Milestone bioeconomy week coming up for FAO in mid-October
News
Organization is set to host nine separate bioeconomy events
FAO is ramping up its outreach on sustainable and circular bioeconomy through a series of exciting events taking place in Rome from 16 to 20 October. FAO and partners will host most of the events under the umbrella of the World Food Forum (WFF) and FAO Science and Innovation Forum (SIF), with the week culminating in a two-day meeting of the International Sustainable Bioeconomy Working Group. All events will have a strong focus on bioeconomy’s potential for driving agrifood systems transformation and climate action.
FAO’s expanding bioeconomy work
Bioeconomy for sustainable food and agriculture is one of 20 programme priority areas (PPAs) endorsed by FAO Members under the FAO strategic framework, which runs until 2031. Through donor contributions, FAO is engaged in about 150 bioeconomy-related projects worth almost USD 330 million in the current biennium (2022-23). The Organization is now seeking to scale up this work and consolidate FAO’s position as a leading global convening body on bioeconomy in food and agriculture. The October slate of events will support this endeavour as well as bringing new stakeholders, resources and ideas to the table.
Announcing the upcoming events, Lev Neretin, who leads FAO’s bioeconomy PPA, said: “From forestry and fisheries, to crop and animal production, to waste valorization and technological innovation, bioeconomy is the cross-cutting approach needed to bring about more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems. With the agricultural sectors providing renewable raw materials, bioeconomy solutions also have major potential to green other sectors beyond agriculture including construction, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and many others, with positive benefits for livelihoods, human health, climate and environment.”
Events
A list of all bioeconomy events taking place in FAO’s Rome headquarters can be found below. All times – which may be subject to change – are in CEST.
World Food Forum
- Tuesday 17 October (11:30-12:30) – Side event on “Empowering Youth in the Bioeconomy”
- Tuesday 17 October (14:00-16:00) – “Unleashing the potential of the Amazon bioeconomy”
- Wednesday 18 October (16:00-16:30) - "Circular bioeconomy in Abidjan: From Food Waste to Fork, BioDAF, a project of the FAO Incubator" in the FAO Atrium
- Wednesday 18 October (17:00-18:30) – “Bioeconomy fashion show”
- Thursday 19 October (12:30-14:30) – Youth jump station on “Bioeconomy and Agriplastics”
- Friday 20 October (12:00) – “Youth-centered initiatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization Innovation Fund and Incubator” (featuring circular bioeconomy project on rearing of Black Soldier Fly from organic waste in Abidjan)
Science and Innovation Forum
- Thursday 19 October (13:00-14:00) – “Animal source food alternatives: What are they and what does the science say about the human and planetary health benefits and risks?”
- Thursday 19 October (16:30-18:00) – Special high-level event on “Bioeconomy: the catalyst for agrifood systems transformation”
Eighth Meeting of the International Sustainable Bioeconomy Working Group
- Thursday/Friday 19-20 October (closed meeting at a venue outside FAO)
LINKS
You can find the full programme of events for the World Food Forum here and Science and Innovation Forum here.
Registration details, including rooms and Zoom links for those unable to attend in person, are available at the following links:
You can register for the SIF high-level event on bioeconomy, which will take place in the FAO Green Room and will be streamed on Zoom, here:
02/10/2023