I had the chance to see how amazing solutions for a #sustainable future are being developed during “Bio-based Future Connect: Brokerage & Study Visit for Sustainable Innovation” in Brussels, focused on building consortia for the 2026 #Horizon Europe Cluster 6 calls.
The meeting, organised by The National Centre for Research and Development, Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Espace and Point de Contact National (PCN) – Actions Marie Sklodowska-Curie (AMSC) – Horizon Europe showcased a strong openess & willingness to cooperate between:
✅ universities from across the EU (and beyond – including New Zealand🇳🇿),
✅ SMEs turning biomass into real-life applications (like VestaEco or ReedBirds)
✅ policymakers who are creating frameworks to “build the EU” – as Frédéric Le Belhomme put it in simple, but very powerful words.
Alongside the European strategies presented by Agata Kotkowska from
#DGENV or Tomasz Calikowski from #DGRTD, I especially appreciated the practical, down-to-earth tips from Tanja Meyer (with “Be honest about your TRL”) or Virginia Puzzolo (with Two valleys of death in scaling
#bioeconomy in Europe) and the insights from Maxime Dooms on a multi-stakeholder approach to building consortia so that outcomes genuinely benefit many groups.
I am also uplifted by the #deeptech approach being implemented in environmental 🌾 projects, such as:
– digital tools for food-chain monitoring – by Netcompany (👏Paraskevas Bourgos)
– low-power wireless sensors – great examples from ZHAW School of Engineering
– ideas for implementing #AI tools to facilitate microbiome analysis – by New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science Limited (👏 Henri Bailleres)
Events like this make it clear that bio-based innovation is not just a buzzword – it’s a highly active ecosystem of people, projects and ideas working together 🤝 for a more sustainable future for the benefit of all of us #OneHealth.
Thank you Adrianna Pawlik, Bozena Podlaska and Maxime Dooms for making it happen and Piotr Jurga, Maciej Guzik, Nicola Dorigo Salamon and Henri Bailleres for great spirit!
Best regards,
dr Magdalena Kulczycka
International Cooperation Officer