The BIOMODEL4REGIONS project aims to support the establishment of the innovative governance models at local/regional level to achieve better-informed decision-making processes, social engagement and innovation to support and strengthen EU and international science-policy interfaces to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by: - Supporting the development of regional/local strategies, aiming at exploiting the local potentials and innovations by integrating the opportunities created by the local bio-based economy thus contributing to the broader bioeconomy transition - Developing novel business models to enable consumers, industry/producers and public bodies to a societal switch towards environmentally responsible behaviour by means of biobased products and services - Developing best practice guidelines for local operators and innovation developers, supporting climate-neutrality and low environmental footprint improvements of bio-based products and services The methodology is based on the set-up of a governance structure among bioeconomy clusters that will leverage on previous successful projects, initiatives and best practices to capitalise on work performed through several years of research and studies in the field of bioeconomy. These results will be demonstrated within the project to support 6 pilot regions chosen in clusters’ network. The pilot regions , taking into account different model regions (Northern, Southern, Eastern and Central-Western EU), their conditions and assets and different primary sectors (forestry, agri-food, aquatic biomass and organic fraction of municipal solid waste- OFMSW) will be demonstrated under a fully transferable case-study approach, that can be replicated throughout Europe to demonstrate the replicability of the approach after the end of the project.

Regional clusters are the unsung heroes of sustainable development, driving innovation and economic growth by leveraging local ecosystems and fostering strong connections among businesses, research institutions, and stakeholders. This is even more valid for Clusters in Bioeconomy, where new knowledge is born constantly The project´s collective understanding is that Regional Bio-Economy Clusters are ideally suited to mobilise R&I ecosystems, due to their cross-sectoral nature of bioeconomy in different countries, their proximity to local enterprises, and their ability to reflect common bottlenecks and needs and link the local ecosystem with international knowledge and funding hubs. BIO-INSPIRE, an alliance of 14 transdisciplinary entities from 12 EU countries, demonstrates that regional bio-economy clusters are a valid answer to developing bio-based innovations, driving sustainable growth and fostering resilient local economies across the widening regions of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. BIO-INSPIRE will engage Regional Bio-Economy Clusters in 7 widening countries (Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland, ) and research and technology developers and clusters in 2 non-widening countries (Sweden, The Netherlands) to address systemic causes of underdevelopment across geographical boundaries. BIO-INSPIRE aims to contribute to the transformation of the widening regional bioeconomies by addressing existing bottlenecks and providing to the regions the necessary tools to advance their R&I capacity and their ability to broader their collaboration networks. At the heart of this project is the provision of a Governance Model framework, addressing the critical lack of established structures, norms, and procedures for sustainable collaboration. This framework is designed to be a long-lasting legacy, empowering also other regions to achieve sustainability and growth, and ensuring their effective and enduring engagement in the bio-based economy.

Nowadays, the center of the bio-based economy is the development of integrated value chains removing sector barriers, where market and product innovations are driven by societal needs and vision of brand owners, and require the collaborations between different sectors through new bio-based value chains (from feedstock to products), also establishing co-operations throughout industry clusters. Open innovation has been identified as the major driver to perform innovation through the flow (in and out) of knowledge, technologies and competences, for organisations to design, plan, and implement market and product innovations as well as to establish sustainable partnerships joining forces with customers, feedstock suppliers, academia, and financial sector. In BiOPEN a consortium highly specialized in the bio-based industry, composed by five European bio-based clusters, three open innovation expert companies, and one research centre, will embark on an ambitious programme to support collaboration and knowledge sharing in the bio-based industry, stimulating the set-up of co-innovation partnerships for the development of new products and markets in the sector. BIOPEN ambition is to become a single voice for the bio-based industries in Europe, gathering expertise and promoting engagement and involvement of industry, researchers and academia at European and national level, by setting up an Open-innovation platform addressing strategic cross-cutting challenges such as (i) clustering and networking to develop new value chains and favour the emergence of co-innovation partnerships across the value chains; (ii) Stakeholders engagement and support with regards to setting-up at least 20 co-innovation partnerships alongside existing and new value chains; (iii) creation of a knowledge centre collecting the prospective and insight of the community, and providing access to relevant information for markets and products innovations in the bio-based ecosystem.

The world faces a major challenge with the sharp increase in demand for meat and fish by 2050, to which current modes of production, whether through agriculture, aquaculture or fisheries, cannot be sustained. An innovative solution to this predicted shortage of resources, especially protein, lies in insect production and processing which can provide a serious response, but to date no industrial scale of production of insect-derived products has been reached. The FARMYNG project has this ambition to develop on an industrial and automated scale the breeding and transformation of insects for the production of animal nutrition, with the strong participation of 20 key actors all along the value chain from the feedstock supply to the final insect transformation. FARMYNG will demonstrate a large-scale, first-of-its-kind bio-based value chain producing sustainable, safe and premium feed products from an innovative origin: the Tenebrio molitor insect (mealworm). The plant developed for FARMYNG will use the efficiency of mealworm physiology to convert vegetal by-products in mealworm biomass and transform those mealworms into sustainable proteins and lipids for fish feed and pet food end markets. In parallel, manure will be recovered for soil fertilization applications. Insects are indeed very effective at converting organic matter. Fed with no-noble materials, insects multiply quickly, and are a rich and natural source of food for certain livestock and pet animals, and probably ultimately for the Humans directly. Insects also emit less greenhouse gases and ammonia and use less water and land than other animal proteins value chains. FARMYNG project, responding to the increasing worldwide proteins demand, will transfer the technology from a demo plant to the Industrial Flagship Plant able to produce almost 1 500 tons of proteins and 400 tons of oil per month, reaching a productions rate never demonstrated before for insect’s proteins production plant.