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Allthings.bioPRO

Allthings.bioPRO - Game changer for the bio-based economy

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Project details

Type of project
Coordination and Support Action
Project focus
Market, policies & awareness
Project period
1 September 2020 - 31 August 2023
Status
Completed
CBE JU Contribution
€ 1 999 980,00
Call identifier
H2020-BBI-JTI-2019

Summary

The bioeconomy is rightly viewed as a major player in delivering a more sustainable and more circular economy. It is providing the potential to make increasing numbers of industrial and consumer goods from biomass and the underused waste from other processes. However, equally importantly, the bioeconomy can make a major contribution to reducing Europe’s dependence on oil and gas, both as an energy source and as a raw material, helping the transition away from the current fossil-based economy.

Society will lie at the heart of this transition. It is people – both as citizens and as consumers of products – that will shape its speed and direction. It is them that will inform the bio-based industries what they want, what they need and what works. They will also want to make their voice heard politically, ensuring their views are considered when setting policies to drive the bioeconomy. Buy-in from the public at large will be a key determinant in ensuring the success of the transition. Allthings.bioPRO provided a novel approach to promoting this involvement, by creating and deploying an innovative gamification ecosystem that combines a serious game, a smartphone app and online and offline communication and engagement activities. The project centered on four tangible themes that are familiar to the wider public - food packaging; fashion and textiles; kids and schools; jobs and careers.

The idea was to address a major gap in encouraging citizen engagement, namely creating a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding new production and consumption models. It allowed a better, deeper debate and equipped citizens with the confidence to ask the questions that matter on quality and functionality, compared with existing products and answer their question on sustainability. By doing so, it allowed citizens to make an active contribution to the direction of the bioeconomy.

  • Awareness and co-creation: devise effective ways of increasing citizens awareness, participation and co-creation of the bio-based industry, helping to harvest valuable feedback and inputs for the industry on current perceptions.

  • Citizen engagement tools: deploy a combination of gamification, a mobile app and a communication campaign to engage citizens and gather information on their ideas and priorities on specific bioeconomy topics.

  • Value for industry: provide insights valuable to the bio-based industry and the Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy.

  • Allthings.bio Platform: exploit and further developed the Allthings.bio Platform to communicate on the bio-based economy with the broader public, linking it with the serious game, the smartphone app and a European Bioeconomy Citizen Action Network.

  • Uptake of results: ensure the uptake of results through early and regular involvement of regional partners, citizens, key bio-based economy stakeholders, policy makers and the Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy.

Results

  • Gamification ecosystem: developed a gamification ecosystem combining a serious online game, a smartphone app and on- and offline engagement activities, empowering citizens to contribute directly to the bio-based industry agenda.

  • Teacher's handbook: produced a multilingual teacher's handbook to facilitate the use of the project tools in schools.

  • Co-creation workshops: organised local co-creation workshops and focus groups in native languages across eight regions.

  • Citizen insights: delivered citizen-generated insights on preferences and perceptions of bio-based products, giving brand owners, industries, policymakers and bioeconomy knowledge centres valuable input to align innovation with public expectations.

Impacts

  • Citizen participation: designed both the tools and a system that empowered citizens to become involved in the bioeconomy.

  • Public understanding and engagement: ensured that the wider public understood, and was engaged in, developments in the industry.

  • Public voice: made citizens' voices heard in shaping the future direction of the bioeconomy and ensured it addressed their needs.
     

Consortium map

Project coordination

  • FACHAGENTUR NACHWACHSENDE ROHSTOFFE EV Gulzow, Germany

Consortium

  • FONDAZIONE ICONS Lodi, Italy
  • PROSPEX INSTITUTE BRUSSEL, Belgium
  • NUROGAMES GMBH Koln, Germany
  • STICHTING DE NATUUR - EN MILIEUFEDERATIES Utrecht, Netherlands
  • BALTI UURINGUTE INSTITUUT Tartu, Estonia
  • SIHTASUTUS TARTU KESKKONNAHARIDUSE KESKUS Tartu, Estonia
  • STICHTING FASHION FOR GOOD Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • WISSENSCHAFTSLADEN BONN EV Bonn, Germany
  • VETENSKAP & ALLMANHET, VA STOCKHOLM, Sweden
  • B.T.G. BIOMASS TECHNOLOGY GROUP BV ENSCHEDE, Netherlands
  • INTHUM - LABORATORIO INTERCULTURALE DI RICERCA E DI PROMOZIONE DELLA CONDIZIONE (H)UMANA Sassari, Italy