Presentation of the GOCITRUS Operational Group at the Conference “Agri-food at the center of the Bioeconomy”

On February 27, ASEBIO and BIOVEGEN co-organized the Conference “Agri-food at the center of the bioeconomy”, which was held at the European Commission Headquarters in Madrid and brought together agents involved in bioeconomy and agri-food (researchers, companies, civil society and administration) to debate the main challenges of the bioeconomy and the products that are needed from it (bioproducts), proposing possible solutions to these challenges.

The Conference, which brought together more than 90 representatives of the agri-food sector, was structured in 3 blocks (presentations, round table and workshop) to promote intersectoral collaboration among attendees. BIOVEGEN made a presentation that included an explanation of the objectives and activities of Operation GOCITRUS.

Program of the day:

10:00 a.m. Welcome and introduction

• Francisco Fonseca Morillo, Director of the European Commission Headquarters in Spain
• Ion Arocena, General Director, AseBio
• Gonzaga Ruiz de Gauna, Coordinator, BIOVEGEN

10:10 a.m. Innovation and development of bioproducts in the agri-food sector
Moderate: Beatriz Palomo. AseBio

10:10 a.m. New bioproduct production platforms: BioFactoria Plants.

• Diego Orzaez. Researcher, Institute of Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMCP)

10:25 a.m. Microalgae, innovative ingredients for food.

• Raschid Stoffel. Food and Beverage Area Director, AlgaEnergy

10:40 a.m. Current situation of agri-food packaging within the framework of the bioeconomy.

• Belén García Fernández. Director, Spanish Packaging and Packaging Technology Platform (PACKNET)

11:00 a.m. Round table: Consumers, scientists, companies, disseminators and public administration in the bioeconomy
Moderate: Gonzaga Ruiz de Gauna. BIOVEGEN

• Role of Administration. Mª Teresa Ambrós Mendioroz. Deputy Deputy Director, General Subdirectorate of Innovation and Digitalization. MAP.
• Role of the Consumer. Carmen Redondo Borge. Spanish Confederation of Consumer and User Cooperatives – HISPACOOP
• Role of the communicator/disseminator. Maria Iranzo. Scientific blogger.
• Company role. Richard Borreani. Director of Agricultural Policies, Bayer Crop Science Iberia.
• Role of the scientist. Esther Esteban. Director, INIA.
• Role of the farmer. José Ramón Díaz. Technician, ASAJA.

12:00 p.m. Coffee Break

12:30 p.m. Mutual learning and lessons learned for the development of the bioeconomy.

• AseBio in the bioeconomy: European projects BIOVOICES and BIOBRIDGES. Beatriz Palomo. Project Manager, AseBio
• BIOVEGEN and its activity in bioeconomy. Gonzaga Ruiz de Gauna. Coordinator, BIOVEGEN

SOMBRADOBLE Workshop: Change of roles
This workshop aims to create a favorable environment where intersectoral collaboration is enhanced, changing roles and responding to different challenges posed by the bioeconomy, such as harmonization, labeling, costs and incentives, better information and dissemination, among others.

2:00 p.m. Conclusions and closing