On January 30, 2024, it was held the International Closing Conference of the BIObec project online.
The main objective of the event was to present the results of the BIObec projectollowing the path from the detection of regional bioeconomy needs to the design of responses in the form of Bioeconomy educational centers adapted to the local innovation ecosystem. The event included conceptual and methodological aspects, operational solutions, lessons learned and more gaps in research and education for the Bioeconomy. It also was an opportunity to discuss possible future initiatives beyond the projects, including collaboration, replication and implementation of the designed centres.
The BIObec project “Preparing the creation of Bio-Based Education Centers to meet industry needs and boost the contribution of the bioeconomy to societal challenges” has had as its main objective the creation of a multilevel holistic framework for the development and establishment of centers that promote education in the field of bioeconomy. In the development of this general framework, it is considered the need for future centers to be flexible to respond to the present and future needs of the bioeconomy as well as the needs of the ecosystem where these are inserted at a local, regional or national scale.
The specific objectives of this project were:
- Provide a comprehensive understanding of the needs and define criteria and conditions for bioeconomy training centers to create dynamic ecosystems.
- Define the most effective design and business models to develop and establish a center and its educational activities.
- Provide governance plans, learning programs and assessment of the viability of the centers.
- Provide a deployment strategy and a roadmap to coordinate the implementation of the centers on a European and international scale, encouraging the exploitation of results and collaborations.
- Guarantee a motivated co-creation, the participation of interest groups, dissemination and communication.
The BIObec project is aligned with the BBI roadmap with the aim of increasing cooperation between Bio-Industry and the educational system to avoid skills gaps in this sector. This new project gives continuity to the UrBIOfuture project, which was coordinated by EDO-UAB in the period 2019-2020, the objective of which was to identify the existing gap between the skills required in the bioeconomy sector and those that are ‘offer in professional and university educational institutions.
