BEAMING (Bioeconomy Excellence Alliance for Stimulating Innovative and Inclusive Green Transition) is a four-year Horizon Europe project funded by the European Commission. The consortium consists of 17 partners from 13 countries, with a total budget of EUR 3.9 million.
Many European higher education institutions and research institutes have challenges related to limited capacities, fragmented collaboration networks, and systemic barriers that inhibit their meaningful participation in the European Research Area (ERA) and the implementation of its principles and recommendations. This situation weakens the overall ability of these organisations to effectively collaborate and create impact in the field of bioeconomy and in the context of green and digital transformation in general.
This is important because, as data shows, the current socio-economic system is not adjusted to the reality of a multipolar crisis which has been unravelling for decades. It is grounded in exploitation and destruction of resources, on the one hand, and on the other, it fails to support many members of our society.
On the other hand, bioeconomy represents a system which uses renewable biological resources to provide various goods and services, to increase sustainability, and to reduce reliance on non-renewable resources. The bioeconomic sector needs specific structural changes, policy reforms and enhanced cross-border cooperation to reach its full potential.
BEAMING is dedicated to raising excellence, boosting innovation and improving knowledge sharing within the field of bioeconomy through collaboration among European higher education institutions and research institutes. The initiative seeks to address the need to enhance the capacity, competitiveness, and visibility of Higher Education Institutions and research institutes in Europe.
The key objectives of the project include strengthening the skills and capacities of early-career researchers in bioeconomy research, fostering institutional reform, promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration, enhancing technology transfer, and encouraging an inclusive institutional culture.
BEAMING is enhancing innovation capacity and the practical application of research results by developing local and regional action plans and tools aligned with the ERA Policy Agenda. Special attention is given to the Widening countries and efforts to improve the skills and capacities of early-career researchers, foster institutional reforms, strengthen the valorisation of research results, promote multidisciplinary collaboration, and encourage an inclusive institutional culture.
The project’s activities are being implemented through the 4 main topics: Bioeconomy Research, Open Science, Knowledge Valorisation, and Inclusive Innovation Culture.
The Institute for Development and Innovation has two main roles in the project. The first is related to the assessment of Open Science policies and practices in the EU and widening countries, including gap analyses and recommendations. The second main role is aligning the project’s results with ERA priorities (European Research Area) and organising various events and workshops on this topic. The goal is to redefine and broaden the scope of traditional quantitative metrics to include values like transparency, citizen involvement, collaboration, social impact, etc.
When working in the field of bioeconomy and advancing ERA Priorities, IRI strives to contribute to building a sustainable economic system and participate in a socio-ecological transformation that enables human well-being while utilizing biological resources in a sustainable and scalable manner.
However, this ambitious endeavour requires unprecedented levels of collective action, systemic coordination, and transdisciplinary collaboration. This is why developing the European Research Area and its agenda is one of the main strategic tools to enable a free circulation of researchers, scientific knowledge, innovation, and technology. Other projects that IRI is a part of, such as RURALITIES, ClimaPannonia and HDHL Food4Health, tackle complementary topics.
