BioEast: Central-Eastern European initiative for knowledge-based agriculture, aquaculture and forestry in the bioeconomy

The territory of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries mostly belongs to the Continental and Pannonian Bio-geographical Regions. Specific and extreme changes in the weather resulting from the very nature of these Regions can be expected in the near future, and adaptation in agriculture and the bioeconomy is a challenge. Furthermore, in many of these countries the current levels of research, innovation, cooperation and lobbying are substantially below the European Union (EU) average, and this research and innovation divide in Europe hinders both the unlocking of excellence in the CEE region and the development of the European Research Area. BioEast is a new strategic research agenda designed to address these challenges. This paper, firstly, introduces the objectives and focus areas of BioEast; secondly recounts the CEE countries’ actions so far; thirdly describes the institutional set-up of BioEast; fourthly summarises the conclusions from the BioEast workshop held in Budapest on 21-22 February 2017; and fifthly shows how BioEast can help to focus the EU’s agricultural research agenda, especially Horizon 2020, the research and innovation framework programme for the period 2014-2020. Five specific topics are proposed: (a) coordination of bioeconomy-related research and innovation activities; (b) response to climate change and socio-economic challenges; (c) a buffer zone against pathogens; (d) freshwater fish production; and (e)integrated biomass production. Finally, some future actions for BioEast are suggested.