The study “Mapping of EU Member States’ / regions’ Research and Innovation Plans & Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) on Bioeconomy” maps the intended priorities and activities of EU Member States (MS) and regions with regard to research and innovation (R&I) on bioeconomy. This information helps to identify specialisation patterns of European regions and countries (e.g. agro-food, blue bioeconomy or bio-based chemicals). Moreover, European regions and countries have been classified according to a bioeconomy maturity index, developing six different types of regional bioeconomy profiles. The study shows that bioeconomy related R&I is a priority for most of European countries and regions in the time period 2014-2020. The majority of EU regions/countries (207; 98.6%) include bioeconomy related aspects in their 2014-2020 R&I priorities and plans. However, many regions in Europe (35.7%) still have a low level of maturity. They cannot fully exploit the potential of the bioeconomy on their own (i.e. jobs, growth, rural development). The study presents recommendations for better strategic planning, enhanced value-chain development and R&I on technologies, better knowledge transfer and skills, more efficient coordination of funding and synergies between instruments, as well as proposals to raise public awareness and acceptance.

Find the document here