CBE JU photo and video competition 2025

The 2025 CBE JU photo and video competition #CBEScaleUp celebrates the people, places and technologies that are scaling up Europe’s bio-based future. The goal is to highlight how CBE JU-funded projects are bridging the gap between innovation and market deployment via high-quality visuals to be revealed at the CBE JU Stakeholder Forum 2026.

All projects funded by BBI JU and CBE JU, ongoing or completed.

Photos:

• Scaling innovation – Highlight industrial scale-up and innovation in action, showing pilot plants, demo sites, production lines or bio-based facilities.
• People and skills – Focus on the people behind Europe’s bio-based transition, including engineers, researchers, primary producers (farmers, foresters, fishermen) and local communities engaged in bio-based processes.
• Circular Europe – Capture sustainable and circular practices such as biomass valorisation, waste reduction and regional bio-based ecosystems.
• Creative focus – Encourage artistic or detailed views of bio-based innovation, from macro photography to abstract representations that tell a story of transformation.

Videos:

• Video stories (maximum 25 seconds long) – Submit short, dynamic videos showing scale-up in action, people at work, or the transformation from idea to product.
   

• Up to five photos per category
• Up to five videos in total per project
   

• Send via WeTransfer to multimedia[at]cbe.europa.eu
• Subject line PROJECTNAME_#CBEScaleUp
• File naming CategoryName_Copyright_ShortDescription_Location

Example: CircularEurope_JohnDoe_CC-BY-4.0_Waste-to-biopolymer_Seville

Photos

• JPEG, 2 to 10 MB
• Minimum 2500 px on the longer side
• 300 dpi minimum

Videos

• Up to 25 seconds
• MP4 or MOV
• Minimum Full HD preferred
   

• Content must be original, not infringe third-party rights and must be suitable for public dissemination
• Basic edits to improve quality are allowed
• By submitting, participants grant CBE JU and institutional partners the right to use materials with attribution for communication and promotional activities
• Author or copyright holder and project title will always be credited
• Participation costs are eligible project costs

Questions about eligibility, formats or rights multimedia[at]cbe.europa.eu

Jury composition

• Chair CBE JU Executive Director
• Members CBE JU communication team representative, CBE JU programme unit representative, BIC representative, independent audio-visual expert

Evaluation criteria

• Relevance to the theme - Reflects scale-up and CBE JU's mission - max 6 points
• Creativity - Originality, storytelling and emotional or visual impact - max 6 points
• Technical quality - Composition, lighting and creativity - max 4 points
• Message clarity - How effectively the story or idea is conveyed - max 4 points

• Grand Prize - Ticket to a high-level bioeconomy event
• Category Winners - Exhibition at the CBE JU Stakeholder Forum 2026
• Audience Award - Most-liked post on CBE JU LinkedIn

Winning entries will feature in CBE JU publications, exhibitions and campaigns throughout 2026.

These are the most important dates for the competition: