The event brought together key players from across the European ecosystem who emphasised the urgent need for greater policy coordination, funding, and support for innovation to accelerate the transition toward a more resilient and circular economic model.
The European Union’s transition toward a circular bioeconomy and sustainable food systems represents a strategic opportunity to tackle major societal challenges such as climate change, the replacement of fossil resources, and the promotion of healthier diets. In this context, accelerating innovation in the bioeconomy is essential to fully unlock its transformative potential. However, this evolution still faces multiple barriers, particularly in the adoption and scaling of innovations developed within the sector.
On this basis, the ShapingBio consortium, organised the "ShapingBio Summit: Empowering Europe – Leading the Deployment in the Bioeconomy" on 25 June 2025 in Brussels. This key event aimed to position Europe as a global leader in sustainable and innovative bioeconomy, gathering around one hundred participants both in person and online.
The summit served as a vital platform for dialogue between EU institutions, companies, research centers, and other ecosystem stakeholders to collectively assess the current state of the bioeconomy at a critical juncture for Europe’s future. The program featured high-level representatives from the European Commission, including Peter Wehrheim (DG RTD), Agata Kotkowska (DG ENV), Wim Haentjens (DG RTD), Maarit Nyman (DG GROW), Orsolya Frizon Somogyi (DG AGRI), and Tomasz Calikowski (DG RTD), among others.
The event offered a unique opportunity to highlight the bioeconomy’s enormous potential as a driver of innovation and a response to pressing global challenges, such as strategic autonomy and the transition to a more resilient and sustainable economy. During the sessions, key issues such as access to financing were addressed, laying the groundwork for a clear roadmap to accelerate innovation and deploy bioeconomy solutions at the European level.
One of the structural barriers that emerged was the lack of interconnection among critical areas such as agriculture, food, industrial biotechnology, and bioenergy. This fragmentation leads to challenges in coordinating public policies and accessing tailored funding due to inconsistent regulations among EU member states.
In this context, the bioeconomy stands out as a powerful lever for building a more sustainable and inclusive development model. Investing in it means creating quality jobs, promoting the efficient use of natural resources, and reducing reliance on non-renewable raw materials. However, making this transformation a reality will require stronger cross-sector coordination, a stable political framework, and firm investment in research and innovation.
The bioeconomy cannot develop in isolation; it requires a transversal, collaborative vision that connects regions, industrial sectors, academic institutions, and public administrations. ShapingBio was created precisely with this goal: to facilitate policy alignment, identify synergies across bio-based sectors, and foster a more coherent, efficient, and competitive European ecosystem.
ShapingBio’s overarching goal is to support and accelerate innovation in the bioeconomy and enable the deployment of new knowledge across the European Union and its member states. The project aims to deliver concrete, evidence-based insights and recommendations to enhance policy coordination and action among stakeholders.
Ultimately, its mission is to harness the cross-sectoral potential of the bioeconomy, reduce fragmentation between bio-based sectors and food systems, and promote more integrated governance at regional, national, and EU levels.
