BeUBio – A project targeting youth and bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea Region

The Swedish Board of Agriculture where the project owner for the BeUBio project funded by the Swedish Institute. The project targeted youth interested in bioeconomy as a tool for the transition from a fossil fuel based economy towards a bio based.

The 18 months project started in July 2019 and where implemented in close cooperation with the Nordic Council of Ministers office in Lithuania (NCM), who were the project coordinator.

Aims of the project

The ideas for BeUBio started within the Baltic Leadership Program Bioeconomy Youth and is a seed money project aiming to prepare for a larger project including more youth actors and organisations interested in the sustainability goals and especially the development of bioeconomy.

Initiatives such as the ‘Baltic Leadership Programme on Youth', 'Bioeconomy (BLP Youth)', ‘ReGeneration 2030’ and the ‘Baltic Youth Festival’ are examples of regional cooperation. However, we need more and harmonised initiatives and methods for attracting and involving youth. The aims of BeUBio were to bring together young people, politicians and decision makers in companies and create synergies with other actors and initiatives addressing the UN SDG:s and the transition to a bio based economy. We aimed to establish a platform in the BSR which will enable youth to take part and lead in the development of a circular bioeconomy within the EUSBSR and other relevant actions.

Project partners

Participating partners beside the Swedish Board of Agriculture and the NCM office in Lithuania are:

Vidzeme Planning Region (VPR), Cēsis, Latvia
The Region of Kalmar County, Sweden
Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
Nordregio, mainly the Nordic countries and the Baltic Sea Region
JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Jyväskylä, Finland
South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Mikkeli, Finland

Activities

The activities were concentrated in creating contacts with other youth actors in the Baltic Sea Region, trying to find common grounds for a larger project targeting youth, sustainability and bioeconomy. We tried to establish a Pilot Youth Bioeconomy Council linked to the NCM Bioeconomy Council. A mapping of education products on bioeconomy in the BSR were performed and a workshop at the EUSBSR Annual Forum is also took place. Another activity was an outreach to youth initiatives in other macro regional strategies.