BIO-INSPIRE: scaling up bioeconomy innovation in Southeastern Europe – teaming & knowledge exchange open call

The BIO-INSPIRE project, funded by the European Union, strengthens regional bioeconomy ecosystems in widening countries across Eastern and Southeastern Europe. It fosters collaboration among Regional Bioeconomy Clusters (RBCs), which act as hubs connecting key local actors — including SMEs, research organisations, public authorities, and other innovation stakeholders — to accelerate the development and deployment of bio-based solutions that support the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of natural resources. At its core, BIO-INSPIRE is about making investing in nature economically viable and regionally rooted: turning biodiversity, biomass and natural systems into the foundation of a competitive, regenerative economy.
 
To enhance innovation capacity and cross-regional cooperation, the project is launching a Teaming & Knowledge Exchange Open Call, offering cascade funding, study visits, and collaboration opportunities.
 
Through these actions, BIO-INSPIRE supports solutions that improve resource efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and promote circular and regenerative bioeconomy practices, while helping regions better mobilise their local bio-based resources and innovation potential. By replacing fossil-based inputs with nature-derived alternatives and keeping biological resources in productive use, these solutions directly reduce pressure on natural ecosystems and create economic incentives for their preservation and restoration.
 
The Open Call combines financial support with knowledge exchange and collaboration, helping stakeholders move from early-stage innovation to real-world application. The results of these exchanges will feed into BIO-INSPIRE's key outputs, such as the Governance Roadmap, policy briefs, and replication handbooks, which are designed to guide regions in mobilising investments, strengthening innovation ecosystems, and scaling bio-based solutions. In this way, the project contributes to enabling long-term, replicable approaches to investing in nature across regions.
 
This webinar will explore the challenges and opportunities facing bioeconomy stakeholders in underrepresented regions and present the support mechanisms offered by BIO-INSPIRE. It will highlight how knowledge exchange and cross-regional collaboration — across areas such as agriculture and forestry, biowaste valorisation, bio-based products, digital tools, and policy frameworks — can strengthen innovation capacity, share best practices, and build lasting partnerships, accelerating the development and uptake of nature-positive solutions.
 
This event will:

• Present BIO-INSPIRE's approach to strengthening regional bioeconomy ecosystems as engines of nature-positive economic development
• Introduce the Teaming & Knowledge Exchange Open Call and funding opportunities to enable investments in sustainable and bio-based innovation
• Highlight collaboration opportunities across BIO-INSPIRE thematic areas that contribute to the protection and restoration of natural resources
• Foster collaboration among clusters, businesses, SMEs, researchers, and policymakers to scale solutions that deliver measurable environmental benefits and support nature-positive production systems