Organised by the European Commission in collaboration with the Irish Presidency, the “Bioeconomy in the EU: achievements and directions for the future” conference was held in Dublin over two and a half days, on 14 and 15 February.. The event was organised one year on from the publication of the EC’s strategy for the bioeconomy, 'Innovating for Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe’. It aimed to review progress made during the first year of the strategy's implementation and to discuss priorities for 2013, in particular in the area of 'investing in research, innovation and skills' (one of the three main priorities of the strategy).

The two-day conference served as the launch platform for the new EU Bioeconomy Observatory and brought together stakeholders from across Europe – including policymakers, academics, NGOs and industry.

In the future, a Stakeholder Conference will be held annually and the 2014 event is already scheduled to take place in Italy. It is anticipated that these yearly EU stakeholder meeting will be mirrored by smaller national /regional events which could take place during what could be dubbed the EU Bioeconomy Week.