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ICA Community of Practice for Bioeconomy Education (ICA-CoP Bio-Edu)
Webinars and Workshop 2025
Learning Communities for the transformation to the bioeconomy: innovation by dialogue between partners
A Webinars and Workshop focus
At the EU level it is recognised that to support the ongoing transformations to the bioeconomy, discussed also at earlier workshops of the ICA-CoP Bio-Edu, it is necessary to build successful interchanges between universities, research institutes, industry, policy makers and civil society at different organisational levels.
However, many ideas and realisations for supporting the necessary transformations toward the bioeconomy are hampered by access to the knowledge providers, unclear requirement profiles from industry and hurdles due to local, national and European political interests. More critically, development is held back through a simple lack of fora in which an exchange is possible on identified specific needed actions for transformation to the bioeconomy. An intense cooperation between knowledge institutes, companies and governments is necessary, to overcome these hurdles. The formation of “quadruple helix learning communities”, with partners from universities and other knowledge institutes as well as industry, governments and civil society.
An exchange between these stakeholders in small but focused groups can contribute significantly to the adaptation of existing programmes to current and future needs in the bioeconomy and in the society. These focused groups are termed “Learning Communities” (or another frequently used term is “living lab”). Such learning communities may include the contribution of all levels of level knowledge providers - universities, research institutes and advisory services.
In any such a learning community it is a prerequisite that the partners really have a shared mission and goal that they want to achieve. They have to feel the urgency to be part of the learning community and to really interact with the partners.
The key objective of the ICA-CoP Bio-Edu webinars and workshop in 2025 is to explore concepts of how to initiate and build successful learning communities. In the webinars we will review a variety of learning communities at different levels of organisation from within a national boundary to the EU level. In each webinar case studies will be presented to address their specific way in which way the learning community has been implemented. The learning communities will have:
- Identified the need for a shared vision on trans-functional stakeholder collaborations (with co-leadership) to address a clearly defined transformational goal(s)
- stakeholder representatives from two or more of the following functional groups: government, industry, knowledge providers, civil society, and at least a strong connection to the other groups
- clear roles identified for each stakeholder in addressing the goal(s).
The follow up workshop in November will explore the benefits for universities of being involved in such learning communities through the impact on their research, innovation, education programmes and their engagement with civil society.
B Expected Outcomes
Develop, based on best practice examples models, how triple helix learning communities can be created and used to develop Bioeconomy education offers at universities that fits the needs of a constantly changing and challenging working environments and is in line with governmental guidelines.
C Target Audience
Degree programme coordinators, lecturers, members of committees responsible for the (strategic) development of curricula. Politicians and governmental actors interested in life-long learning in bioeconomy. National education advisors are also invited to contribute to the discussion. It is also intended to invite students and EU Bioeconomy Ambassadors.
D Webinars and Workshop Programme
Webinar No 1: 19 May 13.00 – 14.00 CET
Learning communities: at the local level (region within one country):
Presentation: Dialogue, learning and engagement to shape the regional transformation: Insights from BioökonomieREVIER
Christian Klar, Head of Coordination Centre BioökonomieREVIER, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany:
Presentation: Biobased materials in the practice of everyday people: How to sustainably insulate a Home? An example for a learning community from the Urban Living Lab Breda
Raymond Sparreboom, Academy for Technology and Innovation, Avans University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Moderation: Ingar Janzik, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and Bioeconomy Science Centre, Germany
See the full details and register here
Webinar No 2: June (theme and date to be announced)
Webinar No 3: September – date to be confirmed
Learning communities at a national level delivered within a European framework.
European perspective: what do we gain from Finnish AKIS European collaboration, and what are the goals of European AKIS
Presenters:
- Susanna Lahnamäki-Kivelä, Coordinator, AgriHubi, Finnish AKIS
- Harri Mäkivuokko, CEO, ProAgria, Finnish Advisory organization, active member of AKIS core group
Moderation: Mona Mona-Anitta Riihimäki, Dean, Häme University of Applied Sciences, Finland
ICA-CoP Bio-Edu Workshop 2025
Learning Communities for the transformation to the bioeconomy: innovation by dialogue between partners
Will be held on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 November 2025
At Bern University of Applied Sciences,
School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (HAFL), Bern
Programme focus
- Discussing “Learning Communities for the Bioeconomy”: How do you define a Learning Community?
- Regional, national and international case studies of Learning communities for transformation to Bioeconomy: What worked well and what did not?
- What have we learned from these case studies?
- University, industry and policy perspectives: What to expect from learning communities? How can universities engage? What is needed in policy at local, regional and EU-level?
E Webinar & Workshop organising committee
- Mona-Anitta Riihimäki, Chair & Häme University of Applied Sciences, Finland
- Ingar Janzik, Vice Chair & Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and Bioeconomy Science Center, Germany
- Sebastian Goerg, TUMCS for Biotechnology and Sustainability, Technical University of Munich, Straubing, Germany
- Pawan Kumar Mishra, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic
- Han van Osch, Avans University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands & Dutch Biobased Knowledge Network
- George Sakellaris, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic & BioEast
- Constantinos Vorgias, University of Athens, Greece
F Questions?
Contact Simon Heath