Bio Base NWE project, coordinated by BBEPP, has been selected by the European Commission as a finalist for the RegioStars Award 2017 in the category ‘Smart Specialisation for SME Innovation‘.
The winners of the RegioStars Award will be announced during a ceremony which will take place on 10th October 2017 in Brussels during the European Week of Regions and Cities.
The organisers of the RegioStars competition are giving the citizens of Europe an opportunity to vote for their favourite project.
You can cast your vote via:
- RegioStars 2017 finalists’ website: https://www.regiostars.eu/node/229
- Facebook: http://bit.ly/2xpeT7L
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/EU_Regional
Voting will be open until midnight on the 9th of October.
Click here to read more about the finalists.
Bio Base NWE
Bio Base NWE, a three-year project (2013-2015) co-financed by the INTERREG IVB programme of the European Union, brought together bio-based economy experts from eight organisations in five different countries. They provided technological solutions and networking opportunities to more than 755 SMEs, identified hurdles SME encounter during their innovation track and translated these into policy recommendations. 27 SMEs received financial support through the project to conduct feasibility studies and scale-up trials at the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (Ghent, Belgium). Almost all of them declared these trials speeded up the commercialisation of their innovation. The work done within the innovation coupons scheme created a substantial leverage effect: up to €71million of investments and the creation of 320 new jobs in the biobased economy in the coming years.
In the biobased economy lays a big opportunity for Europe. Locally produced biobased feedstocks rather than imported fossil resources are used to produce materials, chemicals, energy… creating a new knowledge and technology intensive economy with high employment potential and with reduced environmental impact. However, to achieve this transition, Europe needs to turn more of its biobased research into commercial innovation. Companies need to be able to scale-up their innovations from lab scale to an industrially viable process; this often is a challenge because of the cost, capital equipment and expertise required. Furthermore, they need to find partners, users and investors, assess their feedstock security, get legal support… to successfully bring their product to the market.
AC3A 