The Alpine Policy Forum (online event) on the 16th of February 2021 offers an open policy dialogue to exchange experiences and find common positions for the Alpine macroregion1 with regards to the circular biobased economy as well as to the digitalization of SMEs, which play a major role in the optimization of value chains based on natural fibers. The Alpine Policy Forum should result in the development of a master plan for a common policy strategy for the Alpine Space.
The event covers the following aspects:
- International dialogue to scale up the bioeconomy efforts into the cross-regional dimension while also respecting regional priorities in terms of biobased industries
- Approaches and tools to activate broken biobased value chains under unforeseen circumstances, such as pandemics
- Digitalization of SMEs as one of the solutions to boost development of biobased industries. How can policy makers support and promote the digital transformation of SMEs in this sector?
Target groups of the Alpine Policy Forum:
- Policy makers (local, regional, and national level) dealing with the biobased sectors of agriculture, wood, chemistry, food/pharma packaging, as well as with the digitalization of SMEs
- Cluster agencies and business associations of biobased industries
- Business support organizations
- Industry and commerce chambers that support companies in the biobased industries as well as in the digitalization processes
- Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) and other providers of knowledge on digitalization tools and services available also for SMEs
The event is organized in the frame of two EU-funded projects that share common goals on the way to the circular biobased economy in the Alpine Space - AlpLinkBioEco and Smart SMEs.
The main goal of the project AlpLinkBioEco (Linking BioBased Industry Value Chains Across the Alpine Region) is setting up a methodology to connect diverse actors along value chains from raw material producers to end users. This leads to new cross-regional biobased value chains in four sectors – agriculture, wood, chemicals, and food/pharma packaging.
The project Smart SMEs aims to improve the deployment of digital solutions in small and medium-sized enterprises and thus to increase the competitiveness of SMEs in the Alpine regions that are related to natural fiber-based value chains like agriculture, forestry and wood. Examples of such solutions can be found at https://smartsmes.um.si/.
The event is also supported by the partners of the project ARDIA-Net, whose ultimate goal is to lower the barriers for cross-regional cooperation in the fields of circular biobased economy and health care industries through joint calls for the research and innovation community in the Alpine regions.
The Alpine Policy Forum will be run online via WebEx and moderated by the experts of the state agency BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg, ANTEJA ECG and Lucia Seel International Consulting.
The event is in English and free of charge. Due to the organizational reasons, registration is obligatory. Please register via boyarintseva(at)bio-pro.de or costa(at)bio-pro.de by the 9th of February 2021.
We would be very glad to learn from your expertise towards the establishment of a common policy strategy for the circular biobased industry in the Alpine Space!
Preliminary Agenda
09:45 Registration on the web-conference platform
10:00 Opening, welcome address, agenda
10:05 Session 1
Developing regional/national bioeconomy strategies. Policy supporting framework in the Alpine region
10:10 Keynote
Overview on the Alpine macroregional approach to bioeconomy, Prof. Dr. Ralf Kindervater, BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg
10:25 National / Regional Bioeconomy Strategies, 6 Alpine regions, 7 min per region
Austria / Lower and Upper Austria:
Gottfried Lamers, Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology of Austria
Baden-Württemberg:
Dr. Sebastian Awiszus, Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector (UM)
Dr. Annette Weidtmann, Ministry of Rural Affairs and Consumer Protection (MLR)
Bavaria:
Dr. Markus Schaller, Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy
Italy / Lombardy / Trentino / South Tyrol:
Dr. Maria Grazia Pedrana, Ministry of Environment and Climate of Lombardy Region
S3 Bioeconomy Strategy in Slovenia:
Tomaž Boh, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Republic of Slovenia
Policy initiatives in bioeconomy in Switzerland:
Thomas Egger, Swiss Center for mountain regions (SAB)
11:10 Wrap up on the national / regional strategies, Prof. Dr. Ralf Kindervater, BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg
11:15 Coffee Break
11:25 Panel discussion: Transnational dialogue with policy makers
Cross-regional perspective in the implementation of the bioeconomy strategies (involved actors, instruments, measures, funds)
What is needed in the next Smart specialization strategy to make the cross-regional collaboration in the bioeconomy sectors work? Specific measures for the benefit of SMEs
COVID-19 and its impact on the implementation of the bioeconomy strategies
Participants:
Presenters of the regional / national bioeconomy strategies (see above)
Dr. Florian Kamleitner, ecoplus. The Business Agency of Lower Austria, Plastics Cluster
Michael Keller, School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg & Plastics Innovation Competence Center (Switzerland)
Dr. Gerd Meier zu Köcker, ClusterAgentur Baden-Württemberg
12:40 Quick live survey, part 1
12:45 Lunch Break / Networking
13:30 Wrap up of Session 1 / Intro to Session 2
13:35 Session 2
Approaches, tools and practical policy recommendations to activate broken biobased value chains in unforeseen circumstances, incl. pandemics. Interventions to lower the barriers for non-tech SMEs to implement digital tools, Mateja Dermastia, Anteja ECG (Slovenia)
13:45 Keynotes, 7 min each
Value Chain Generator (AlpLinkBioEco), Michael Keller, School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg & Plastics Innovation Competence Center (Switzerland)
Good practices and existing tools (Smart SMEs), Dr. Aida Kamišalić Latifić, University of Maribor (Slovenia)
14:00 Thematic discussion
Supporting tools for SMEs and what is needed that they can work across borders and across value chains?
Participants:
Mateja Dermastia, Anteja ECG (Slovenia)
Simone Hagenauer, ecoplus. The Business Agency of Lower Austria
Miguel Johnson, Digital Hub Horb (Germany)
Dr. Aida Kamišalić Latifić, University of Maribor (Slovenia)
Michael Keller, School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg & Plastics Innovation Competence Center (Switzerland)
Prof. Dr. Ralf Kindervater, BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
Dr. Gerd Meier zu Köcker, ClusterAgentur Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
Elisa Morganti, HIT - Hub Innovazione Trentino (Italy)
Annabelle Sion, Polymeris (France)
Dr. Mirja Wehner, Bavarian Association of the Chemical Industry (Germany)
Dr. Annette Weidtmann, Ministry of Rural Affairs and Consumer Protection of Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
Q&A from the audience
15:00 Quick live survey, part 2
15:05 Wrap up
15:10 Group photo and closing
