‘Bioeconomy Ireland Week’ to bring sustainability and innovation to the fore
Minister of State Martin Heydon says the opportunity to reformulate the Irish economy and the bioeconomy provides opportunities to rebuild and restructure the country's primary producers
Ireland's bioeconomy will come under the spotlight through a series of online events and activities for 'Bioeconomy Ireland Week 2020’ that runs until Friday.
The bioeconomy uses renewable biological resources sourced sustainably from land and sea such as crops, forestry, fisheries, aquaculture, micro-organisms and animals, and converts these resources and their processing by-products into value-added bio-based products including proteins, feeds, fertilizers, plastics and energy.
The National Policy Statement on the Bioeconomy was published in March 2018 and the Bioeconomy Implementation Group was established by the National Policy Statement on the Bioeconomy in 2018.
Comprising numerous departments and agencies, the Group is mandated to advance actions and challenges identified to further develop the Bioeconomy in Ireland.
It is co-chaired by the Department of Environment Climate & Communications and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Minister of State Martin Heydon said Bioeconomy has the potential to create new sustainable opportunities for farmers and lead to the creation of high quality green jobs in rural and coastal areas.
“We are living through historic times where not just on our own but the global economy has suffered in just a short few months,” he added.
“From this unprecedented and difficult position we have the opportunity to reformulate our economy, and the bioeconomy provides opportunities to rebuild and restructure - in a green sustainable and circular way - for our primary producers, as well as the agri-food, marine, forestry, waste management, energy, construction, pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.
“We must Build Back Better.” Meanwhile events taking place throughout Bioeconomy Ireland Week 2020 include the event launch; the Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBeA) launch of INTERREG North West Europe; the launch of CIRCULÉIRE's ‘Circular Bioeconomy 2020’ report by Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) and Irish Bioeconomy Foundation (IBF); an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presentation on Green Enterprise Innovation for Circular economy; the launch of the Bord Iascaigh Mara (BIM) report on ‘Scoping a Seaweed biorefinery Concept for Ireland’; an online SWGROW Workshop on ‘Sustainable Seaweed’ organised by Údarás na Gaeltachta; and Sustainable Farming: A Range of Perspectives.
