Interreg Danube Programme
EU Project "DanuBioValNet"
The Interreg Danube Translational Programme’s ”DanuBioValNet” project aimed to establish new biobased value chains. Under the leadership of BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg GmbH, 17 partners from the Danube region met on 1st January 2017 to pave the ground for transnational collaboration in the biobased industry. Regional cluster organisations were expected to drive the change from a fossil fuel-based industry to a biobased industry forward and were given intensive training to help them initiate transnational networking in this sector.
The EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) was adopted by the European Union in 2011, and is aimed at developing the economic potential of the Danube region, improving environmental conditions and enhancing the overall prosperity and quality of life of the region’s population. The bioeconomy’s major focus, i.e. promoting the transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a biobased economy, addresses important challenges in the Danube region. These include creating a sea change in raw material use, which could potentially reduce our dependence on fossil fuels as well as reducing climate-damaging emissions. In addition, innovations in a biobased economy can support regional development by contributing to the diversification of the local economy and providing new employment opportunities, for example by supplying biogenic raw materials that are then processed into intermediate products or by manufacturing biobased final products.
In order to make as many companies as possible aware of the emerging new opportunities within the framework of a bioeconomy, mainly cluster organisations were chosen as central contacts for driving the envisaged development forward. Eleven of the 17 DanuBioValNet consortium partners from ten countries (Germany - represented by the state of Baden-Württemberg, Austria, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro) were cluster organisations, four were ministries and two were academic institutions. The project aimed, inter alia, to develop new methods and tools for facilitating transnational networking between companies. Cluster managers were be given intensive training on how to organise industry collaborations and ensure the creation of new value chains. Clusters were sustainable partners in the project as they catalyse the implementation of the findings in industry, science and politics. The long-term goal was to create a biobased industry network in the Danube region.
The practicability of the methods and tools developed was assessed during the implementation phase using three example value chains that were established across national borders. If other sectors were, as the project progresses, turn out to be promising areas for the creation of biobased value chains, transnational collaborations were also be established in these industries.
The DanuBioValNet project was funded by the European Union (ERDF, IPA) under the Danube Translational Programme (DTP) and will receive around 2.3 million euros for a period of 30 months.
