Scaling up forest-based innovations in Europe: continuing collaboration between EIB, EFI and Bioregions Facility
On 15 May 2025, the workshop Scaling up forest-based innovations in Europe took place in Brussels, Belgium. The event, organised by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Forest Institute (EFI) and the Bioregions Facility, brought together regional governments, European Commission representatives, financial institutions, the private sector, researchers and practitioners to discuss scale-up challenges in the forest-based sector, and share knowledge and best practices on how to overcome these challenges.
Workshop: as it happened
Photos: Siebe Briers
The event started with a keynote speech by Silvija Aile, Deputy Head of Unit Land Use & Management, European Commission – DG ENV titled “Towards a new Bioeconomy Strategy”. On 31 March, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the EU Bioeconomy Strategy. Similarly, at the Bioeconomy Regions Summit, the Declaration of EU regions in relation to the update of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy was launched.
Next, different actors shared their scale-up experiences to set the scene for further discussions. These were Strong by Form, Biocon, Biocastanea, and CMPC Ventures.
The event continued with discussions on Infrastructures and support structures for piloting and scaling up solutions, featuring a keynote speech on the scale-up of European bioeconomy innovations by Pilots4U. The cases presented were from Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, Forestry Hub of Catalonia, PhotonHub Scaling Club & EIC Scaling Club.
Next came the session on Suitable financing instruments to facilitate and de-risk investment. ShapingBio showcased strategies for bridging the investment gap with instruments for scaling bioeconomy innovations. The examples shared were from Green Angel Ventures, the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund, and the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking.
Johan Elvnert (Secretary General, Forest-based Sector Technology Platform), Adrian Enache (Senior Engineer Forest-based Bioeconomy, European Investment Bank), and Inazio Martinez de Arano (Team Leader Forest Innovation For Impact & Bioregions Facility Coordinator, European Forest Institute) delivered the closing remarks.
A summary of the cases presented at the workshop is available on our website.
From overcoming barriers to scaling up approaches
This workshop follows up on last year’s “Overcoming investment barriers in the forest sector” workshop. The event resulted in a report with six key messages, one of which was “the need for better-targeted tools to overcome the valley of death.”
The Bioregions Facility focuses on creating enabling conditions for the forest bioeconomy at regional and European levels, including investments. Therefore, we are pleased with our continued collaboration between EIB, EFI, and the Bioregions Facility.
“Together, we are nurturing a community that is not only exchanging knowledge but actively developing action points to improve the investment landscape in the forest sector,” said Siebe Briers, Deputy Coordinator at the Facility.
In the following weeks, we will publish a report on scaling up forest innovation cases presented during this year’s workshop. Stay tuned and follow us to be the first one to read it.
Read our reports
Explore the first report, Overcoming investment barriers in the forest sector: lessons learned from nine cases in Europe, and the second, Scaling up forest-based innovation in Europe: overcoming the valley of death to learn more.