ICOS welcomes the publication of Ireland’s first Bioeconomy Action plan during Bioeconomy Week 2023
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced the publication of Ireland’s National Bioeconomy Action Plan 2023-25. It was published as part of the recent Bioeconomy week in October.
Within the plan there are 33 actions listed under 7 pillars:
1. Governance and Awareness
2. Research, Development, and Innovation
3. Nature, Climate, Energy, and the Circular Economy
4. Agriculture, Food, Forestry, and the Marine
5. Communities, Regions and Cities
6. Industry and Enterprise
7. Knowledge and Skills
ICOS is listed as one of the organisations responsible for the delivery of continuous professional development programmes for the Bioeconomy. ICOS Skillnet has this year launched its Bioeconomy Awareness Programme, this programme is free and is available at www.bioeconomyskills.ie. We will shortly be making available our Bioeconomy and Sustainability resource frameworks online. This demonstrates the commitment from ICOS in delivering on our CPD commitments for the Bioeconomy.
ICOS warmly welcomes the reference to co-operative business models for the bioeconomy:
“Innovation support services will support the establishment of sustainable value chains through the development of cooperation approaches aligning natural capital, primary production and circular bioeconomy value chains and the development of cooperative business models.”
It is very encouraging to see co-operatives business models recognized as structures for the regional deployment of bioeconomy-led projects. Co-operative structure is a trusted and long proven method of involving primary producers in the agri-food sector, who are already by default participating in the bioeconomy. Both existing and new co-operatives, and indeed joint-venture structures possess enormous potential to assemble and process feedstocks at regional level and pass the benefits of this activity back to the key stakeholders in their respective regions. ICOS is working closely with stakeholders to identify pathways to practical projects on the ground, we welcome the action plan as a positive additional step in that direction.
Ireland’s national Bioeconomy Action Plan 2023-25 is available here: