On June 6th, a group of representatives from the European project ROBIN attended a conference on “Bioeconomy in the Olive Sector as a Lever for Economic and Social Transformation” in Linares (Jaén, Spain). The event was held at the Higher Polytechnic School (EPS) of Linares in Andalusia, Spain.
The conference was attended by Mar Cátedra, a technical advisor for the regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development of the Andalusian Government, as well as Carmen Ronchel and María García, who are respectively responsible for the Biotechnology sector and a CTA consultant. Both the Ministry of Agriculture and CTA are members of the ROBIN project. Additionally, members from the Andalusian ROBIN’s MARC also participated in the event.
The meeting, framed within the European project SCALE-UP, of which CTA is a partner, brought together more than 80 attendees. They analysed the development opportunities offered by the bioeconomy of the olive sector in Andalusia. The president of CTA, Beltrán Pérez, highlighted “the great potential in bioeconomy that Andalusia has due to the great availability of biomass” and stressed the need to “look at the olive sector as a source of biological resources, since it represents 30% of the cultivated area in the region, with an undisputed leading role for the province of Jaén.”
Mar Cátedra presented the “Andalusian Circular Bioeconomy Strategy” and discussed how the bioeconomy in the olive sector can be promoted. Additionally, representatives from the Andaltec R&D&I Foundation Technological Center, Bioliza, Ecogestiona, Smallops, and Naturphenolive shared ideas for R&D&I projects related to the bioeconomy of the olive grove.
The meeting also covered opportunities and support mechanisms offered by the European Commission on this topic. There were sections dedicated to the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) network, which brings together more than 30 cities, regions, and territorial groupings from 18 European countries, and Green Assist, an entrepreneurship support mechanism aimed at improving investment possibilities in green projects.
After the event, attendees were able to visit an exhibition area showcasing R&D&I projects related to agriculture and the bioeconomy. European initiatives such as Andalucía Agrotech EDIH, BBioNets, ROBIN, SCALE-UP, and BIOTRANSFORM were presented.
