Within the framework of the Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival which has been promoted by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation) in cooperation with the Bioeconomy Youth Ambassadors, Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL organised the satellite event “Careers and opportunities in the Bioeconomy sector”, in Thessaloniki on the 14th of March. with a focus on informing more than 40 young professionals, academics and students about bioeconomy-related careers. The event organization was a joint effort of the GenB, BioGov.net and ROBIN Horizon Europe projects and held at the premises of the Ok!Thess innovation hub in Thessaloniki.

The Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival aimed to engage young people as a driver of the transformative change towards a sustainable circular bioeconomy in Europe. The Festival took place both in the high-level event in Brussels, where GenB participated as a session speaker explaining the project methodology and the main activities to encourage future generations to be aware and interested in environmental issues, sustainability and circularity, and in more than 30 satellite events, organised by third-party Entities, enabling young people from all over Europe to take part in the European initiative.

The day was full of informative sessions and inspirational storytelling, aimed at providing students and young professional with practical information on how to start a career in bioeconomy, advance their skills and knowledge, as well as to pursue employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in Thessaloniki and Central Macedonia. Starting with an overview of the bioeconomy sector and its current state in Greece, a presentation of alternative career pathways in bioeconomy followed (results of the BioGov.net study on job profiles). Moreover, bioeconomy-related educational opportunities and study programmes were presented by representatives of local higher education institutions.
Successful professionals and entrepreneurs in the Greek bioeconomy sector shared their success stories along with career insights and challenges they faced along their journey. Diverse perspectives were presented to motivate young people to delve deeper into the bioeconomy, including cases from industry, communication and marketing, urban innovation and rural innovation. Successful business cases in circular bioeconomy in Greece and abroad were presented, along with local infrastructure and programmes for youth entrepreneurship offered in the city of Thessaloniki.

Finally, a regional policy workshop was hosted by the BioGov.net and ROBIN projects during which young people had the chance to discuss with the Region of Central Macedonia and local bioeconomy actors. The workshop was initiated with an extensive overview of the existing legislative framework on bioeconomy and the approach of the Region of Central Macedonia towards addressing pertinent issues by Dimitrios Vlachos. This presentation laid the ground for and motivated subsequent discussions. The purpose of the workshop was to translate discussions into concrete actions, leveraging collective expertise to drive sustainable growth and innovation in the bioeconomy sector. To this end, an open dialogue and interactive tools have been used to co-define the challenges and proposed solutions. At the end of the co-design exercise, attendees were invited to nominate the most promising solutions among those defined.
The BioArt Gallery and BioGov.net bioeconomy job profiles were exhibited in prominent spaces to further engage the audience during networking.

In the occasion of the Pi Day and the Portuguese 17th National Mathematical Games Championship, LOBA organised – in collaboration with Agência Ciência Viva and the University of Aveiro – the “Aveiro edition” of the Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival.

The Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival aimed to engage young people as a driver of the transformative change towards a sustainable circular bioeconomy in Europe. The Festival took place both in the high-level event in Brussels, where GenB participated as a session speaker explaining the project methodology and the main activities to encourage future generations to be aware and interested in environmental issues, sustainability and circularity, and in more than 30 satellite events, organised by third-party Entities, enabling young people from all over Europe to take part in the European initiative.

The event was a result of collaborative efforts between multiple organisations: the Ludus Association, the Association of Mathematics Teachers, the Portuguese Mathematics Society, and Agência Ciência Viva.
At the campus of Aveiro GenB saw the participation of 1,800 students from every corner of Portugal. The students participating to the national competition had the occasion of implementing several activities designed to increase curiosity, ignite imagination, and overall celebration of science. In such context, GenB organised the Bioeconomy Village, Hands-on labs and a Career Booth to inspire and inform students ranging from 7 to 18 years old.

Teachers accompanying their classrooms to the competition have been involved to act as multipliers bringing their pupils first to the Bioeconomy Village, sparkling their interest with an exposition of more than 50 bio-based products, second to the “classroom sessions” where Hands-on labs and a Career booth were taking place.
In the classroom sessions, young students (e.g., 7-9 years old) have been involved in hands-on labs (e.g., conjuring carbon dioxide gas to inflate balloons), while high school students have attended the career booth.
This hands-on approach was meant to not only educate but leave a lasting impression on the importance of circularity in a context of mathematics and science. One GenB Ambassador had also the chance to present herself and her role as ambassador to the participants.

For the career booth on the other hand, the presentation was adapted to the audience’s ages and scholarly degree in each session. For the youngest participants, the speech was simplified. For the oldest, the concept of green jobs was more explored because of their most considerable cognitive development and comprehension. The presentation was divided into five parts: First, the definition of sustainability and the importance of the usage of natural capital without compromising further generations. The second part was a brief presentation of the SDGs and their relevance. The importance of sustainability for future generations, the importance of the sustainable and circular bioeconomy, and innovation for developing new materials, where we could show – in the Bioeconomy Village – bio-based products like apple skin “leather” or smartphone cases made of seaweed. This allowed to link all classrooms sessions to the future of jobs, asking the audience about what they expected to be the green jobs that could arise and their importance for achieving the SDG’s and a more sustainable future.

