Inclusion of Primary Production in Biobased value chains
Building new bioeconomy value chains by setting up new agro-industrial cooperation is a challenge for many regions in Europe that want to unlock their bioeconomy potential. The involvement of local farmers is a cornerstone for a sustainable bioeconomy, where technological innovations are able to attract new industrial investment and provide new agricultural income within ecological boundaries.
In fact, both food and biobased product innovations require structural change in the value chains. This means that farmers and industry have to find new collaboration forms, new contracts or networks to put innovations into practice. These changes require careful testing, and can be facilitated by public intermediaries and by multiple policy instruments from a wide spectrum of policy spheres.
This workshop is organised by the region of Flanders in Belgium and the European Chemical Regions Network (ECRN), under the scope of POWER4BIO [1] project. It gathers representatives from different networks ranging from agriculture and rural development, to the chemical and biobased industry and the EU institutions. The overall objective of the workshop is to engage all relevant actors from farmers to industries, researchers, public authorities, and EU institutions:
- to present concrete case-studies and new developments of agro-industrial value chains that rely on innovative biobased solutions.
- to discuss the role of public policy and promote successful policy instruments aiming to make new biobased value chains possible in practice.
- to address common technical, economic and regulatory barriers for the creation of new agroindustrial partnerships.
Date: Thursday 20/02/2020 and Friday 21/02/2020
Location: Royal Flemish Academy of Science and the Arts [2], Rue Ducale 1, 1000 Brussels, BELGIUM
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 818351 
Program
- Thursday 20/02/2020 - 9h00 to 18h00
Inclusion of primary production in biobased value chains: Case studies and policy options
| 9h00 | Welcome and registration |
| 9h30 |
Introduction |
| 9h40 | Welcome word from the region of Flanders |
| 10h00 |
Session 1: Innovations to join agriculture and biobased solutions (Part1) Chair : Sofie Dobbelaere, Flanders’ Biobased Valley The Flemish research and innovation system hosts several creative actors that are actively investigating new technologies and make the circular bioeconomy a reality. This section will present the latest developments, collaboration initiatives and R&D structures supporting agriculture and a biobased development in Flanders.
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| 12h30 | Networking Lunch |
| 13h30 |
Session 2: Case-studies: practical initiatives to include primary production in the bioeconomy Chair : Ignacio Martin, CIRCE
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| 14h55 | Break |
| 15h15 |
Session 3: Policy approaches and instruments Chair : Dries Maes, EWI Policies at regional, national and European level are working on dedicated instruments to stimulate the structural collaboration between primary production and industry. Biobased value chains are transversal and are affected by instruments from agricultural policy, innovation policy and industrial policy at the same time.
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| 16h30 |
Panel discussion The synergy between European and regional policies is of crucial importance in this evolution. The European panel discussion reflects on the potential role of regions in the development of rural bioeconomies, and the opportunities for collaboration with European policies.
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Venue: Royal Flemish Academy of Science and the Arts [2], Rue Ducale 1, 1000 Brussels, BELGIUM
- Friday 21/02/2020 - 8h30 to15h00
| 8h30 | Welcome and registration |
| 11h30 | Arcelor Mittal Ghent  20200221_carbon_neutral_steelmaking.pdf [14] |
| 12h00 | Biobase Europe Pilot Plant 20200221_presentation_hendrikwaegeman_bbepp_visitewi.pdf [15] |
| 13h00 | North Sea Port |
