The UrBIOfuture project celebrated its mid-term meeting in Seville, on October 16th. The session was hosted at the headquarters of CTA (Technological Corporation of Andalusia) where the consortium partners assessed the progress and the upcoming activities of this project, six months after its kick off.

In addition, CTA organized a co-creation workshop on the following day, which counted with the participation of the consortium members and the working group. In total, 30 experts from European entities linked to the bioeconomy sector proposed and evaluated best practices to attract students, unemployed and professionals to the bio-based industry.

According to the most recent estimates of the European Commission (EC), the European Bioeconomy employs over 18 million people and generates 2.3 billion euros of turnover. This sector is in full growth and it requires a high number of experts with a new profile that involves several academic disciplines. However, one of the challenges for its development is the educational gap between the professional profiles demanded by the sector and the existing educational offer.

At UrBIOfuture we are conducting an analysis of this educational gap to propose a training program aligned with the needs of the industry. Additionalyly, we aim to develop a series of activities and events oriented to students, unemployed and professionals to inform them about the demand that the sector will require in the coming years.