BIOVOICES drives and supports pro-active discussion with and collaboration between the stakeholder groups central to driving forward a more sustainable and bio-based world.  By working with representatives across civil society, business, policy makers and research, the project’s ambition is  to raise awareness of the social, environmental and economic benefits of the bioeconomy and bio-based products, alongside increasing understanding of the challenges related to the up-scaling of bio-based products and services.

To drive discussion and collaboration, all BIOVOICES partners from the 10 participating countries have organised focused meetings – Mobilisation and Mutual Learning (MML) workshops – with participants from the key stakeholder groups. Discussion topics for the workshops were drawn from the key challenges identified by BIOVOICES partners at the start of the project.  

 

For the UK, Minerva organised and facilitated five MML workshops in partnership with regional and national circular bioeconomy players last year:

• Biorenewables Development Centre, BioVale, York
• BEACON Biorefining Centre of Excellence, Aberystwyth, Wales
• Norwich Research Park (ENABLING Project, BioLadies Network)
• Farm491 – AgriTech Incubator and Innovation space, Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester
• Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM) Scottish Resources Conference 2019, Perth, Scotland

Planning is currently underway for a national event to be held in London or most likely online late 2020 or early 2021 in partnership with BEIS.

The insights collated during the UK workshops are contributing to the development of BIOVOICES Policy Briefs, one for each stakeholder group, and for which Minerva is responsible. Each brief will present key messages, based on insights and case studies from the project’s experiences, providing actionable knowledge as well as prompting debate.  An Action Plan for all stakeholders to consider for improving their communication with Civil Society completes the suite of materials for which Minerva is responsible.

A proposal submitted by Minerva on behalf of BIOVOICES to participate in the online Global Bioeconomy Summit 2020 (GBS20 16-20 November)  https://gbs2020.net/ has been accepted by the organisers and the EC’s DG Research & Innovation. BIOVOICES partners, including Minerva, will facilitate online round table discussions on– “Rebooting the economy – sustainability, growth and climate action” with recovery from Covid-19 in focus. The round table discussions with global circular bioeconomy representatives will support validation of the final draft Policy Briefs and Action Plan and enable the inclusion of further innovative insights. 

The worldwide travel restrictions imposed as a result of the global pandemic since March 2020 has made it impossible to run face-to-face MML workshops or for partners to attend meetings and conferences, consequently all MML workshops since March have used online technology, enabling  the participation of stakeholders in the workshops  from a wider geographical area.    As MMLs continue to be run by partners during late 2020, Minerva will continue to monitor the insights collated in reports and assess suitability for inclusion in the Policy Briefs.

The BIOVOICES project is due to end on 31^st December 2020 but as a result of the pandemic, its funded period may be extended for a few months allowing extra time for validation of and dissemination of the Policy Briefs and Action Plan to all interested parties. 

Rhonda Smith, Minerva Director, comments: “ BIOVOICES is giving the team an opportunity to continually update and deepen our understanding of the vital importance of driving forward the circular bioeconomy and its massive potential to deliver sustainability.  The Policy Briefs and Action Plan for which we are responsible and the contacts we are generating across all stakeholder groups, provide actionable knowledge for ourselves, not only  for our business and personal development, but also for sharing with client companies and projects of all sizes and disciplines.”

For further information visit https://www.biovoices.eu