The BIOEAST Initiative has developed the first draft of the BIOEAST SRIA with the support of the BIOEASTsUP projects. The Foresight Report on the sustainable bioeconomies in the BIOEAST countries elaborates development scenarios for the bioeconomy, which were presented at the BIOEAST Foresight Conference in September 2021.

So far, seven Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) have been established under the BIOEAST Initiative with varying levels of commitment and dynamics. To support their activities, thematic studies have been produced under the BIOEASTsUP project.

In addition, there are initiatives, programmes and strategies at the European Union level that focus on green and digital transformation, which would be a good opportunity to involve the TWGs. The war in Ukraine has put the European Union's energy dependence on fossil fuels, especially those we import from Russia, high on the political agenda. This has also increased the importance of the bioeconomy, including the supply of bioenergy and biofuels. This crisis is therefore also an opportunity to further position the bioeconomy in the BIOEAST countries as a driver of development.

The BIOEASTsUP project supports the activities of BIOEAST, but the project is in its last year of implementation. Therefore, we would like to discuss the future development of BIOEAST and the TWGs at the Joint Meeting of the BIOEAST Thematic Working Groups in Ljubljana. We will further discuss the activities of the TWGs against the background of current events and initiatives at the European level. We are interested to learn what practical actions the TWGs can work on in the near and medium future.

Faciliation of the networking workshop is carried out by Circular Change.

BIOEAST Thematic Working Groups:

• Advanced Bio-based Chemicals and Materials

• Agroecology and Sustainable Yields

• Bioeconomy Education and Skills

• Bioenergy and New Value Added Material

• Food Systems

• Forestry

• Freshwater-based Bioeconomy