20 May 2025, Kozani (Greece) – The BIO-INSPIRE project held its kick-off today in Kozani, launching its mission to support and strengthen regional bioeconomy clusters in Eastern and Southeastern Europe by fostering innovation and collaboration.
Regional bioeconomy clusters play a crucial role in local development by connecting businesses, research institutions, and stakeholders. These clusters drive innovation, attract investments, and scale bio-based solutions. However, many clusters, particularly in less developed regions of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, face significant challenges, such as limited access to research and innovation infrastructure, weak networks, and insufficient skilled workers.
In response to these challenges, BIO-INSPIRE aims to empower and build bridges between seven regional bioeconomy clusters in Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland.
“BIO-INSPIRE is a game-changer for the widening regions of the Central and Southeastern Europe, unlocking the power of collaboration, innovation, and sustainability. Together, we are paving the way for a future where the bioeconomy thrives, driving both economic growth and environmental resilience, aligning with the widening region’s development goals. The journey to greener and more competitive economies starts today!”
Dr. Yannis Fallas, Director of CluBE and BIO-INSPIRE coordinator.
The main goal of the project is to develop a Governance Roadmap that provides a clear, step-by-step framework for establishing long-term, sustainable collaboration. The roadmap will help bioeconomy actors overcome existing obstacles, improve their innovation capacity, and foster cross-border cooperation to unlock new growth opportunities.
BIO-INSPIRE will provide tailored capacity-building tools and digital collaboration platforms, such as creating 8 thematic Communities of Practice for knowledge exchange, launching a knowledge transfer programme, organising a cross-border open call, and establishing a cooperation and clustering network.
By partnering with experienced Research Institutes and Universities from Sweden and the Netherlands, the project will bridge regional gaps and improve cross-border collaboration. By doing so, the project aims to create a legacy, providing to the regions the necessary tools to advance their R&I capacity and their ability to broader their collaboration networks and empowering regions to achieve sustainable growth and ongoing engagement in the bio-based economy.
BIO-INSPIRE officially started activities on 1 May 2025 and will run for 3 years. The project consortium, coordinated by CLuBE – Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia (Greece), includes 14 entities from 12 countries: Greenovate! Europe (Belgium), Geonardo (Hungary), Bay Zoltán Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research (Hungary), Zabala Innovation (Portugal and Spain), RISE RESEARCH INSTITUTES OF SWEDEN (Sweden), Wageningen Research University (the Netherlands), Bioeconomy Cluster (Slovakia), LithuaniaBIO (Lithuania), AgroTransilvania (Romania), Green Synergy Cluster (Bulgaria), West Pomeranian Chemical Cluster Green Chemistry (Poland).
You can keep up with project progress on the LinkedIn page. The project is supported by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking and its members.
Contact
- Coordination: CLuBE – Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia, Eleftheria Moraiti, e.moraiti@clube.gr and Dr. Yannis Fallas, i.fallas@clube.gr
- Communication: Greenovate! Europe, info@greenovate-europe.eu
Project information
- Grant Agreement ID: 101214256
- Call topic: HORIZON-JU-CBE-2024-CSA-02
- Full name: ENHANCING BIO-BASED INNOVATION AND PARTICIPATION IN UNDER-REPRESENTED
- REGIONS THROUGH CLUSTER MOBILIZATION AND COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE
- Budget: € 2,999,180.00
- Duration: 36 months