Investing in nature-positive futures: Innovation and place-based finance for bioeconomy and systems change
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Investing in nature-positive futures: Innovation and place-based finance for bioeconomy and systems change
June 12 @ 9:30 am – 1:00 pm CEST
The transition to a nature-positive economy cannot be driven by technological innovation and capital alone. It also depends on the social fabric that enables communities, institutions and regions to innovate together. This workshop, organised by Climate KIC and a partner event of the EU Green Week, brings together three interdependent themes to explore how widely understood innovation becomes a catalyst for systemic change and mutually reinforcing transformation dynamics.
First, bioeconomy is a systemic opportunity and emerging industry with high potential to boost EU competitiveness. Moving beyond siloed sectors, we examine how bio-based value chains can be redesigned at regional and landscape level, integrating ecological regeneration with economic viability. Drawing on systems innovation experience as a form of social institution-building, participants will explore how multi-actor coalitions shift the rules, relationships and mental models that currently lock in unsustainable resource use, forming the foundational layer for building new financial and innovation approaches.
Second, Place-Based Finance Labs are an innovation instrument to deliver on topics such as the bioeconomy. We showcase how tailor-made financial mechanisms – co-designed with local governments, communities and investors – unlock capital for nature-positive projects. These labs embody multilevel governance, aligning EU policy frameworks with national programmes and sub-regional realities so that investments can flow where transformation is actually happening.
Third, innovation in its widest sense, and as an expression of social capital. Through concrete impact stories, we illustrate the full spectrum of innovation: technological, business model, social and policy – already benefiting nature, people and the economy. Framed through multi-level perspectives on socio-technical transitions, the stories demonstrate how place-based experiments, supported by the right social networks and institutional conditions, can challenge and reshape current systems, thereby closing the loop between systemic opportunity (bioeconomy) and enabling mechanisms (finance and innovation), delivering real-world transformation.
Format & objectives
This workshop will bring together practitioners, policymakers, investors, regional actors and innovators to explore how bioeconomy, place-based finance and systems innovation can accelerate nature-positive transformation across Europe.
The event will also help inform our position to give feedback on Biotech Act I and as part of a submission to the upcoming call for evidence on Biotech Act II. Your contribution is fundamental to shaping policy in the right direction at European level. Join us and let your voice be heard!
Participants will:
- Explore bioeconomy as a systemic opportunity for EU competitiveness and regional regeneration.
- Learn how Place-Based Finance Labs can unlock capital for nature-positive projects.
- Hear practical impact stories from technological, social, business model and policy innovation.
- Identify governance, investment and policy conditions needed to scale nature-positive innovation.
The event will be in a hybrid format, allowing participation either in-person in our office in Bruxelles (details below) or online.
Speakers
- Denyse Julien, Climate KIC, Ireland’s Deep Demonstration for the transition to a climate-neutral agri-food sector
- Nessa Noronha, University College Dublin, TRANSFORM project
- Piotr Jurga, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation (IUNG-PIB), BIOEASTWIDE
- Seán Douglas, BiOrbic
- Damien O’Reilly, Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS)
- Tamara Giltsoff, Climate KIC, Place Finance Lab initiative
- Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of Climate KIC
Agenda
10:00 – 10:20 Opening and framing with Keynote from Dr. Kirsten Dunlop (CEO, Climate KIC)
10:20 – 10:45 Storytelling, round one — How transformation begins
10:45 – 11:30 Group discussion
11:30 – 11:45 Storytelling, round two — How transformation scales
12:10 – 12:55 Group discussion
12:55 – 13:00 Closing reflections and next steps
13:00 Lunch & networking
