Ten Central and Eastern European Countries Will Work on Bioeconomy Strategies in Our New CEE2ACT Project A key pathway to achieving climate neutrality is through the bioeconomy. However, despite having a large biomass resource base as well as bioeconomy potential, many countries, including ones in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) still do not have a national bioeconomy strategy or action plan. To address this, in September 2022 representatives of 17 organisations from 17 European countries came together in Budapest to kick off the new CEE2ACT project. CEE2ACT aims to empower ten CEE countries (Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,) and beyond (Greece, Republic of Serbia) to develop circular bioeconomy strategies and action plans. The CEE2ACT National Bioeconomy Hubs will apply a multi-stakeholder approach to bring bottom-up collaboration closer to national decision-making and strategy planning. In each of the ten CEE2ACT target countries, these hubs will build closer connections between actors in public institutions, private sectors, industry, energy, small and medium-sized enterprises, feedstock providers (e.g., waste, side streams, farmers, foresters, fishermen), academia and research, and civil society organisations. Baseline assessments and multi-stakeholder engagement activities will be carried out to secure the active participation of relevant stakeholders. Digital solutions for sustainable governance will be created, supporting the exchange of best practices on technology transfer, and building the capacities of the stakeholders to develop bottom-up bioeconomy strategies. The findings will be used and disseminated through practical tools, guidelines, and policy recommendations to support beneficiary countries to develop flexible and inclusive bioeconomy strategies and action plans, boosting societal engagement in the countries’ transition toward a circular bioeconomy. The CEE2ACT project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research programme and will run for three years (2022-2025), led by a consortium of 17 European partners. For further questions, please contact Fiona Woo.