Key data from two new reports on sustainable bioeconomy and smart specialization value chain mapping in the Baltic Sea Region.

Smart specialization is an EU policy framework for research, innovation and economic development which has been widely adopted across the Baltic Sea Region. By focusing on the sustainable bioeconomy and mapping supply chains, policymakers across the region can harness the best of their local resources for strong and resilient economic growth. This online workshop will provide key insights into these areas in collaboration with the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region Annual Forum 2020.

Trends for a Sustainable Bioeconomy

The Nordic Council of Ministers will launch its recent report, Baltic Sea Region and Nordic Arctic – 10 Trends for the Sustainable Bioeconomy. In harnessing the power of local bio-based resources, the bioeconomy is an important element of sustainable economic development. The report details current trends and provides policy insights for sustainable bioeconomy development, based on the results of a literature review, expert interviews, and a survey, involving a total of 350 bioeconomy professionals in the process. Key trends from 14 countries and autonomous regions in northern Europe will be presented in this workshop, providing insight into current developments on topics including biofuels, local branding, and circular economy, with special attention paid to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Value Chain Mapping across the BSR's Circular Bioeconomy

The Interreg BSR project BSR S3 Ecosystem has carried out a pilot value chain mapping exercise in the area of circular bioeconomy (CBE). The aim is to contribute to the identification of opportunities for innovation-focused, macro-regional cooperation in the area of circular bioeconomy through value chain innovations. The mapping results - relevant to all innovation actors - will be presented in the workshop.

Through its partnership dynamic and bottom-up approach, Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) bring together local authorities, academia, business actors and civil society, working for the implementation of long-term growth strategies. Supported by EU funds, the post 2020 S3 aims to leverage interregional investments to support new EU industrial growth, with particular focus on Green Deal objectives, including the bioeconomy.

Panel Discussion

Regional bioeconomy and supply chain experts will discuss key themes from these new reports, exploring links to EU policies and identifying particular opportunities for the Baltic Sea Region. The panel discussion will be followed by an audience Q & A, where attendees will be able to pose questions to the panel.

Speakers

• Christian Patermann, Former Director with the European Commission

• Jonas Lundstrom, Chair of BSR S3 Ecosystem Regional Directors’ Network

• Alison Hunter, Head of Economic and Public Policy Consultancy

• Maria Antikainen, Research Team Leader, VTT

• Elin Bergman, Circular economy expert, WWF Sweden

• Maija Kale, Advisor for Sustainability and Digitalization, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia

• Morten Jastrup, Managing Partner of Nordic Sustainability

• Torfi Jóhannesson, Senior Advisor with The Nordic Council of Ministers (PAC PA Bioeconomy)

• Esa Kokkonen, Policy Area Coordinator, EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region - Policy Area Innovation

About the organizers

This online event is organised as part of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) Annual Forum 2020. The main purpose of the Forum is to gather stakeholders and to discuss how to best cooperate within the EUSBSR framework and how to tackle topical challenges on a macro-regional level. This year’s theme is “Our Region, Our Future: Toward a Decade of Innovation and Sustainability”.

The Nordic Council of Ministers has played an active role in promoting sustainable bioeconomy in the Nordic and the Baltic Regions. This has included a Nordic Bioeconomy Strategy, several publications and international initiatives, such as the Baltic Sea Region Bioeconomy Council and the Nordic Bioeconomy Panel. There has also been considerable focus on the development of more sustainable food systems in cooperation with international partners, under the umbrella of Nordic Food Policy Lab, that has been driven by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Nordic Sustainability is a value-based consultancy working at the intersection of strategy and sustainability. With services in strategy, sustainability insights, and thought leadership, Nordic Sustainability helps clients become fit for the future. The sustainable bioeconomy is a strong research focus for the consultancy in close collaboration with clients such as the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Nordregio is a leading Nordic and European research institution within the broad fields of rural, urban and regional development. The institution primarily conducts solution-oriented and applied research, addressing current issues for both a research perspective and the viewpoint of policymakers and practitioners. Regional innovation and green growth are key areas of focus and over the last years Nordregio has carried out a vast number of projects related to green growth, circular and bioeconomy both from a qualitative and quantitative perspective.

The European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) is the first Macro-regional Strategy in Europe. The Strategy is an agreement between the Member States of the EU and the European Commission to strengthen cooperation between the countries bordering the Baltic Sea in order to meet the common challenges and to benefit from common opportunities facing the region. EUSBSR is divided into three objectives, which represent the three key challenges of the Strategy: saving the sea, connecting the region and increasing prosperity. The new EUSBSR Action plan will approved in Autumn 2020, and it comprises of 14 Policy Areas which represent the main areas where the EUSBSR can contribute to improvements, either by tackling the main challenges or by seizing key opportunities of the region. The EUSBSR Policy Area Innovation (PA INNO) promotes a globally competitive position within innovation for sustainable economic growth in the BSR and provides a strong platform for an enhanced macroregional collaborative ecosystem for innovation, research, SMEs and digitalisation. The new PA INNO Action Plan underlines challenge-based approach to innovation and evolvement of interregional value chains in key BSR S3 fields, such as circular and bioeconomy, blue growth, digitalisation and health. The aim is to support the development of interregional value chains around the strongest S3 areas in the BSR through various financing instruments.

Policy Area Bioeconomy covers the main bioeconomy sectors (agriculture, forestry, fisheries…) and rural development. The key challenge to be addressed is that the bioeconomy offers great opportunities for sustainable development, but the bioeconomy is highly complex. It cuts across traditional sectors of policy, research and business. Realizing the bioeconomy therefore calls for stakeholders to cooperate in new ways - across the traditional sectors for e.g. agriculture, environment, business development and research and education. Special interest is also given to the challenges facing the Baltic Sea and how the bioeconomy sectors can contribute to revitalization of the Baltic Sea and other waterways in the Region.

Smart specialisation helps regions to use their strengths to boost growth and prosperity. Yet, many regions lack methods or institutional frameworks to implement it successfully. The BSR S3 Ecosystem platform, an EUSBSR PA INNO flagship funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme, aligns smart specialisation initiatives to better steer investments across the Baltic Sea region. By sharing best practices, it activates research and academic communities, industry and public entities to strengthen the regional innovation ecosystem. The platform, led by Region Västerbotten, builds on the experiences of Interreg Baltic Sea Region’s projects LARS,BSR Stars S3, Smart-up BSR and GoSmart BSR, as well as S34 Growth, BIOREGIO, ClusterFy and TraCS3, co-founded by Interreg Europe.