WEBINAR: EDUCATION, SCIENCE, AND INNOVATION IN THE BIOECONOMY
On October 30, we launched a series of educational meetups as part of the “Building Ukraine’s Bioeconomy” project, which is being implemented under the overall coordination of program fellow Viktoria Vostryakova (Vika Zataydukh) as part of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility cholarship Program to support civil society leaders in Eastern Partnership countries, funded by the European Union.
The first educational webinar focused on the topic of EDUCATION, SCIENCE, AND INNOVATION IN THE BIOECONOMY and was divided into two parts.
The first concerned education and educational programs, while the second focused on the innovative component.
We spoke with our speaker, Iryna Hryhoruk—an associate professor in the Department of Management and Business Administration and head of the Research Division at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University—about education and its role in the development of the bioeconomy. Together with the webinar participants, we explored the concepts of sustainable development and the bioeconomy.
The main point is that our potential is limited by the knowledge we possess. If we want to put the bioeconomy into practice, we need to learn.
We discussed higher education institutions and the standards for educational programs in this field.
We sought to answer the question: Does a bioeconomy exist in Ukraine? What indicators can be used to measure it? We found that one of the key parameters is the assessment of education and the workforce. Therefore, we must focus on the quantity and quality of university graduates. Today, education must be characterized by interdisciplinarity, collaboration, and synergy.
We learned about informal education (competitions, startups, hackathons) and its role in the development of the bioeconomy.
We analyzed the gaps in higher education and formulated recommendations.
Olga Yermakova—Doctor of Economics, Professor, and Head of the Department of Economic and Environmental Development of Coastal Regions at the State Institution “Institute of Market and Economic-Environmental Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine”—spoke about new technologies and innovations as catalysts for the development of a sustainable bioeconomy.
We examined the technological structure of the bioeconomy, groups of biotechnologies, and the structure of the circular bioeconomy.
The role of the bioeconomy in addressing humanity’s global challenges has been identified.
Ms. Olga demonstrated a model of zero-waste production and the recycling of aquaculture products.
We discussed the possibility of creating:
agricultural clusters;
eco-industrial parks;
bioregions that help integrate the bioeconomy into business and manufacturing.
The speaker cited the example of the Ukrainian-Moldovan cross-border industrial, scientific, and educational cluster focused on the processing of wine-making byproducts. For the development of such initiatives, appropriate government policies—including strategies, programs, and a legislative framework—are essential. We have a very strong incentive to carry out Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction based on the principle of building something better than what existed before.
Project coordinator Viktoria Vostryakova encouraged webinar participants to contribute to the research and discussion that will form the basis for the white paper. She outlined the project’s main activities and invited participants to take part in an online survey on perceptions of the bioeconomy: https://forms.gle/p5fY9WdeCkusTyhL9
Webinar materials:
Presentations by the speakers can be found here
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