Striving for a stronger blue bioeconomy in Europe
Since its launch in 2018, the EU-funded BlueBio project has striven to identify new and improve existing ways of bringing bio-based products to market. Its main aim has been to set up a coordinated R&D funding scheme to consolidate Europe’s position in the blue bioeconomy. To make this possible, BlueBio has developed a strategic research and innovation agenda (SRIA) to help stakeholders take the best steps towards creating value from the blue bioeconomy. The blue bioeconomy is based on the sustainable use of renewable, living aquatic resources such as algae, sponges, fish, mussels and microorganisms from the sea, lakes, streams and aquaculture facilities. These resources yield a wide variety of products and services. Innovation in the blue bioeconomy takes the form of novel foods, feeds, neutraceuticals and additives, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and green chemicals and materials, as well as enzymes for green industrial processing. BlueBio’s SRIA is the result of a foresight process and scenario building with stakeholders from industry, government, society and science. A news item posted on the BlueBio project website provides more details: “Through a series of stakeholder workshops, the participants imagined the year 2050 and mapped the scenarios on possible future worlds, what the blue bioeconomy could look like in 2050, how to reach or avoid those future states, mapping the steps towards these possible futures to create research agendas for each of them.”
Areas needing innovation
The SRIA focuses on six areas with research and innovation needs in the blue bioeconomy. The first, blue balance, concerns the need to understand the blue biosphere and identify tipping points for ecosystem services in order to intensify biomass utilisation. “We must use new technologies to understand the effects of ecosystem manipulation and the land-sea interactions. Nature based solutions must be part of sustainable use,” the report states. In the second area discussed – societal balance – the interplay between the blue bioeconomy and society is considered crucial. “Trust, understanding, and social legitimacy must be present to develop regulations, management plans and markets.” The third area is climate change, which is expected to influence aquatic ecosystems. “The direct and indirect effects must be understood and modelled, both to manage the socio-ecological system and to adapt and mitigate impacts,” explains the report. The SRIA also emphasises the existence of a multitude of possibilities for the blue bioeconomy in the fourth area with research and innovation needs, namely technological innovation: “Intelligent monitoring systems, genetic engineering, finding alternatives to antimicrobials, recirculating aquaculture systems, carbon capture, improvement of feed and food resources, and ensuring animal health and welfare are all important pieces of the puzzle.” For value chain development (area five), the report notes: “The production cycle must be closed to truly future-proof the blue bioeconomy. We must optimise side-streams, minimise waste, understand the whole value chain ecosystem – both blue and green, and implement full-chain traceability.” Last, in science for society, there can be no research and innovation impact without uptake in society. “We must understand how to promote links between science and decision making, improving education, empowering people, building capacity and promoting ocean literacy.” R&D funding requires knowledge on previous and ongoing research and the gaps that exist. BlueBio (ERA-NET Cofund on Blue Bioeconomy - Unlocking the potential of aquatic bioresources) has therefore created a database of 3 254 internationally and nationally funded blue bioeconomy research projects active from 2003 to 2019. For more information, please see: BlueBio project website
Keywords
BlueBio, bioeconomy, blue bioeconomy, research and innovation, ecosystem, society, climate change, technological innovation, value chain
