Welcome to Biobord!

At the end of April, the international food innovation development workshop and competition –Food Hack by Biobord – was successfully completed. Latvian companies Aloja-Starkelsen, Felici and MILZU!, as well as Lupinta from Sweden met for the second time to receive advice from food experts, ask questions of interest and listen to valuable experience stories as they approached the realization of the developed product prototype. The winning team was also expanded by inviting a newcomer – Simply NoWaste (Sweden).

In March of this year, the first part of the Food Hack by Biobord took place, gathering 6 experts and 13 companies from Sweden, Latvia, Finland and Estonia to meet the challenges of alternative proteins and functional food and develop concepts of new products by working in international teams. Hackathon winners – Lupinta (Sweden), MILZU! (Latvia), Aloja-Starkelsen (Latvia), Felici (Latvia) and Fagraslätt (Sweden) – concluded the competition by creating the first actual prototype of the product – plant based vegan pancake DIY mix, consisting of beer leftovers, brown pea and fava bean protein – called "Morning Heaven Magic Mix". The benefits of this product would be convenient use and production, the richness of organic plant-based protein and the use of lateral components of beer processing, which reduce food waste and develops a more sustainable environment.

As Fagraslätt could not continue to participate in the hackathon, the winning team made a decision to invite a new valuable player to be a part of the hacking, providing a significant support for the development and realization of the prototype of the product. Simply NoWaste (Sweden) is a Malmo based FoodTech company with a focus on upcycling of residue products

The public part of the workshop, attended by more than 40 participants, opened new presentations by experts in the field of alternative proteins and functional food, bringing together representatives of companies from Finland and Estonia. Sirli Rosenvald, PhD – Head of Product Development and Sensorics Department from Estonian Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies – provided an insight into the institution's work on research of proteins and analogues of plant origin, revealing both the methods used and their importance in conducting various studies. Margit Pruul, founder of HIID – Power of Nettle –, presented the valuable characteristics of nettles, as well as shared stories about the Estonian company's path to growth to inspire those present to create and develop innovative products using local resources. At the end of the public part, Christos Granqvist, co-founder of the Finnish company HOFU – Pure plant-based protein from pure Finnish Fava beans - a product that replaces traditional soy-based Tofu –, gave practical advice on the development of the product market from a marketing point of view.

In the second part of the event, the winners of the food hackathon had a unique opportunity to work together with experts in the field of alternative proteins and functional food, and to receive answers to various questions related to the development of the product prototype. Lupinta, MILZU! Aloja-Starkelsen, Felici and Simply NoWaste companies received valuable support from an international panel of experts on topics such as the development of innovative and sustainable food products and their flavours, as well as the possibilities of using fermentation technologies to increase the added value of the product. The panel consisted of Inge Arents, Head of Flanders' Food (Belgium), Viktoria Ollson, University of Christiansted (Sweden), Hannah Tunberg, taste expert (Sweden) and Nicolaj Ma, Danish Institute of Technology.

In the framework of Food Hack by Biobord events, not only an innovative prototype of the product has been created, but there has also been a valuable exchange of contacts and international networking. We collected the experiences of the winning team to this video, check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3avFXpTnEU&t=19s

The Institute for Environmental Solutions, a member of the Biobord network, organized an online workshop “New technologies for monitoring of large-bodied wild-animals and free-ranging livestock: challenges and opportunities”, which took place on the 5th of May 2021.

The purpose of the workshop was to share the experience on the use of drones and other remote sensing technologies for monitoring large-bodied wild animals and free-ranging livestock in Finland, Latvia, Norway and Poland. Experts discussed challenges and opportunities for technology adoption in wildlife management, as well as raised the needs and ideas of the future transnational cooperation. The workshop was dedicated to wildlife management institutions, land use management organizations (forestry, agriculture), nature conservation and protection institutions, hunters, veterinary services, owners of free-ranging livestock, researchers, university students, technology developers, infrastructure developers, operators of hunting tourism, and policymakers.

The workshop was a part of an extension stage project “Biobord open innovation platform connecting bioeconomy developers in BSR (ConnectedByBiobord)”, in the framework of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme that is co-financed by the funds from the European Regional Development Fund, flagship project of EUSBSR and project partners.

Please find the workshop materials and videos from here.

