Barriers and innovation pathways for Europe's circular bioeconomy : grassroots stakeholder insights from 43 multi-actor workshops

Paris, Bas (author), Balafoutis, Athanasios T. (author), Christopoulou, Clio (author), Santos, João (author), Ristovska, Natasha (author), Juvančič, Luka (author), Berden Zrimec, Maja (author), Vajda, Boglarka (author), Michas, Dimitris (author), Papadakis, George (author)

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.

• Language: English
• Keywords: circular bioeconomy, bio-based value chains, residue valorisation, innovation pathways, interconnected barriers, stakeholder participation, bioeconomy policy
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2027
• Number of pages: 17 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 252, article no. 109233
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-188016
• UDC: 338
• ISSN on article: 1873-6106
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2026.109233
• COBISS.SI-ID: 291398403
• Publication date in RUL: 17.09.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Ecological economics
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 1873-6106
• COBISS.SI-ID: 23228677

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: krožno biogospodarstvo, inovacije, ovire, deležniki, politika

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Project number: 101060166
• Name: Accelerating circular bio-based solutions integration in European rural areas
• Acronym: BioRural