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The STAR-ProBio Final Workshop turns virtual

The STAR-ProBio project invites to its Final (virtual) Workshop “Assessing Sustainability of Bio-based Products: Where do we stand?”.
The workshop will take place on April 28th 2020 from 10:00 to 12:30 (Central European Time).
Registration is free, but subject to maximum availability of the conference platform. Please send an email to info@sqconsult.com indicating your name and affiliation.
Click here to download the agenda of the event.
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STAR-ProBio Bio-based Products Social Sustainability Workshop – IFIB 2018

The Bio-based Products Social Sustainability Workshop was held on the 27th of September 2018 from 11:00 to 13:00, as a side event of the IFIB- International Forum on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy (https://ifib2018.b2match.io). Social Life Cycle Assessment may involve a broad spectrum of aspects directly affecting stakeholders, encompassing human rights, working conditions, health and safety issues, equity, social responsibility, job creation and participation in society. Therefore, the consideration of stakeholders perspectives, when formulating the most relevant aspects to be included in a social sustainability assessment for bio-based products, is of major importance.

  • 11 stakeholders of different categories (e.g. general society, consumers, producers, NGOs, European projects and researchers) were involved in validating a list of the most relevant social topics and indicators related to bio-based products, which was previously identified by means of two rounds of an in-depth literature review
  • Most of the social topics presented to the stakeholders such as Human rights, Health and safety, Social benefits/ social security, Social acceptability, Contribution to economy and Food security were validated. On the other hand, few were recommended for removal.
  • With reference to the indicators associated to the afore-mentioned social topics, Tests performed to check safety, Quality of information/signs on product health and safety, Management efforts to minimize use of hazardous substances, Compliance with regulations regarding transparency, Publication of a sustainability report, Communication of the results of social and environmental life cycle impact assessment, Certification or documentation about sustainability issues, Land use change, and Local employment produced were top ranked.
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1st internal workshop “Principles, criteria and indicators for sustainability transition assessment to circular and bio-based economy”

On 15 September 2017 at the campus of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn it was held the 1st internal workshop entitled “Principles, criteria and indicators for sustainability transition assessment to circular and bio-based economy”.

This workshop was associated directly with realization of STAR-ProBio project (H2020). The goal of the workshop was to discuss the general framework for effective and harmonized regulations in creation of market pull for bio-based products.

During the workshop it was presented initial results of ongoing research by interdisciplinary research teams representing scientific disciplines of agriculture, environment management, economics and law.

The event attracted 14 participants and the basis for discussion was 10 presentations. The final conclusion from this workshop seems to be unambiguous – interdisciplinary research approach with a multilayer thorough analysis of technical, economic, environmental and social aspects will be crucial for development of market regulations for bio-based products.