HORIZON EUROPE BioINSouth Project: Supporting regional environmental sustainability assessments for BIO-based sectors to enhance innovation, industry, and inclusiveness in Southern Europe.

The BioINSouth project aims to support decision-makers in incorporating ecological limits into their regional bioeconomy strategies and roadmaps for bio-based circular activities. The project aims to develop guidelines and digital tools, considering the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) assessment framework, to support the adoption of innovative methodologies for assessing environmental impacts across multiple bio-based industrial systems, increasing regional competitiveness and innovation capacity, and contributing to the EU's just and green transition.

The project will focus on the Southern Mediterranean regions of Europe, with a particular focus on currently lagging regions—regions in developing countries such as Cyprus, Slovenia, Greece, and Portugal—while the project will involve broader participation from other Southern Mediterranean countries, including Spain, France, and Italy, and international cooperation with Turkey and Argentina (on the advisory board). Drawing on the experience of the BIOEAST initiative brought by BIOEAST HUB CZ, BioINSouth will achieve its primary objective by establishing regional HUBs that bring together a wide range of stakeholders, including policymakers and public authorities, expert voices, market players (especially SMEs), and civil society (especially NGOs).

The methodology will also seek collaboration and the exchange of best practices among HUBs within the BioINSouth macroregional network and with international organizations. The concept will be demonstrated in eight regions of the partner countries, using a fully transferable case study approach that can be replicated in other regions of Southern Europe once the project is completed.