Voices from the field: Primary Producers share their bioeconomy journey

Four members of the Working Group on Primary Producers (WGPP) share their experiences from agriculture, forestry and the blue bioeconomy. Discover their challenges, ambitions and perspectives on building a more inclusive and innovative circular bioeconomy in Europe.

What does participation in the bioeconomy look like from the perspective of those working closest to the land, forests, and aquatic resources? To find out, we spoke with members of the Working Group on Primary Producers (WGPP), established by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) to ensure that the voices, experiences and needs of primary producers are reflected in Europe’s developing bio-based economy.

Bringing together representatives from agriculture, forestry and the blue bioeconomy, the WGPP creates a space to exchange experiences, identify shared challenges, and help shape practical solutions. The stories below showcase different perspectives from across Europe, while highlighting a common ambition: strengthening the role of primary producers in circular bio-based value chains.

Turning agricultural residues into new opportunities

For Concetta Di Pietro, member of the San Nicola Agricultural Cooperative in Abruzzo, Italy, one of the biggest challenges is not a lack of ideas, but access to information.

Concetta explains that many primary producers struggle to engage with European initiatives because information can be difficult to find, language barriers remain significant, and time is often scarce for people whose daily work takes place in the field.

Yet these obstacles did not stop her from joining the WGPP. Driven by a strong interest in sustainability, she saw the Working Group as an opportunity to connect with researchers and organisations that could help her cooperative realize an ambitious idea: transforming agricultural residues currently discarded as waste into valuable secondary products.

Today, that idea is beginning to take shape. Through contacts made within the European network, the cooperative has already identified a research partner and is exploring funding opportunities to develop its project further.

Building trust across the value chain

In Normandy, France, Sophie Rabeau-Epsztein works with farmers every day as manager of the Biomass and Energy Department at the Chambers of Agriculture of Normandy.

From her perspective, farmers are often far more open to innovation than people assume. The challenge lies elsewhere.

According to Sophie, three conditions are essential for greater participation in the bioeconomy: fair prices for biomass, contracts that share risks between producers and industry, and a better understanding of industrial needs.

For farmers considering participation in new value chains, economic uncertainty can be a major barrier. Trust becomes easier when producers know who will buy their biomass, under what conditions, and how risks and rewards will be distributed.

This conviction inspired Sophie to join the WGPP. She sees the group as a place where producers, advisors, industries, and other stakeholders can learn from one another and build the relationships needed to make bio-based value chains work. Her message is simple but powerful: successful innovation requires exchanges between every link of the value chain.

A shared vision for sustainable forests

While Europe’s forests differ greatly from north to south, Carlo Piemonte believes their challenges are remarkably similar.

As General Manager of the Italia Foresta Legno cluster at the time of the interview and Chair of the forestry sector within the WGPP, Carlo advocates for a broader understanding of sustainable forest management. For him, forests are not just a source of wood. They are ecosystems that support rural communities, biodiversity, tourism, climate action, and local economies.

One of the key challenges facing the forestry sector is improving awareness and understanding of sustainable management practices. This requires reducing bureaucratic barriers, strengthening knowledge about forest value chains, and, perhaps most importantly, embedding a culture of forest stewardship within society.

The WGPP has provided an opportunity for forestry actors from across Europe to exchange experiences openly. Through discussions between Nordic and Mediterranean countries, participants have discovered that despite differences in forest types and management approaches, many of their concerns are shared.

For Carlo, one of the group’s greatest strengths is creating a space where people can speak honestly about what works, what does not, and what lessons can be transferred across regions.

Giving aquaculture producers a stronger voice

The blue bioeconomy brings another set of perspectives to the discussion: David Bassett, General Secretary of the European Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform (EATIP) and vice-chair of the WGPP’s aquatic sector, points out that many people are still unfamiliar with aquaculture itself.

Beyond a lack of visibility, the sector faces another important challenge: scale. Around 80% of aquaculture production in the European Union comes from micro-producers, often family-run businesses with ten employees or fewer. Limited resources and capacity can make it difficult for these producers to participate in research and innovation activities.

For David, the WGPP offers an important opportunity to address this gap. By bringing together producers from different sectors, the group helps identify common barriers and enables the exchange of practical solutions.

One of the most valuable lessons for the aquaculture sector has been learning from approaches developed in agriculture, particularly in the areas of knowledge transfer and producer engagement.

Different sectors, common goals

Whether it is transforming agricultural residues into new products, strengthening trust between farmers and industry, promoting sustainable forest management, or improving the visibility of aquaculture producers, the experiences shared by Concetta, Sophie, Carlo and David reveal a common theme: primary producers want to be active participants in Europe’s bioeconomy transition.

Through the Working Group on Primary Producers, RootLinks and the CBE JU are helping create the connections, knowledge exchange, and collaborative spaces needed to make that participation possible.

While their journeys are different, the stories of Concetta, Sophie, Carlo and David demonstrate that progress happens when primary producers are empowered to connect, collaborate, and make their voices heard. Their experiences offer valuable inspiration for others looking to engage in the bioeconomy.