What bioeconomy for the next generation? Education, innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities across the Mediterranean and Africa

The engagement of youth in the bioeconomy is crucial, because they will manage the earth’s ecosystems in the future. Lack of decision-making power is barrier to youth participation in the bioeconomy. The future of the worldwide bioeconomy will be strongly influenced by the migration of young people from rural to urban areas and the ageing of the rural population. Attractive jobs and living environments must be created in rural areas in order for young people to return and remain there. Education must adequately prepare youth with interdisciplinary knowledge and skills for the bioeconomy, including ICTs and STEM. On the other hand, young bioeconomy entrepreneurs need to be helped to overcome barriers such as lack of access to finance, investment and markets. Barriers to entering the bioeconomy also include a lack of information about what the bioeconomy is, its market and growth prospects, and a lack of regulations and procedures. Central to entrepreneurship is fostering international collaboration and cooperation. 

Italy is the largest EU Country located in the core of the Mediterranean Sea, and it has recently launched the Mattei Plan aimed at implementing joint projects with Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique and Tunisia, particularly in the fields agriculture and food security, water and energy, health, education and training. To create appropriate instruments and stimulate the development of a sustainable and equitable bioeconomy, initiatives will be co-designed in collaboration with local communities and in synergy with ongoing European initiatives. Currently, more than 65% of the population in the southern Mediterranean and East Africa depend on biological resources for food, energy, medicine and other uses.

However, the overall production of biological resources in these areas is declining due to the adverse effects of climate change, soil degradation, and biodiversity loss. These same countries often use biological resources in their raw form and dispose of a significant proportion of them as biological waste, losing value and causing environmental problems. Such natural resources have the potential to be used and transformed more efficiently to produce food and other value-added products, thereby improving food security while creating jobs and linking smallholder farmers to new bio-based value chains. Locating processing facilities close to production areas is seen as the most promising approach to increasing rural employment.  Bringing technological innovation to rural areas can help mitigate environmental threats, restore local natural capital and regenerate agriculture. Finally, in the context of an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, a sustainable and equitable bioeconomy can help promote social cohesion and political stability.

The invited speakers and the subsequent debate will raise some key questions: What push/pull factors are key to supporting youth employment in the bioeconomy? How youth inclusive are current bioeconomy strategies and related policies? How do current bioeconomy strategies and related policies support push/pull factors for youth in the bioeconomy? Where are the jobs and employment opportunities for youth in the bioeconomy today in the Mediterranean and in Africa? And what are the challenges for the future?

Session Chairs

Lucia Gardossi, University of Trieste and Cluster SPRING
Mario Bonaccorso, Director at Cluster SPRING 

Program

Opportunities for youth in the African bioeconomy:  bioeconomy projects on rural and urban bioeconomy
Gerardin Asengo Mabia, Institut National Polytechnique Félix-Houphouët Boigny (INP-HB), Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, Winner of the 2025 edition of Eni Award “Young Talents from Africa”

The EU BioInSouth project: best practices for sustainable bioeconomy in the Mediterranean
Pierluigi Argoneto, Italian Circular Bioeconomy Cluster - SPRING
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens - NKUA, Greece
OR PNO INNOVATION, Greece

Scientific and technological research council of Türkiye - Marmara - TÜBİTAK MAM
Frederick University, Cyprus

The Dryland Restoration Initiative Platform 
Fidaa F. Haddad, Senior Programme Officer (Forestry), Team Leader Greening Agriculture Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Egypt

Solutions for sustainable economic development from Mediterranean basin to Africa
Mateja Dermastia, Anteja ECG, Slovenija

Round table
The future of the bioeconomy in the light of demographic and social evolutions in the EU, Italy and Africa

Chair: 
Rosalinda Scalia, Deputy Head of Unit Bioeconomy and Food Systems at European Commission

Participants:
Representatives of the Delegations of African Countries at Ecomondo (TBD)
Marta Gomez San Juan, Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome
Cesar Barraza-Botet, Science and Technology Policy (STP) Division, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD, France
Andrea Camia, EU Bioeconomy Knowledge Centre, European Commission, Joint Research Center
Samuele Ambrosetti, Innovation and Programming manager at Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) Belgium

Closure by the Chairs