Month: August 2018

On the 14^th of June, the BioBIGG cross-border workshop on biomass potentials as well as market opportunities took place at the University of Greifswald arranged by RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) and SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences). The main focus was on biomass potentials from agriculture and industry in the participating regions and how to get SMEs point-of-view on potential implementation of production of biomass-based materials, products and energy. The workshop included a world cafe with interesting discussions and knowledge-sharing among the participants.

On the 13^th of June, the University of Greifswald arranged a workshop about bioeconomy in rural areas with special focus on innovation in SMEs. The workshop focused on the establishment of the South Baltic Bioeconomy Network (SBBN) and how this could best be achieved. The aim is first of all to engage SMEs, business organisations and other potential members to take part in the network in order to boost knowledge-sharing on innovation potentials in bioeconomy in the South Baltic Area.

On the 25^th of May Gdańsk University of Technology arranged the first conference in the BioBIGG project. The conference highlighted a wide range of business potentials for SMEs within bioeconomy and also the current state of play for bioeconomy in the participating regions. The conference encompassed 18 presentations about different topics within the bioeconomy, e.g.:

• Boosting development of the bioeconomy from a regional perspective
• Use of biomass for functional biopolymers
• Alternative ways of producing keratin, gelatine, collagen and starch
• Opportunities for production of wood-plastic composites (WPC) from biomass residues
• Utilization of food waste for production of biogas
• The wood value chain – production of wood pellets from residues
• Sustainable utilization of biomass from rewetted peatlands

The conference also facilitated a discussion among the participants on how to develop the business potentials for SMEs within the bioeconomy. The conference gave a good overview of the many business potentials and innovation potentials.