end, BIOEAST has established several thematic working groups working on areas such as bioenergy and new value-added materials, freshwater-based bioeconomy, bioeconomy education and skills, advanced biobased materials, forestry value chains, agroecology and sustainable yields, and food systems. The groups played a vital role in shaping the formulation of thematic challenges, research topics, and expected outcomes and identifying challenges relevant to their specific domains. This led to the elaboration of the BIOEAST Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) which commenced as part of the Horizon 2020 project BIOEASTsUP in early 2021. This process was coordinated by both Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies and Estonian University of Life Sciences. The comprehensive document underwent validation through regional workshops and received feedback from the agricultural ministries involved. The significance of the BIOEAST SRIA lies not only in its ability to set macro-regional priorities but also in its potential to serve as a reproducible framework that can contribute meaningfully to discussions at the EU level.
In addition to the SRIA, the initiative produced a Stakeholder Manifesto. This document also emerged from the efforts of the BIOEAST Thematic Working Groups and is titled “Sustainable supply chains and strengthened local processing of bioresources in Central and Eastern Europe”. Within four main priority areas (fertile soils, freshwater resources, food, and renewable biomass), specific focus points are highlighted that are particularly relevant to the CEE macro-region, which includes several EU Member States, the Western Balkans, and Eastern Partnership Countries. The manifesto advocates for increased public investment in joint research and innovation initiatives aimed at unlocking the region’s bioeconomy potential.
Overall, BIOEAST represents a concerted effort to harness the collective strengths of CEE countries in advancing bioeconomy initiatives that are sustainable, innovative, and impactful for the region’s future.
The BIOEAST Stakeholder Manifesto can be found on the official BIOEAST website: https://bioeast.eu/stakeholder-manifesto/
A call for signatures for the Stakeholder Manifesto is available on the BIOEAST website: https://bioeast.eu/call-for-signatures-stakeholder-manifesto-on-sustainable-supply-chains-and-strengthened-local-processing-of-bioresources-in-central-and-eastern-europe/. This page encourages individuals and organisations to support the initiative by signing the manifesto.