Officially launched in November 2022, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is pleased to be a part of an exciting Horizon Europe Project, Innovative Education for the Bioconomy (BioBeo). Over the next 2 years, this €2 million project delivered by 15 partners across 10 countries, with the aim of developing and deploying an education programme that will enhance understanding and engagement across society regarding lifestyle, circularity and bioeconomy. This work will centre around five bioeconomy themes – interconnectedness, outdoor learning, forestry, life below water, and the food loop.

What is the bioeconomy?

According to the European Commission, “The bioeconomy means using renewable biological resources from land and sea, like crops, forests, fish, animals and micro-organisms to produce food, materials and energy.” Partners of the BioBeo project will work to introduce new thinking and approaches to circular economy education across Europe. While strategically overcoming the institutional and cultural barriers to implement relevant circular bioeconomy education programs in preschool, primary, and secondary schools, BioBeo aims to define and deliver novel curricula to enhance young people’s and citizens’ involvement in policymaking for bioeconomy.

The five bioeconomy themes of the BioBeo Project.

What is FEE’s role?

FEE will be contributing to the co-creation of bioeconomy educational materials and assist with the dissemination of the project outcomes and resources across our global network of educators and practitioners. Two of FEE’s member organisations, An Taisce – The National Trust of Ireland (Ireland) and BOS+ Vlaanderen (Belgium), are also part of the project’s consortium of partners.

Launching BioBeo

The BioBeo Kick-Off Meeting was held at University College Dublin and Maynooth University from 16th–18th November 2022. The European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union, Mairéad McGuinness, launched the Kick-Off Meeting highlighting the importance of the project which will enable young people, their families and their communities to “be the future drivers of a bio-better Europe.” Leading the education development work, Dr Máire Nic An Bhaird, Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education, Maynooth University, said: “A key focus is on embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into primary and secondary education programmes across Europe, leading to an enhanced society-wide understanding of a sustainable future for the next generation. This is a great opportunity for Maynooth University to play a key European leadership role in this rapidly developing area of education.”

What’s next?

Over the next few months, project partners are working to develop educational materials and tools centered around the five themes of the bioeconomy. To receive the latest news from the project, you can follow BioBeo on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

For a more in-depth look at BioBeo, you can visit the project’s website.