On Friday 9 February, at Unitelma Sapienza, in the context of the Circular Bricks project final event, Chiara Pocaterra and Susanna Albertini represented GenB project, highlighting some key takeaways from the first year of activities.

The round table “Challenges and opportunities in VET bioeconomy education” was moderated by Nadia Sansone, that brillantly underlined the main ideas emerged during the discussion and launched new insights to animate the debate. Together with Susanna and Chiara, also Annarita Colasante, representing Unitelma, brought contributions from several EU funded projects, like BIObec, BioGov.net, RuralBioUp, Biomodel4Regions, BlueRev, BIOVOICES, Engage4BIO.
The main takeaways emerged during the round table are:

• VET and Lifelong learning, as well as non-formal contexts where education takes place are key to boost Bioeconomy Education in light of supporting a more circular and sustainable society and business
• Bioeconomy is a metasector, requiring metaskills that can be considered transversal to any educational pathway
• Young people should be informed and educated to change behaviours and attitudes and to become the driver of the transition, also by choosing these educational and working careers
• Cross fertilisation and collaborations among academia and industries, as well as policy actors and public authorities are needed, to avoid bottlenecks in a fast evolving educational context
• Art, beauty and culture can contribute in inspiring and attracting students towards these topics
• In order to achieve greater impacts, the role of teachers and multipliers is determinant. Teachers should be empowered with knowledge and practical, easy-to-adopt tools to bring these topics in their contexts.

The round table was part of a wider conference, organised by Unitelma Sapienza and Circular Bricks and moderated by Prof. Piergiuseppe Morone.

The GenB “Hands-on” lab event took place in Thessaloniki, Greece on November 28th, 2023, and was organised by Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL. The 1 st Junior High School of Kalamaria hosted the “Hands-on lab”
event for 12-year-old students.

The objective was to educate children about the bioeconomy using simple experiments with everyday materials.
During this event, the group consisted of 12 seventh-grade students, along with their teacher and two additional teachers who found the event interesting and wanted to attend and contribute to the process.

the beginning, a discussion was held with the students about the bioeconomy and its challenges.
Afterwards, they were asked to describe in their own words their knowledge about the topic and the Q-PLAN team supplemented the conversation with simple examples and terms concerning bioeconomy and circular economy.
For the practical part of the event, the students were divided in groups of four, put on their single-use gloves and following the instructions of the Q-PLAN team conducted the experiments. The goal was to allow the children touch and play with the materials as a form of an experiential and interactive learning.

Experiments conducted:

1. Coffee Grain Body Scrub
2. Biogas Inflated Balloon
3. Colour changing cabbage water with the use of acidic and basic products.

Kids’ feedback

The children’s enthusiasm was apparent from the beginning of the process. As the introduction was proceeding, almost everyone wanted to participate and share examples from their everyday life. During the experiments’ part, all students participated in the process and were excited to see the results of each
experiment. Eventually, they seemed to have well-comprehended the concept of bioeconomy and the basic principles or terms. Some of the children gave the impression to be really intrigued by this process that were asking whether they were going to participate in similar events in the future.

Teachers’ support /feedback

The teachers confirmed that the event was successful, based on the students’ reactions and enthusiasm.
They also highlighted that some more introverted children participated much more actively than the usual.
They also asked the Q-PLAN team to share more material and insights on this topic for future use, as they recognised the value of engaging the children in bioeconomy. In addition, it was pointed out that in general children tend to get more involved with interactive activities, such as this particular one, and seem to gain more knowledge about the subject compared to typical lectures.

Organisers’ feedback

The Q-PLAN team also perceived the event as fruitful and rewarding. The goals, such as children’s engagement and participation, as well as the success of the experiments, were achieved. The concepts and notions of bioeconomy were well comprehended, and the initiation for further research from the children’s
part was evident.

Can I become a GenB Ambassador also if I am a primary school student?

Yes, of course. A GenB Ambassador is intended as any young person under the age of 30 who has an interest in sustainability/bioeconomy themes or who is interested in making his/her voice heard on these topics within the GenB project’s activities. Indeed, any youngster including primary school kids, can take a role, inspiring other peers, increasing their awareness on the bioeconomy and its related sectors, while engaging them in changing their lifestyle.

Can I become a GenB Ambassador also if I am not active on social media?

Yes, being active on social media is not a prerequisite to become a GenB Ambassador.

How is it expected that I use my social media account for the purpose of the GenB Ambassador initiative?

