Next steps towards realizing the bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea region
As part of its role as Horizontal Action Lead, the NCM has initiated and facilitated a number of new networks and actions through a series of workshops. They range from science networks looking at things like the phosphorus cycle in the region to grass roots movements aimed at raising capital for local development projects.
- The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is a unique platform to promote bioeconomy in our region and the Nordic Council of Ministers has proved a very resourceful and well connected actor in terms of pushing this agenda, Head of Northern Europe Unit in the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Joanna Wojtkowska said in her opening speech at the opening of the conference.
Bottlenecks and networks
Now it is time to stand back and consider the next steps, so a strategy for the next 3 years is under development with input from the participants at the workshop in Warsaw, relates Senior advisor Geir Oddsson from the Nordic Council of Ministers.
- We need to develop the existing partnerships further and fertilize the efforts already set in motion over the last two years. But we also need to address a number of bottlenecks impeding the bioeconomy in the region, Oddsson stated at the Warsaw conference.
The main challenges as he sees them are to ensure a link between overall strategies like the EUSBSR and what is actually taking place in the field, as well as strengthening private sector engagement and making the most of the research and innovation facilities already in place. Bioeconomy and circular economy
Next steps
The work of the NCM as horizontal action leader in the EUSBSR has so far gone from a launch in Stockholm in December 2013, over two conferences in Tallinn and Berlin engaging Baltic and German participants to Warsaw, with a view to new opportunities in one of the countries with the biggest bioeconomy potential in Europe, namely Poland.
The new action plan towards a BSR Bioeconomy proposed by the Nordic Council of Ministers was well received at the Warsaw conference.
There was wide agreement about the need for keeping up the dialogue through the type of networking activities initiated and facilitated by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The seed money from the NCM has so far led to eight promising projects and more are underway.
But the need for shared platforms was also underlined, well in line with some of the proposals for the NCM. The action plan proposes setting up both a policy forum and a business forum, as well as strengthening the communication and networking activities overall.
For information on the ongoing projects as well as the new action plan, see www.norden.org/bioeconomy where the follow up to the work on realizing the bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea region will be presented.
The workshop was co-financed by the EU Commission and the Nordic Council of Ministers in its role as Horizontal Action Lead for Bioeconomy in the EU strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR).
