20.500.12556/RUL-188016 Barriers and innovation pathways for Europe's circular bioeconomy grassroots stakeholder insights from 43 multi-actor workshops The bioeconomy is a key pillar of the European Green Deal, yet its implementation remains constrained by entrenched linear value chains, fragmented logistics systems, and regulatory uncertainty. This paper examines how practitioners across Europe envision circular bioeconomy transitions, drawing on 43 harmonised multi-actor workshops conducted in 14 countries with 1078 participants from primary production, processing industries, technology provision, public authorities, and civil society. Using a structured participatory canvas and comparative thematic analysis, we analyse how stakeholders redesign existing value chains, which innovation pathways they prioritise, and which barriers they encounter in practice. Across agriculture, forestry, aquatic systems and bio-based industries, stakeholders consistently shift the focus from expanding biomass production toward better use of residues and side-streams. Dominant innovation pathways include residue valorisation, nutrient and water recycling, integrated bioenergy systems, and emerging biomaterials. Four interlinked barrier domains recur across countries and sectors: economic barriers, technological limitations, feedstock logistics and infrastructure constraints, and policy and regulatory challenges. The findings suggest that circular bioeconomy transitions are constrained less by a lack of innovation opportunities than by recurring economic, technological, infrastructural, regulatory, and knowledge-related barriers across countries and sectors. Providing one of the most extensive cross-country, practitioner-led analyses of circular bioeconomy transitions to date, the study offers insight into the conditions shaping circular bioeconomy development across Europe. The findings point to a policy agenda focused on regulatory clarification, coordinated investment in residue aggregation and pre-treatment infrastructure, while highlighting the need for complementary sustainability assessments to evaluate ecological effectiveness and broader socio-ecological implications. circular bioeconomy bio-based value chains residue valorisation innovation pathways interconnected barriers stakeholder participation bioeconomy policy krožno biogospodarstvo inovacije ovire deležniki politika true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-09-17 10:55:08 2026-09-17 10:55:21 2026-09-18 04:30:44 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2027 0 0 17 str. article no. 109233 Vol. 252 Feb. 2027 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 338 1873-6106 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2026.109233 291398403 RAZ_Paris_Bas_2027.pdf RAZ_Paris_Bas_2027.pdf 1 E93BA706D3C285F9DEC2922FDA720F87 a7896f05b1de835b52df5fea8fea27184a73237074c71d805c9add76b8081997 af253775-b275-11f1-8bc5-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=247873 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800926003186 1 81d8fd7f-b275-11f1-8bc5-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=247872 Biotehniška fakulteta 0 0 0