On November 19, 2020, the Bulgarian Agricultural Academy organized a virtual round table on “Bioeconomy of Bulgaria – priorities and challenges”. The meeting was part of the project “Strengthening the sustainable circular bioeconomy in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe: BIOEASTsUP” (within the Horizon 2020 Program), which is implemented by an international consortium of 21 partners, including the Agricultural Academy.
The forum was attended by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry – Yanko Ivanov, experts from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Ministry of Energy, scientists from the University of National and World Economy, Sofia, the University of Forestry, the Agricultural University – Plovdiv, the Institute of Agricultural Economics, business representatives and other stakeholders.
The meeting began with an introduction from Prof. Dr. Violeta Bozhanova, Deputy Chairman of the Agricultural Academy. Biljana Kulisic, a representative of the Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar (EIHP), Croatia and a participant in the BIOEASTsUP project, also congratulated the participants.
Prof. Dr. Violeta Bozhanova delivered a presentation on “Bioeconomy – European and national dimensions”, which reviewed the results of the analysis of BIOEASTsUP on the state of the bioeconomy in the EU and Bulgaria, outlined the problems and identified strategic priorities in the field of bio-economy. The necessity and the possibility of setting up stakeholder groups were also discussed.
Presentation on the topic “The agricultural sector in the bioeconomy of Bulgaria – status and priorities” was delivered by Prof. Dr. Krassimira Kaneva, National Contact Point for Bulgaria under the Bioeast Initiative. She drew the participants’ attention to the “Strategy for Strengthening the Role of the Agricultural Sector in the Bioeconomy” approved by the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, outlined the policies for development of the bioeconomy in accordance with the Common Agricultural Policy and familiarized the participants with the necessary steps for developing a National Bioeconomy Strategy.
The highlight of the virtual round table was the exposition of Mrs. Maria Nakova and Mrs. Elitsa Petkova, who are representatives of the business network “Cleantech – Bulgaria” and who made an presentation on “Bioeconomy – a key sector of the circular economy”, dedicated to the possibilities for synergies between different sectors of the circular economy.
The topics touched upon attracted the participants’ interest and the discussion as a whole initiated future joint activities and actions with stakeholders towards achieving the project objectives.