Looking for Partners to Develop Bioeconomy Places in Ukraine Application DEADLINE October 30, 2026

(UABIO) The Bioenergy Association of Ukraine (UABIO) is looking for a Ukrainian territory — a city, a community or a cluster of territorial communities — ready to become a pilot “Bioeconomy Place” in an international research and innovation project being prepared for submission under Horizon Europe topic HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-CIRCBIO-06 “Towards a Europe of Bioeconomy Places”.

The selected territory will become a full-fledged pilot site of a European project on equal terms with sites in EU Member States: it will undergo a complete analytical cycle, a local multi-stakeholder platform will be established, and a Plan for the territory’s transformation into a “Bioeconomy Place” will be developed, backed by signed commitments from the participants.

What a “Bioeconomy Place” is

A “Bioeconomy Place” is a geographically defined territory (a city, a community, a cluster of communities) that is systematically restructuring its economy on a biological basis.

The project will develop a formal definition and a system of benchmarks under which a territory will be able to obtain the “Bioeconomy Place” label, as well as a digital self-assessment tool for territories outside the consortium.

Why we are looking specifically for a Ukrainian territory

The call rules contain an explicit requirement: at least one of the three pilot sites must be located wholly or partly in Ukraine. This is not “added value” but a condition for the proposal’s compliance with the topic. Accordingly, a Ukrainian pilot territory is not a secondary case study but a necessary element of the consortium, without which the proposal cannot be competitive.

In addition, a Ukrainian territory offers the European project something that stable EU territories cannot: the opportunity to test the resilience of the “Bioeconomy Place” concept itself under extreme constraints — destroyed infrastructure, disrupted logistics chains, staff shortages and wartime risks.

What participation involves for the territory

At the pilot site, at least the following scope of work will be carried out:

Baseline analysis across four mandatory dimensions: infrastructure (physical and digital conditions for bioeconomy clusters); value chains (mapping of biomass sources and processing capacities with a focus on SMEs and start-ups); the needs and awareness of consumers and civil society; skills readiness.

Establishment of a local multi-stakeholder platform: the local self-government body, business, higher and vocational education institutions, research organisations, farmers and forest users, trade unions, civil society organisations.

Development of a Transformation Plan with commitments: a vision for the territory towards 2030/2040, scenario modelling, a portfolio of specific projects with preliminary CAPEX/OPEX estimates, signed memoranda, and integration of the plan into the local planning documents in force (community development strategy, SECAP, waste management plan).

Training programmes and capacity building: modules for operators and technical staff, engineers and local government officials; pilot training sessions on site; workshops on preparing bankable projects and accessing finance.

Validation of the benchmarking system: repeat measurement of the indicators at the end of the project and comparison with other EU pilot sites.

Policy recommendations: at local, national and European level, including on the alignment of Ukrainian legislation with the acquis in the fields of bioeconomy and circularity.

What the territory gains

The status of a pilot site of a Horizon Europe project and visibility at EU level.

A full professional assessment of the territory’s bioresource, infrastructure, human-capital and investment potential, carried out under a single European methodology and comparable with data from EU territories.

A ready Transformation Plan with a portfolio of investment projects suitable for submission to donors and financial institutions (InvestEU, EIB, EBRD, the Ukraine Facility, the Decarbonisation Fund, LIFE, cohesion policy funds).

Training for community specialists and local businesses; access to the project’s open educational resources.

Direct partnership links with European pilot territories, exchange programmes and peer learning.

Participation in shaping the European “Bioeconomy Place” labelling system — that is, influence over the rules by which other territories will subsequently be assessed.

Support from the UABIO team in accompanying local bioenergy and circular economy initiatives throughout the project.

Important: what the project does not provide

To avoid inflated expectations, we set out the limits clearly:

This is a research and innovation action (RIA), not an investment or construction programme. The project does not finance the construction of biogas plants, boiler houses or processing lines, or the purchase of equipment.

The community may participate either as an associated member of the platform or as a beneficiary with its own budget and commitments under the work packages.

The proposal has not yet been submitted. Selecting a territory means forming UABIO’s position for negotiations with the consortium coordinator; the final decision rests with the consortium, and funding depends on the outcome of the evaluation by the European Commission.

Whom we are looking for: a brief profile

The ideal candidate is a territory that simultaneously has:

tangible and documented bioresource potential (agricultural biomass, forest biomass, manure, organic and food waste, sewage sludge);

an existing industrial or processing base and an active SME sector in the bio-based or related industries;

the political will of the leadership of the local self-government body, confirmed in writing, and a designated responsible officer with a realistic time allocation;

a combination of urban and rural components (a central city and the adjacent rural area, or a cluster of communities), which makes it possible to study urban–rural synergies;

an acceptable security situation allowing planned work on site over 3–4 years;

strategic documents in force into which the Transformation Plan can be integrated;

higher or vocational education institutions in or near the territory;

willingness to work in a multi-stakeholder format and to provide data.