RDI2CluB -project activities in the Świętokrzyskie region have been presented in the Polish Climate Report TOGETAIR, prepared by the ‘Clean Air’ Foundation, in cooperation with i.e.. the National Centre for Research and Development, Ministry Climate and Environment and regional authorities of all Polish regions.

RDI2CluB was the main project behind the extension stage project ConnectedByBiobord. Both projects are co-funded by EU and are part of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme (Capacity for innovation), as well as EUSBSR flagship projects.

" The RDI2CluB -project contributed to the popularization of low emission and its threats. It is no coincidence that the spa municipalities of Busko-Zdrój and Solec-Zdrój, where the pilot actions were implemented (including measurements of air pollution levels using a drone), are among the most active local governments in Świętokrzyskie, acquiring funds under umbrella projects to co-finance the replacement of outdated coal-fired furnaces with environmentally friendly, renewable energy sources. The project's innovation includes a focus on the role of regions and local communities in the development of a bioeconomy, which means taking care of nature in a broad sense combined with innovative solutions that support the local economy - this has been achieved through the development of regional bioeconomy profiles for partner regions and action plans to develop regional bioeconomy ecosystems.

As part of the international pilot, a digital platform Biobord.eu was also created as a virtual working environment and meeting place for bioeconomy enthusiasts. It has been a great success in the region in raising awareness about the bioeconomy and its importance among different groups, through various events and promotional activities, including online activities for children and seniors. This has resulted, among other things, in an original project by the youth council of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship and the youth council of Miedziana Góra called Smog Out, which includes educational activities on air quality and the fight against smog. The youth assembly also set up an environmental commission with a real impact on the regional documents and decisions of the regional authorities on environmental issues that are being developed.

Above all, the RDI2CluB project has helped to initiate a discussion on bioeconomy and closed loop economy, at a time when the Świętokrzyskie region is formally redefining its development directions for the next years. For the first time bioeconomy was mentioned by name in such important documents as Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Development Strategy 2030+ and Regional Innovation Strategy. " (TOGETAIR 2021)

Full article:

https://raport.togetair.eu/human/regional-policy/swietokrzyskie-unleashes-potential

Transnational forest data hackathon, Forest Hack by Biobord, took place 13.04. - 14.04.2021 and gathered together 9 forest, technology and data management organizations from Finland, Sweden and Norway to co-create and network. The aim of the event was to establish joint initiatives (such as projects) and find new business potentials from the forest value chain. Event was part of the forest innovation pilot of Interreg BSR and EUSBSR flagship -project ConnectedByBiobord (capacity for innovation).

Co-creation of experts

Forest Hack by Biobord was supported by sectoral agency Finnish Forest Centre that encouraged hackers for new data based solutions and use of new technologies within in the industry. What made this event different, was that most hackers were the experts of the industry and instead of coaching, event relied strongly to co-creation. Co-creation was supported with excellent keynotes from Jussi Lappalainen - Finnish Forest Centre and Sverker Danielsson - Mistra Digital Forest. Both keynotes painted the picture of current digitalization of the industry, as well as inspired for new innovations.

Accurate data and tracing quality as challenges

Two challenges were selected for hacking;

• Methods for more detailed and accurate data from forests AND
• Accurate data from forests and tracing quality for increased value creation

First challenge was solved in a transnational context between JAMK University of Applied Sciences (FI), TerraNor Kartanalyse (NO), Swedish Forest Agency (SWE), Glommen Mjøsen Skog (NO), PRO Civis (PL) and Luavia Ltd (FI). A digital forestry lab was seen as a potential solution for more detailed and accurate data from forest.

Second challenge was solved in a Swedish-Norwegian team, consisting of FeltGis Ltd. (NO), Fiskarhedens Trävaru Ltd (SWE), Tretorget Ltd (NO), PRO Civis (PL), Taigatech Ltd (SWE), Sør-Hedmark Næringshage (NO), Paper Province (SWE) and Kristiania University College (SWE). Their solution was a joint data platform for accurate data from forest and for better tracing quality for increased value creation.

Transnational co-operation as a result

Next step of the process is project planning between hackers. Several regional, national and transnational discussions and research are needed before funding can be applied but the most important step of finding joint understanding, has been established. Forest Hack by Biobord built a strong basis for the stakeholder co-operation and started, hopefully, a long joint journey towards more efficient and valuable forestry!