REPORT on the Biobased Business Development Day 2017
Date: 23/11/17
Location: Bio Base Europe Training Center, Zeelandlaan 2, 4538 CA Terneuzen, The Netherlands
We are looking back upon a very successful edition of the Biobased Business Development Day 2017! On Thursday November 23rd, about 200 participants from the Netherlands and Flanders were gathered to talk about “Biobased entrepreneurship without borders”. The event was co-organised by Biobased Delta, a cluster from the Netherlands, and Flanders Biobased Valley, in cooperation with the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, the regional development agency of East-Flanders and the development agencies of the south of the Netherlands, making it a real interregional event. With workshops on 6 different topics and an information market there was ample opportunity to learn about the different centers of expertise in the regions and to make new contacts.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE EVENT VIDEO
The morning program consisted of a plenary session, giving an overview of the biobased economy in the Netherlands and Flanders, followed by witnesses by entrepreneurs talking about their experiences with coupons, application centers or EU projects. The afternoon program consisted of parallel workshops on biobased materials, biopolymers, valorisation of side streams, biocolorants, biobased upscaling and biobased building. The workshops were meant to introduce the different application centers active on each topic (including the application centers involved in the BioBase4SME coupon scheme) and to discuss on trends and challenges in the different domains.
In parallel an information market was organized were companies could present their products or application centers and other organisations could present their activities or projects. Also the BioBase4SME project had a booth there, and a presentation on the project and the voucher system was given during the workshop on upscaling.
The event attracted about 200 participants, with a 50/50 division between Flanders and the Netherlands. 30% of the participants were SME's.
85% of the participants filling in the evaluation form indicated that they found relevant contacts within their region, 78% indicated to have found relevant contacts outside their region. These contacts include possible future collaborations or business opportunities. Some of the SME’s expressed interest in the coupon system of the BioBase4SME project and confirmed that they might envision a coupon application in the future.
More information and an impression of the day can be found via https://www.agro-chemie.nl/nieuws/bbd-business-development-dag-grenzeloos-samenwerken/ and https://www.agro-chemie.nl/nieuws/bbd-business-dag-beeld/
