Starting the first day with an informative meeting to introduce the project CEE2ACT to European Commission representatives, the Head of Sector Bioeconomy in the European Commission, Policy Officers and the Project Officer at European Commission/DG Research and Innovation.
The coordinator shared the work done so far in the project, focusing on stakeholder engagement and the future bioeconomy hubs in the CEE region. Valuable recommendations were shared that we will incorporate into the project implementation.
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On the second day, Geonardo visited the CBE JU premises to discuss the potential participation of CBE JU in the 1st CEE2ACT workshop series to be carried out in Hungary and the possibility of extending their participation in other CEE2ACT workshops this year.
In the afternoon during the Greenovate! Europe (G!E) 32st General Assembly, CEE2ACT recent events and activities were shared with all memebrs of G!E and GEO met CEE2ACT project representatives who are part of the G!E Network.
On the third day, GEO attended the Joint Seminar on bioeconomy and sustainable use of natural resources from Niche to norm, 4S- sustainability, speed, scale and skills, an extraordinary event on bioeconomy policy. It was co-organized by the CEJA, CEPF, Copa-Cogeca, and EUSTAFOR at the office of the European Agri-Cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca).
This event counted with keynote speeches from the Member of the European Parliament from Finland, the Secretary General of Cope Cogeca, and representatives from the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food (INRAE), on the importance of bioeconomy and why it should be a priority for the EU. There were four-panel discussions during the event; firstly, focusing on the key messages from the Council conclusions on bioeconomy and the way forward, with the presence of the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU, Deputy Director General for DG Agriculture and Rural Development, Copa Cogeca and CEPF board representatives. The second-panel discussion focused on developing bioeconomy skills and knowledge at the local and national level, with the presence of a CAP implementation contact point, the coordinator of the European Bioeconomy University Alliance, and Forest Europe Head of Liaison.
The third-panel discussion’s topic was centred on the scale and speed of deployment of bioeconomy. It counted with the presence of the Head of Unit of Bioeconomy and Food System DG for Research and Innovation, the Secretary General of the BIOEAST Initiative, Bio-based Industry Consortium representative, COOPID project coordinator and Coillte representative. The last topic discussed during the 4th-panel session was the sustainable use of natural resources. The panelists were: the deputy Head of the Land Use and Management Unit at DG ENV, a Team Leader of Bioeconomy from FAO, a bioecomomy expert from the European Environmental Agency and CEJA Secretary General and the Managing Director of the Forest-Based Sector Technology Platform. As stated in the programme, the seminar's conclusions will be collected from the representatives of the European farmers and forest organizations and agriculture and forest cooperatives to be communicated to the European institutions and the Member States, and how to make bioeconomy a priority for the near future. Geo used this opportunity to address various seminar attendees to promote the CEE2ACT project.
