On 17th September 2020, the BalticBiomass4Value project consortium kindly invites business enterprises and other bio-based economy stakeholders to attend an International Conference and Business Networking Event “Bio-based Industries Fast Forward”. The event will be held virtually with part of participants from Lithuania gathering at Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy in Kaunas.

The main aim of this event is to present opportunities for the development of sustainable bio-based industries in the Baltic Sea Region and beyond, as well as to enable business enterprises to establish useful contacts for the initiation of green business development projects.

 

 

Plenary session

New speaker confirmed with presentation on the European Green Deal as an opportunity for sustainable business development (Astrid Schomaker, Director for Global Sustainable Development in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment, Belgium).

Participants of the event will have an opportunity to get acquainted with the activities of the Bio-Based Industries Consortium that represents private sector in the public-private partnership with the European Commission for investing in bio-based innovations (Nelo Emerencia, Programming Director of the Bio-Based Industries Consortium, Belgium), as well as with the perspectives of the European biogas sector and innovative uses of biomass for energy and other bio-based products (Susanna Pflüger, Secretary General of the European Biogas Association, Belgium). The achievements and future directions of the Policy Area “Bioeconomy” of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region will be also introduced to the participants (Torfi Jóhannesson, Senior Adviser of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Denmark).

Insights on the current state and future perspectives of the bio-tech and bioenergy industries in the Baltic Sea Region will be shared by leaders of business associations (Tomas Andrejauskas, President of the Lithuanian Biotechnology Association and Chairman of the Committee of Innovation, Research and Technology at the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, and Henriette Vivestad, Managing Director of the Norwegian Bioenergy Association). Furthermore, the BalticBiomass4Value project experts will present their in-depth analyses on the biomass potential and its deployment opportunities in countries of the Baltic Sea Region (Mariusz Stolarski, Professor of the Centre for Bioeconomy and Renewable Energies at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland), as well as on the prospects of the bioenergy sector in the Baltic Sea Region during times of increased competition for biological resources and low prices of fossil fuels (Erik Trømborg, Professor of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences).

Presentations will also encompass relevant funding instruments aimed at supporting the green growth, such as the European Economic Area and Norway Grants (Konrad Konieczny, Programme Officer of the European Economic Area and Norway Grants at the Innovation Norway Warsaw Office, Poland).

 

Parallel sessions

Transnational networking sessions will begin with an introduction to leading examples:

  • Case of Consorzio Italbiotec (guest speaker – Ilaria Re, EU Project Office Director at the Consorzio Italbiotec, the Italian leading consortium in the biotechnology sector);
  • Case of German biogas sector (guest speaker – Marc Reinhard, International Affairs at the German Biogas Association);
  • Case of Borregaard AS (guest speaker – Gudbrand Rødsrud, Technology Director at Borregaard AS, the operator of advanced biorefinery that produces environmentally friendly biochemicals and biomaterials replacing oil-based products, Norway).

To enable exchange of interests, matchmaking and discussions, the following parallel transnational B2B sessions will be held:

  • Parallel transnational B2B session 1: Innovative uses of various biomass resources for the production of high-value sustainable bio-based products (moderator – Inga Matijošytė, Head of the Sector of Applied Biocatalysis at Vilnius University Life Sciences Centre Institute of Biotechnology and Vice President of the Lithuanian Biotechnology Association);
  • Parallel transnational B2B session 2: Innovative uses of agricultural and aquatic biomass for the production of sustainable bioenergy and other bio-based products (moderator – Kęstutis Navickas, Professor of the Institute of Energy and Biotechnology Engineering at Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy, Lithuania);
  • Parallel transnational B2B session 3: Innovative uses of forest biomass and municipal waste for the production of sustainable bioenergy and other bio-based products (moderator – Mindaugas Šilininkas, Director of Euromediena Ltd. and Vice Chairman of the Board of the Forest and Land Owners Association of Lithuania).

 

Parallel national sessions

Participants from Lithuania, Norway and Germany are also invited to attend national sessions that will be held after the joint transnational networking sessions:

  • Parallel Lithuanian session: Relevant support instruments for Lithuanian businesses (Aktualios paramos priemonės Lietuvos verslui);
  • Parallel Norwegian session: Wrap up and ideas to follow up (Oppsummering og ideer til videre oppfølging);
  • Parallel German session: Local heating networks with biomass and biogas as a fuel (Nahwärmenetze mit Biomasse und Biogas als Kraftstoff).

 

Full agenda of the event can be downloaded here.

Language of plenary and parallel transnational networking sessions is English. National sessions will be held in native language.