If you are an active sustainability content creator, as GenB Ambassador you can leverage your social media accounts by sharing specific contents on bioeconomy, designed together with GenB communication experts, and be part of joint social media campaigns through @biovoices channels (counting more than 11K followers on all social media), finally reaching a wider audience.
If you do not usually exploit social media to disseminate specific contents, as a GenB Ambassador you will learn how to produce tailored contents to raise awareness about the role of bioeconomy in everyday life (producing media, videos, cards, memes etc.), actively contributing to @biovoices social media channels planning.

When are the GenB Ambassadors’ activities starting?

Depending on specific criteria (such as age, expressed interests, motivation and knowledge about bioeconomy), more experienced candidates will be already involved in GenB activities as ambassadors in two large-scale events taking place in Italy between end of September and October (EU Researchers’ Night and Maker Faire). In general, the activities for GenB Ambassadors will fully start by the end of the year, after a capacity building activity organized by GenB experts, aiming at empowering the selected candidates.

Are the GenB Ambassadors activities online or in person?

Some of the activities will be held online (e.g. capacity building webinars, online workshops, mutual learning events, creation of contents etc.). In specific occasions (e.g. large-scale events, conferences, TEDx pitches etc.), depending on the geographical location, GenB Ambassadors may be contacted to participate onsite.

What type of activities are foreseen for a GenB Ambassador?

Based on the expertise, motivation, needs and interests, GenB Ambassadors will be involved in different type of activities and roles. A wide range of opportunities are foreseen, such as:

• Participate in capacity building webinars in English and local language, to increase knowledge on the bioeconomy as well as communication/dissemination skills. GenB Ambassadors will be also provided with toolkits including several formats, tools, resources and educational material, developed in the context of several EU funded project to further promote bioeconomy.
• Take part in international competition on social media to creatively communicate the bioeconomy; through creative ideas or producing artefacts (e.g., drawings/pictures article/media, videos performances etc.)
• Be engaged as testimonials of the circular bioeconomy, raising awareness and inspiring the curiosity of the younger generations towards this domain
• Create social media contents to spread the bioeconomy to the online community, inspire and inform the audience on more sustainable behaviors and choices
• Write short articles on sustainability topics related to bioeconomy in blogs, magazines, schools’ journals, or social media channels
• Participate in online workshops and debates with youth green communities to discuss challenges, opportunities, share insights and good practices and highlight the role for the young generations for a sustainable future.
• Participate in events and conferences organized by GenB or the European Commission to share GenB Ambassadors’ voices and experience to inspire, raising awareness and inform about the bioeconomy in front of major experts and stakeholders, as well as to contribute to provide recommendations for policy makers, making the voice of youth heard.

What type of commitment is expected from a GenB Ambassador?

GenB Ambassadors are expected to be involved in the project in different ways throughout the duration of the project (until May 2025). We foresee at least a couple of activities (duration max 1 day each) for each GenB Ambassadors, but it will be agreed case by case.
In addition, all candidates will be invited to attend the capacity building webinars, where they will be equipped with the necessary skills, to become GenB Ambassadors.

What type of prizes and recognitions are foreseen?

T-shirts and gadgets will be distributed to GenB Ambassadors to award their involvement, together with the possibility to have their visibility and impact increased through the participation in high-level and large-scale events, as well as through the collaboration with the large community built around GenB project. In addition, the expertise and visibility as GenB Ambassador is expected to contribute to the curricular experiences of the candidates, who will have the possibility to network and eventually collaborate with different companies in the sector.

Focus groups in Greece by Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (HSPN)

General concept of the Focus Group

4 Focus groups were organised in April and May 2023 at the 6th Primary School and the 2nd Secondary School of Gerakas, a suburb of Athens: one group for students of 4-8y, one group for students 9-13y and two groups for 14-19y students. Each one lasted for about 80min.
Children and teenagers with various interests and learning styles participated. The main aim of the focus groups organised was to have students express their opinions on what kind of activities they could find interesting in a bioeconomy project. There were parental consents for all students participating.

Activities implemented

Every group was exposed to several activities pointed out as age relevant by the partner who had undertaken the scientific design of the focus group (AIJU).
The procedure was the following:
Initially, the young participants expressed their general interests and learning preferences. Afterwards, they had to express their preference in relation to some educational activities introductory/development/concluding) they were presented using cards that visualised the content of the activity. The findings reflected their perspectives and insights.
Researchers had the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding in what motivates students and what causes intrigue and willingness to try. It was obvious that students appreciated the hands-on aspect and interactive nature of activities that allowed for initiative and creativity.

The Focus Groups in numbers

Number of Focus Groups organised: 4
Number of students reached: 32

Overall experience

When seeking to compile new educational material, it is of utmost importance to listen to the voice of the target group. These focus groups functioned as invaluable orientation in the learning preferences and styles of various age groups. It was also inspiring to see how serious and responsible all the young participants were during the procedure.