BOKU Magazin 4/2023

FOTOS: CHRISTOPH GRUBER
Making BOKU the hub for bioeconomy
By Damiano Cilio
INTRODUCTION
In 2019, with just a few months of experience
under its belt, the Centre for
Bioeconomy of BOKU did not waste any
time and immediately got involved on the
European level, contributing to shaping
one of the key European academic bioeconomy
networks to come, the European
Bioeconomy University Alliance –
EBU. The involvement of the Centre in
this initiative, founded in the summer of
2019, brought BOKU to the core of the
bioeconomy debate in Europe. Taking
it one step further, the Centre for Bioeconomy
brought the chair of the EBU
President Board to BOKU for the term
2023-2024.
Taking on the coordination of the EBU
presidency at the end of 2022, the Centre
for Bioeconomy has been responsible
for leading all activities of the network
ever since, including the implementation
of its strategy and governance. Among
others, a key part of the presidency has
been the organisation of the EBU scientific
forum, the official in-person general
meeting of all EBU representatives held
biennially in combination with a scientific
forum. Coming to its second edition,
BOKU hosted the European Bioeconomy
Scientific Forum 2023 – EBSF2023
thanks to the organisational effort of the
Centre for Bioeconomy, making Vienna a
hub for European stakeholders involved
in the bioeconomy field.
The event, which took place at the university
campus of Türkenschanze on
6-8 September 2023, was the first EBU
forum held in person, following a first
edition organised online in 2021 by the
previous EBU chair, the University of
Hohenheim. Under the theme “Moving
towards the transformation”, the forum
summarised almost a year of successful
work under BOKU’s direction, providing
a platform to strengthen EBU’s coordination
and engagement, while also
fostering networking and intensifying
collaborations between the different
stakeholders involved in the bioeconomy
field on the European level.
EVENT OVERVIEW
The scientific forum EBSF2023 was organised
as a platform meant to bring together
scientists, experts, policy-makers,
industry representatives, youth organisations
and other stakeholders from across
Europe to share experiences, discuss
challenges, and identify opportunities for
promoting the transformation towards
a sustainable and holistic bioeco nomy.
Throughout four engaging sessions, a
diverse range of topics was explored,
shedding light on the immense potential
of the bioeconomy in addressing the
pressing contemporary challenges. In
particular, the EBSF2023 emphasised
the societal perspective, highlighting its
importance as a key pillar of the bioeconomy.
This broad and holistic perspective
and the scientific approach contributed
to differentiating the forum from other
bioeconomy events.
During the EBSF2023, the sessions
were characterised by vibrant and inspiring
conversations that sparked new
thoughts and perspectives, encouraged
by the cross-sectorial points of view
which echoed the common mission of
exploring and enhancing the bioeconomy.
The depth of knowledge shared and
the engaging discussions, coupled with
the proactive and insightful participation
30 BOKU Magazin 4 | 2023