GenB Cross-fertilisation workshop for green youth networks

The GenB Bioeconomy Youth Forum was successfully kicked off on June 28^th with the organisation of the cross-fertilisation workshop for green youth networks. The workshop was organised by Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL and was a great opportunity for 30+ young individuals and professionals, from 15 countries, with passion for sustainability and circular bioeconomy to meet powerful global and European youth networks. GenB Ambassadors were actively engaged in this session and contributed to its success.

Among the guest speakers was Johann Liebeton, representing the International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy (IACGB), shared insights from his experience with Bioeconomy Youth Champions initiative and the path towards the vision to create a global and inclusive global community for bioeconomy professionals. Additionally, he presented the upcoming Global Bioeconomy Summit that will take place in Nairobi, Kenya on October 23^rd – 24^th, this year.

Etieno Essien, the Head of the Bioeconomy Think Tank of the Food and Agriculture Youth Institute (FAYI), was invited to introduce the audience to this fresh initiative whose vision is “to raise awareness about negative effects of non-sustainable products and processes but also to promote innovation for sustainable alternatives”. Additionally, he introduced the Bioeconomy Think Tank team and their initial steps and activities to expand this community. Etieno is also an international GenB Ambassador.

Susanna Albertini and Juliet Tschank of the GenB team, presented the Ambassadors programme that engages and empowers more than 80 young people in Europe and beyond towards assuming a role as the sustainable transition with the bioeconomy (the “Generation Bioeconomy”).

Nicholas Ferrini (20 years old) one of Italian Ambassadors delivered a motivating speech about his amazing journey with a variety of activities to promote bioeconomy. His first contact with bioeconomy was 7 years ago and still continues under the GenB ambassadors’ programme.

In the second half of the event, the young attendees were actively engaged in a knowledge exchange and networking session, where the youth networks offered their expertise to other networks in topics such as capacity building, events, business support, tools and engaging contents. In parallel, networks and the young individuals expressed their needs for support, including funding, mentorship, school-industry collaboration and leadership. Additionally, they provided valuable insight to define a series of online youth debates focusing on bioeconomy. The online debates will be the core activity of the GenB Bioeconomy Youth Forum and will be a platform for the younger generations to express their voice and shape the future of circular bioeconomy.