The BBioNets project, of which CTA is a member, is an initiative funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme that has taken a decisive step in reforming European rural policy, bringing the results obtained on the ground to the highest institutional level.
During the first half of 2026, the six countries making up the consortium — Ireland, Greece, Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain and Italy — held national and regional events whose conclusions formed the basis for a major European-level policy gathering held in Brussels on 27 May 2026. For this occasion, BBioNets activated its Standing Liaison Round Table (SLRT) initiative, a network bringing together 20 bioeconomy-related projects, with six of them —Soil-X-Change, AQUAGRI-KNOW, BRILIAN, C4B, Rural BioReFarmeries y SOUL— joining as co-organisers under the Policy Lab format.
Alongside CTA and TEPRO, the Grupo La Caña participated in the event, bringing the perspective of the Andalusian agri-food sector to a forum of European reach.
The event opened with an institutional address from the EU CAP Network Support Service and was structured around parallel working groups focused on natural resource management and regulatory frameworks. The day concluded with a Multi-Stakeholder Round Table in which participants discussed the main findings; the final recommendations will be published in the coming weeks.
Building on this momentum, BBioNets is now turning its attention to practical implementation. The project has conducted a targeted survey across its six partner countries to map regional needs, structural bottlenecks and successful support mechanisms around Bio-Based Technology (BBT) Operational Groups, a scheme that remains underused across much of Europe.
The findings of this survey will form the backbone of a capacity building webinar scheduled for 16 June 2026 at 10:30 CET, bringing together representatives from National CAP Networks, Managing Authorities, advisors and sector professionals to discuss the results, exchange ideas and share practical experiences aimed at strengthening the creation and implementation of Operational Groups. The webinar will be an opportunity to identify what works and what can be improved, pooling the capacity building strategies that have proven effective across different national contexts.