The Working Group focuses on increasing the influence of regions and their stakeholders in shaping the European circular bioeconomy while also focusing on the Horizon Europe Mission Soil. The group covers the bioeconomy in the widest sense, tackling issues related to topics such as food systems, soil health, forestry, bioenergy, biowaste, bio-based products, among other things. Seeing the growing role of the bioeconomy in decarbonisation efforts, the group also concentrates on the ecological sustainability of these solutions (e.g. nature-based solutions, green and blue solutions for carbon capture). The group develops contacts with European policymakers to increase cooperation and projects between European regions in bioeconomy, with a particular focus on Horizon Europe and the Circular Bio-based Europe Partnership.
ERRIN Bioeconomy WG is organising an in-person meeting on 10 June 2024 from 15:00 to 17:00 to take stock of the latest developments on the Soil Mission. This meeting aims to facilitate an in-
The topic of widening gathers high attention in the discussions around the next European Framework Programme for R&I, raising questions with the potential to influence not only the Widening sub-
ERRIN has been closely involved in the design and implementation of the EU Missions since their inception. Missions remain one of the network's priorities and were one of the four main areas of focus
The TRAMI project and ERRIN are organising a mutual learning event on 18 October. The event will aim to showcase a successful translation of the EU Missions approach into concrete policies and tools on the regional level and to foster the discussion on challenges and opportunities with its implementation.
The event 'Sustainable Resource Use - From Coring to Coding', held in-person and online on 17 October, will present two perspectives on sustainable resource use; the first addresses the need for environmental resources in the development and use of AI with the ethical issues associated, for example, environmental and intergenerational justice. The second perspective will look at Europe’s own natural resources and the difficulties in turning these natural deposits into mines that can address European needs.
ERRIN is supporting a Participatory Lab organised by the European Commission within the frame of the European Week of Regions and Cities. This interactive event, which will take place on 12 October, will include presentations by ERRIN members and discussions on food systems and bio-based solutions.
The European Commission is organising the conference ‘The Bioeconomy - Enabling the European Green Deal in Challenging Times’ on 6 - 7 October in Brussels. This hybrid conference will provide an opportunity to present the findings of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy Progress Report, as well as a series of bioeconomy success stories from EU research and innovation.
The Bioeconomy WG is organising a meeting on the urban perspective of forestry, taking place as a physical meeting on 5 October between 10:30-12:00. In this meeting, the European Commission will present the EU policy framework on urban greening and initiatives that support the creation of greener, healthier and more liveable cities. The meeting will also showcase innovative projects and activities that cities and regions are undertaking to incorporate forests, green areas and other greening interventions into the urban landscape.
A European project development workshop is planned in Nantes, Pays de la Loire, on the 3rd of October in order to discuss upcoming Horizon Europe opportunities linked to nutrition, food, feed, and health (cluster 1 and 6). The workshop will take place ahead of the Nutrevent conference (4-5th October).
The ERRIN Bioeconomy Working Group, in collaboration with the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), is currently drafting a document that underscores the pivotal role of regions and the synergies with the private sector in driving forward the circular bioeconomy. This document aims to provide actionable recommendations to policymakers and stakeholders at both regional and EU levels.
The ERRIN Year in review 2022 is out! Read the report to see the numerous activities ERRIN and its members have been involved in throughout the year.
Developing Urban Living Labs is a relatively novel approach in urban areas, and consequently, there are many challenges and barriers that cities face during ULL adoption. This handbook, developed by the UNaLab project, aims to identify and explore some common barriers to the adoption of Urban Living Labs, and provide cities with a tool and an understanding of how to strategically address these barriers.
ERRIN's input paper on a potential EU Algae Strategy, highlighting the challenges and opportunities of such a strategy at a regional and local level.
A drafting group has prepared a first version of the ERRIN input to the future EU Algae Strategy.
The HuMUS project has selected the 20 local and regional soil health pilots, including 10 located in ERRIN member regions, that will be supported to enhance participatory methods and tools for soil quality and health governance. The results of the calls were announced for the first time during ERRIN’s Bioeconomy WG meeting on the 'Mission Soil: lessons learned and upcoming opportunities'. Learn more about the outcomes of the call.
The Circular Cities and Regions Initiative has launched its Knowledge Hub to consolidate and expand the support activities made available for boosting circularity in European cities and regions. The CCRI Knowledge Hub will foster knowledge-sharing, mentoring, and capacity-building within the CCRI community and beyond.
The European Investment Bank is launching a new support phase of their Circular City Centre (C3) scheme. The C3 targets cities and the public sector promotors on their behalf and offers advice on their circular economy agenda and investment projects. Cities can benefit from guidance documents, resources, circular city advisory and capacity building workshops and project advisory services.
Applications are now open to join IN SITU Summer School, “Place-based creative solutions for cultivating caring and sustainable communities" (20-24 September 2024), and the IN SITU Conference "Horizons of Sustainability: The power of creative innovation for transformation of rural and non-urban futures" (25-27 September 2024), both held in the beautiful island of Zlarin, Croatia.
As the work towards the next EU Framework Programme for R&I (FP10) continues, ERRIN is pleased to share its two-page input for the attention of the Expert Group on the interim evaluation of Horizon Europe. The document is a concise compilation of the reflections on FP10 done at ERRIN so far, highlighting topics of key importance. Work on a series of broader input papers is underway.
To better support the implementation of circular systemic solutions at the local and regional levels, the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative just launched a call for external experts who can offer personalised support to cities and regions. Experts should have at least five years of experience in the fields of stakeholder and citizen engagement, innovation and technology, business models and financial support, public procurement, or impact evaluation and can express their interest until 14 June 2024.
The City of Ghent is searching for 6 European partners in 2 locations for the LIFE call HEATPUMPS. Since 2021, the City of Ghent has been running a heat pump demonstration project in the district of Mariakerke which aims to make the individual dwellings fossil-free.
Every year ERRIN holds elections for the Management Board. You can put forward your candidature for this year’s elections until 17 October.
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) is inviting European regions to express their interest to contribute to the Pilot Project "REGIONS2030: Monitoring the SDGs in the EU regions - Filling the data gaps", supported by the European Parliament. The deadline for submitting an expression of interest is now extended until 10 October 2022.
The ERRIN ICT Working Group is looking for regional examples for its upcoming networking session on the digital transformation of public services in different thematic areas. The meeting will take place in person on 13 October from 16:00-19:00 in Brussels. The call for examples will be open until 4 October.
The Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) announced the selection of its 12 Pilots and 25 Fellows – cities, regions and territorial clusters that will lead Europe’s circular economy transition. ERRIN is pleased to see that 22 of them are represented in the ERRIN network.
Yesterday the European Commission announced 75 new top experts who will advise on the five EU Missions through serving on their Boards. ERRIN is thrilled that Françoise Guaspare from Île-de-France Europe, one of the Transport Working Group leaders, will join the Mission Board of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission.