Innovative Report that Visualizes the Story of RDI2CluB Project and Its Impact on the Development of Bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea Region.
The RDI2CluB project has released the Impact Report that highlights the efforts of a growing network of different actors in developing the bioeconomy innovation ecosystem and solutions around the Baltic Sea Region. The Impact Report has been created in close cooperation with the Finnish start-up company AskKauko and it features a new approach that blends storytelling, visuality, open data and interactivity. The Impact Report is available here.
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“It’s time for a rural renaissance. From clean air and water to beautiful, bountiful landscapes, we believe that rural areas are invaluable. Rural communities can also drive economic growth by helping to create smart bioeconomy solutions,” says the introduction to the Impact Report. For three years, since the launch of RDI2CluB project, the partner regions from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Norway and Poland have been building a network of actors – researchers, entrepreneurs, business developers, policy and decision makers – and a set of innovative tools and methods to reinvigorate rural areas and nurture their economies while contributing to a more sustainable future for all.
The Impact Report showcases solutions developed as a result of transnational cooperation and co-creation among the bioeconomy regions of Central Finland, Inland Region in Norway, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship in Poland, Vidzeme Region in Latvia and Estonia:
- The Biobord – an online forum where researchers, entrepreneurs, and business developers can meet and collaborate on innovative bioeconomy solutions that benefit all of us – https://biobord.eu
- Waaku – a mobile application for connecting rural entrepreneurs with services and workforce;
- Promoting biomass heating to improve air quality and living standards for residents in spa towns in Poland;
- Using advanced technology and knowledge sharing to promote high-value organic farming in Latvia;
- Developing an international, multidisciplinary and multisectoral network for the sustainable management of wildlife populations in the Northern Hemisphere.
To initiate a smart growth of bioeconomy in Latvia, the Institute for Environmental Solutions (IES) has developed bioeconomy service prototype that can be found in the impact report. IES’s solution provides ideas for using advanced technologies and knowledge sharing for high-value added organic farming. As IES highlights, in the global market there is an increasing demand for organically grown produce. Latvia’s high-quality, clean soil makes it well suited for growing organic crops. Moreover, when compared with conventional farming, the gross margin of organically cultivated crops can be more than ten times higher. Despite of that, there is a lack of knowledge and studies on which high-value organically grown crops would grow best in Latvia and what cultivation methods could provide expected benefits. IES’s researchers have joined the forces with organic farming experts to tackle these challenges. Find out more about IES’s prototype for bioeconomy services here.
Background
RDI2CluB project (Rural RDI milieus in transition towards smart bioeconomy clusters and innovation ecosystems), is part of the Interreg Baltic Sea region project family of 2014-2020 under the Priority 1 “Capacity for innovation” that is dedicated to actions strengthening the ability of the Baltic Sea Region to create and commercialize innovation.
To initiate a smart growth of bioeconomy in Latvia, the Institute for Environmental Solutions (IES) has developed bioeconomy service prototype that can be found in the impact report. IES’s solution provides ideas for using advanced technologies and knowledge sharing for high-value added organic farming. As IES highlights, in the global market there is an increasing demand for organically grown produce. Latvia’s high-quality, clean soil makes it well suited for growing organic crops. Moreover, when compared with conventional farming, the gross margin of organically cultivated crops can be more than ten times higher. Despite of that, there is a lack of knowledge and studies on which high-value organically grown crops would grow best in Latvia and what cultivation methods could provide expected benefits. IES’s researchers have joined the forces with organic farming experts to tackle these challenges. Find out more about IES’s prototype for bioeconomy services here.
Our aim is to connect bioeconomy innovation networks to share ideas, find partners and work together to create business opportunities in bioeconomy. Together we build knowledge and raise awareness on sustainable and viable bioeconomy business potential in the Baltic Sea Region. To enable international cooperation, we have created an open international digital platform called Biobord, which is being tested and scaled up together with small and medium size enterprises within the RDI2CluB project.
For more information, please refer to: RDI2CluB project coordinator at IES, e-mail: inese.suija@videsinstituts.lv and https://rdi2club.eu, https://biobord.eu
