Europe’s economy depends on oil and gas for energy and chemistry for all kinds of daily life products, but the use of fossil resources harms the environment and our climate. The bioeconomy offers a way out by providing industrial and consumer products made of biomass and waste.
AllThings.BioPRO
Game Changer for the Bio-Based Economy
The Context
This is a crucial moment for involving society in the transition to a more circular economy. Since all individuals, whether as citizens or consumers, will be affected, they should be able to play a role when shaping it. On the other hand, it goes without saying that the bio-based industry needs the input of citizens and consumers, to make sure that the products developed are in tune with consumers’ requirements and expectations.
The Goal
In Allthings.bioPRO we are going to put all emphasis on getting citizens involved in the bioeconomy and making their voices heard. We will focus on issues and products, which connect with the daily life of citizens and consumers. Possible themes are the creation of growth and jobs, sustainable and circular use of resources or the societal dimension of the bio-based industry in Europe but also outside Europe where the biomass products might impact societies in other countries. The personal viewpoint of a consumer considers quality, functionality and the costs of products but does also care about sustainable production and the environmental impact of daily life products.
The Solution
In Allthings.bioPRO we will use serious gaming to channel citizens’ voices to the bio-based industries. The aim is to develop a serious game within a co-creation and co-design process involving both citizens and experts. To ensure focus, we already decided on the subject of the serious game but we will leave the final creation of its content to the engagement process.
Allthings.bioPRO will also make use of mobile phones as one means to collect citizen-derived data. By developing a mobile application, which is directly related to bio-based products, the project will create data, which can be exploited by bio-based industry stakeholders and can provide important insights to policy. Assuming that the bioeconomy is about the transition from a fossil-based economy to a sustainable bio-based economy we will start from the usual product case, which is often made from fossil-based materials. We will develop a mobile app to show citizens alternatives for the same kind of product, which are partly or fully made of bio-based materials.
