Agricultural policies are widening the scope to contribute to environmental objectives, the Paris climate agreement and the SDG’s. Furthermore, Member States develop their national strategic plans with more attention to the regional implementation of the CAP. Broadening of scope will increase the amount of indicators for monitoring and evaluation. In the current situation, agricultural statistics (among others FSS and FADN) and administrative data (i.e. IACS) are used for monitoring and evaluation. To address the broadening set of needs, it becomes essential to make use of the possibilities of satellite data and sensor data and the increased amount of information flows within the agricultural sector. Despite these new opportunities, it will not be possible to provide all data needs with these new technologies, so there will still be a role for agricultural statistics and farmers’ willingness to give access to data owned by the farmer. MEF4CAP will make an inventory of future data needs, describe the current developments in ICT and data capturing techniques and assess the technological readiness of these solutions. MEF4CAP will make intensive use of workshops and stakeholder interaction to identify best practices, ensure the inclusion of all relevant developments and to discuss the potential of widening their application. MEF4CAP will deliver a roadmap for future monitoring, where the needs of different stakeholders are met and the potential of different approaches is fully exploited, while minimizing the costs and administrative burden and optimizing the value of the collected data. MEF4CAP will strongly benefit from the broad composition of the project team. MEF4CAP will bring together experts on the current agricultural statistics, current administrative systems, evaluations for policy making and on farm advisory as well as experts on remote sensing, sensor data, ICT developments and developments of information flows in the agricultural sector.

The Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR) is a long-standing committee of EU Member States and Associated Countries presided over by the European Commission. It has become a respected source of advice on European agricultural and wider bioeconomy research and has been a catalyst for the coordination of national research and innovation (R&I) programmes. It is supported in these strategic functions by SCAR Working Groups (WGs), including a Foresight Group, which provide domain-specific expert advice and input. RefreSCAR will strengthen the strategic functioning and capacities of SCAR WGs in order to facilitate the improved coordination of national and European bioeconomy R&I programmes. Through a toolkit of measures, RefreSCAR will provide robust scientific support to SCAR WGs through regular portfolio analysis of projects, expert studies and support for the SCAR Foresight process. Combined with practical administrative support, this will enable a better structured organisation, facilitation and reporting of SCAR WG activities in themes of relevance for Horizon Europe, the Common Agricultural Policy, European Green Deal, Digital Europe and the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies. In order to boost the participation of under-represented countries in SCAR WGs, a SCAR-Engage Programme will be developed involving tailored action plans, financial and peer-to-peer support, networking and knowledge exchange. Targeted support for communication and dissemination will immerse a broad audience of stakeholders in the activities of the WGs. Furthermore, RefreSCAR will cultivate connections between SCAR WGs, key actors in EU policy, practitioners and relevant EU and international initiatives through dedicated fora, helping to build a bridge between R&I, policy and practice. The outcome will be more impactful SCAR WGs that are better resourced and empowered to deliver strategic advice, contributing to a strengthened SCAR within the European Research Area.

Bioeconomy starts on the fields, yet meaningful participation of the primary sector in the bioeconomy is currently challenged, especially due to: (i) poor cooperation and knowledge transfer between relevant stakeholders, (ii) limited support to invest in R&D of new value chains. To answer this challenge, the COOPID project proposes an effective strategy to mobilise primary producers and stimulate the uptake of inclusive and sustainable bio-based business models in the European primary production sector, considering regional & sectorial conditions. To do so, a network of COOPID Bioeconomy Clusters from 10 European countries has been created ad-hoc, involving a range of stakeholders: (a) primary producers, in cooperatives or associations, within agriculture, forestry & aquaculture, (b) industry, (c) public sector, (d) research & academia. We have already the commitment to participate of 73 entities. We will foster the deployment of innovative bio-based business models in the primary production based on a four-level knowledge transfer approach: -Selecting “Success Story Showcases” across different EU countries among the network which will be visited in person by the participants from the network - “COOPID ambassadors”- (level 1), -Organising workshops to be done by the “COOPID ambassadors” for sharing main highlights of their visit to the “success story” among their peer primary producers (level 2), -Carrying out interactive dissemination & communication engaging other target audiences (levels 3&4). Focus will be put on mobilisation of female and young producers as having a great potential to innovate yet being underrepresented in the primary production sector. Recommendations for primary producers, policy-makers and academia & research will be elaborated, fostering better understanding of different perspectives on bioeconomy, having a significant impact on a wide bioeconomy deployment in primary production, reaching a broad audience (estimated at 9,500 stakeholders).

The overall objective of BIOEASTsUP project is to support the BIOEAST initiative and Action Plan for transition of 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) to bioeconomy. The specific objectives are: SO1: To trigger strategic thinking at governmental level and transnational peer-to-peer development of national circular bioeconomy strategies in BIOEAST countries. SО2: To emphasize the role of multi-actor approach in developing new value chains to advance bioeconomies. SO3: To develop in a multi-stakeholder driven approach a consolidated BIOEAST Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). SO4: To set-up and maintain a macro-regional framework in support of the BIOEAST initiative and the SRIA development and sustainability. SO5: To facilitate evidence-based policy making. SO6: To increase the visibility of the bioeconomy within the quintuple helix in the BIOEAST region. BIOEASTsUP methodology was developed to support a parallel setup: the project structure and the structure of the BIOEAST Initiative. Two work packages focus on the national bioeconomy deployment (WP1, WP2), two are dedicated to the impact at the macro-regional and the EU level (WP3, WP4) whereas dissemination activity complements all the components (WP5). The work plan is as follows: WP 1: Framework for National Bioeconomy Strategies Development WP 2: Capacity building for BIOEAST stakeholders WP 3: Establishing macro-regional structures in support of the BIOEAST initiative WP 4: BIOEAST SRIA development and positioning the macro-regional economies WP 5: Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation WP 6: Project Management and Evaluation BIOEASTsUP has been initiated directly by the BIOEAST Initiative’s ministries. In total 26 ministries support the project. In addition associations, industrial chambers, innovation centres, other research organisations and NGOs have committed to the project. BIOEASTsUP will further engage all stakeholders in the bioeconomy value chain to coordinate efforts to maximize the impact.