The European project UrBIOfuture has started after the launch meeting that took place yesterday and today in Barcelona, hosted by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) the coordinator of this project. UrBIOfuture aims to promote European education in bioeconomy through the creation of careers, new educational programs and research activities in a growing sector.

The Autonomous University of Barcelona, Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA) and the SME Sustainable Innovations Europe (SIE) are the Spanish partners of this project that brings together 9 European partners.

The UrBIOfuture project has a budget close to 1 million euros and is co-financed by the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) within the framework of the EU Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020 (H2020).

In general terms, UrBIOfuture will contribute to create a chain effect to cover the bio-based industry needs, as well as to promote the working areas of this field. Likewise, the project will guarantee that training opportunities are given to professionals within the sector that, in turn, these professionals will offer their expertise throughout innovate new products that will increase the competitiveness of bioeconomy in Europe.

The European bioeconomy is the economy that uses renewable biological resources to produce food, materials, chemical compounds and energy. This makes it possible to reduce dependence on oil-producing countries by replacing fossil fuels and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as promoting job creation, economic growth and the re-industrialization of the EU. Currently, the sector employs more than 18 million people and represents a turnover of more than 2 trillion euros.

The UrBIOfuture consortium is formed by four research and technological organizations (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche- CNR, VTT, VITO and IHE Delft) with direct link to prestigious European universities, three clusters (Agro Business Park- ABP, Technological Corporation of Andalusia-CTA and Fundacja Uniwersytetu im Adama Mickiewicza W Poznaniu- PSTP), working closely with innovative companies with a strong regional, national and international position in the field of biotechnology sector as well as one SME (Sustainable Innovations Europe -SIE) with wide experience in  project communication in the biotech, environment and circular economy fields, among others.