Final Report “Bioeconomy in North Rhine-Westphalia”

A study on the reorientation of NRW’s bioeconomic strategy

Stark, S., Rhyner, J., Börner, J., Kopaleyshvili, A., Middelhauve, S. (2021): Abschlussbericht zum
Forschungsvorhaben „Bioökonomie in Nordrhein-Westfalen: Eine Studie zur Neuausrichtung der NRW
Bioökonomiestrategie“. Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung, Bonner Allianz für Nachhaltigkeitsforschung, Bonn.

Background and objectives

Bioeconomy, which is dedicated to renewable biological resources and their use in, among other things, food, energy and bio-based products, comprises many sectors (food and various production industries, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, biotechnology and process technology, energy industries, trade, logistics, etc.) and is characterised by a complex landscape of actors and interests.

The aim of the study was to create a systematic overview of bioeconomy activity in NRW and to analyze the expectations and perceptions of the relevant actors for a revised bioeconomy strategy in NRW in order to identify thematic and/or regionalized approaches and needs and to address them specifically in the revised strategy.

In order to formulate the key points of a new bioeconomy strategy for NRW in a way that is appropriate for the target group, local potentials and bioeconomy initiatives at the district level were identified as part of this study. For a comprehensive overview of the bioeconomy landscape in NRW and a derivation of local fields of action for a new bioeconomy strategy, this study addressed the relevant administrative units in all counties and independent cities as well as the affiliated and higher-level institutions (regional development/district government, economic development, chambers of industry and commerce, chambers of agriculture) in NRW.

Following the derived recommendations for action, a systematic overview of bioeconomy activity in NRW was compiled as part of this project and the expectations and ideas of the relevant stakeholders for a revised bioeconomy strategy in NRW were surveyed in order to identify thematic and/or regionalized approaches and needs and to address them specifically in a revised strategy.

The focus of this study is on the following objectives:
(1) the identification and presentation of bioeconomic visions, projects and clusters;
(2) the mapping of regional, bioeconomic potentials by recording unused material flows and initiatives to close biobased material cycles;
(3) the survey of prioritized measures and topics from the perspective of administration, agribusiness and industry.

The full final report [German] is available here.

Click here for the project page.

The project “Bioeconomy in North Rhine-Westphalia: A study on the reorientation of NRW’s bioeconomic strategy” is funded by the Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia (MULNV).