EPRC has won a new project: Bio-based strategies and roadmaps for enhanced rural and regional development in the EU
EPRC has won a new three-year project, BE-Rural, which is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation.
BE-Rural is led by the Ecologic Institute in Berlin, and other partners include research institutes in Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Latvia and Poland, as well as other stakeholders (municipalities, regional development agencies, cluster bodies, and forestry, fisheries and farming associations and groups) in Bulgaria, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland and Romania.
The project aims to realise the potential of regional and local bio-based economies by supporting a wide group of stakeholders to participate in the development of bioeconomy strategies and roadmaps. It focuses particularly on five regions, namely Stara Zagora (Bulgaria), Szczecin Lagoon and Vistuala Lagoon (Poland), Strumica (Macedonia), Covasna (Romania) and Vidzeme and Kurzeme (Latvia), each of which had strong potential in specific bio-based sectors (e.g. essential oils and herbs for cosmetics/pharmaceuticals; small-scale fisheries; agricultural residues; and forestry).
BE-Rural will stimulate learning and the co-creation of knowledge within each individual region, but also between the five regions, and at a wider European level.