RootLinks set to empower primary producers

In the riverbed of the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE-JU), RootLinks is creating the conditions for primary producers in agriculture, forestry and aquaculture and fisheries to be more integrated in the value chains. This aim is to generate new sources of income and creating value in rural areas.

Primary producers are pivotal in advancing the European Union’s Green Deal objectives by adopting sustainable practices that enhance environmental health, economic viability and social equity. However, they face multiple challenges in adopting circular bio-based innovations, including limited awareness, low value chain integration, inadequate funding, high technological risks, complex regulations and global threats.

“Primary producers are the backbone of the bioeconomy”, says Martin Behrens, Senior Advisor Department EU and International Cooperation at FNR. “However, they have yet to fully benefit from innovations and new value chains. With RootLinks, we aim to strengthen the position of farmers, foresters and primary producers in aquaculture and the marine economy, ensuring they can actively participate in biobased innovations and reap the rewards of successful research.”

This mission is operationalised through the establishment of the primary producers Working Group of the CBE-JU, coordinated by RootLinks through a series of horizontal and sector specific actions, including cross-sector meetings, exchange formats, co-creation activities, business-model transfer and peer-to-peer exchanges.

“All actions of RootLinks are geared around the needs of primary producers”, says Marcello Bardellini, Senior Officer Communication and Dissemination at ICONS. “While raising the project’s profile with stakeholders and paving the way for its sustainability, we’ll embrace this perspective to make our actions effective and future-proof, ensuring to transfer actionable knowledge to primary producers while paving the way for the sustainability of the Working Group”.

The RootLinks consortium brings together key players and sectoral networks from around Europe, under the coordination of Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (FNR) and including Fundacion CIRCE (CIRCE), sPro Sustainable-projects GmbH (sPro), Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Fondazione ICONS (ICONS), Universitaet Fuer Bodenkultur Wien (BOKU), BIOEAST HUB CR, Z. U., AquaBioTech Limited (ABT) and Bioeconomy Cluster (BEC).

For more information, please contact Martin Behrens, Project coordinator, Senior Advisor Department EU and International Cooperation, FNR, and Marcello Bardellini, Senior Communication and Dissemination Officer, ICONS.