The core aim of H2020 BIOWAYS project, coordinated by Q-PLAN Internatonal Advisors, is to meet the need for better communication, promotion and diffusion of bio-based products and applications and full explanation of their benefits, targeting society at large.
By increasing public confidence in the bio-based industry, through clear, attractive and accessible science-based facts and data, more bio-based products and applications will be used, which will have a huge and positive impact on society, the economy and the environment.
Following this vision, the strategic objectives of the BIOWAYS project were to:
- Enhance the visibility of bio-based products and applications.
- Design and develop added-value training material and tools to inform the target audiences on bio-based products, technologies and applications as well as to use it for educational and training purposes especially to students at all levels and young people.
- Contribute to a better implementation of the BBI-JU programme.
- Establish channels of communication between BIOWAYS and other communication programmes within H2020 on bio-based products and to regional activities.
BIOWAYS activities
To attain these ambitious challenges, the BIOWAYS project elaborated a spectrum of EU-wide activities. At first stage, an analysis of bio-based products applications potential along with an EU-wide online survey were carried out aiming to identify the current market situation as well as the level of public awareness on bio-based products and bioeconomy in general. The findings were used for the development of well-targeted and innovative training tools and material in order to address the specific concerns and needs of the target groups.
To this extent, a variety of tailor-made national and international events (more than 40) such as thematic workshops and barcamps were held around Europe with the aim to engage all stakeholders in an open discussion regarding:
- the current status and future potential of bio-based products and the bioeconomy at large;
- the end-users’ misconceptions around the development and use of bio-based products and their environmental, social and economic benefits to the European society.
In addition, during the events the participants were shown in a clear and engaging way, through the display of bio-based product sample and prototypes, how bioeconomy is increasingly part of our daily lives and how conscious consumer choices can have a positive impact on the environment, society and the economy.
BIOWAYS material:
- Analysis of the current market situation & future trends of bio-based products (report)
- Analysis of the public opinion regarding bio-based products (report)
- Serious games (the first two games are available in 7 languages)
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Bio…What? to raise children’s awareness of the Bioeconomy, stimulating curiosity and delivering information about bio-based products in an engaging and age-appropriate way. Note: developed in collaboration with the BioSTEP project. |
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BIOChallenge quiz-like game where the player is asked to answer several questions about bioeconomy in a predefined time. http://www.bioways.eu/biochallenge Note: developed in collaboration with STAR-ProBio project. |
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The BIO Economy Strategy (BIOES) Game quiz game that poses several questions about the EU update of the bioeconomy strategy. The game highlights the new concepts included in the revision of the bioeconomy strategy through a visually engaging quiz game. |
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- Several Fact Sheets outlinining the capabilities, benefits and potential risks involved in the use of bio-based products focusing on specific product categories, namely: Bio-based chemicals; Bioplastics, biomaterials, packaging; Biofuels; Bio-surfactants; Bio-lubricants; Food ingredients and feed; Bioenergy and Bio-economy in general. In parallel, 67 more Fact Sheets present specific bio-based products and applications.
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- Educational multimedia presentations as training contents to be used in workshops, seminars, training activities.
- 60-sec science educational videos – informative testimonials presented by researchers to explain the latest research and new trends for bio-based products.
- BioW@tch platform (http://library.bioways.eu/library_home) – a publicly accessible, collaborative digital platform which includes an e-Library with more than 100 documents relevant to bioeconomy aiming to encourage the interaction between all stakeholders involved in BBI research and implementation such as academia, business, policy and general public and media and to raise the profile of bio-based products and industry across Europe and beyond.
The combination of all these communication and educational tools comprise the “BIOWAYS toolkit” which is expected to be a valuable mean of raising awareness regarding bioeconomy to be used in different context and for different type of target users. All project material and results are available, and will remain beyond the project duration, on the BIOWAYS official website and especially on the section “Results & Media” .
About BIOWAYS: The BIOWAYS project is funded by the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI-JU) under the EU’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (Grant Agreement No 760762).
BIOWAYS project started in October 2016 and will be completed in September 2018. The project involves eight (8) partners from Europe namely Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL (Greece – Coordinator), LOBA (Portugal), FVA (Italy), IPL (UK), PEDAL Consulting (Slovakia), CIVITTA (Estonia), AINIA (Spain), UNIVERSITA’ DI BOLOGNA (Italy).
For further information: www.bioways.eu
This article was provided by Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL.
