Since the adoption of the national-level Latvian Bioeconomy Strategy 2030, Vidzeme Planning Region has been involved in the Interreg Baltic Sea region project Rural RDI milieus in transition towards smart Bioeconomy Clusters and Innovation Ecosystems (RDI2CluB). Within the project a regional bioeconomy development plan will be developed. In order to continue work on the development of a unified bioeconomy ecosystem in Vidzeme, experts from the field of bioeconomy were invited to the meeting – including the BIO4ECO experts who were involved in the development of the national bioeconomy strategy.
Under the leadership of Vidzeme Planning Region and Institute for Environmental Solutions, representatives from several ministries, universities, enterprises, business support organizations and research institutes (including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Rural Support Service, the Ministry of Economics, the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Economics, the Ministry of Economics, Farmers' Parliament, Felici Ltd.), exchanged views, experience and knowledge at the round table and later in working groups. During the meeting, experts discussed the issues of bioeconomy and the potential forms of cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region. The meeting was also practical as the experts defined areas of action for the development of the bioeconomy ecosystem in the region.
Together with experts, six key areas for action were defined to develop the bioeconomy ecosystem in Vidzeme. Among them is the mapping of bioeconomy resources and competencies and capacity building for the creation of high added value products and services. As one of the key actions, is the strengthening of the Latvian high added value and healthy food cluster by building the partnership's activities based on value chain and taking a step towards the circular economy. An important role is also given to educating and informing the society, especially entrepreneurs, about the production and purchase of sustainable products and services.
