Synergy Days 2025 projects: bi0SpaCE
The EU-funded bi0SpaCE project accelerates Europe’s transition to a resource-efficient economy by digitally transforming bio-based manufacturing. It enhances transparency and resource efficiency, using Industry 4.0 digital product passports to support sustainability and circularity. The project will validate results in four complementary bio-based sectors: paperboard production, eco-industrial parks, plant-based products and cosmetics, and bio-based plastic packaging. A multidisciplinary consortium from five EU and two EU associated countries is driving the project’s goals, addressing climate and environmental challenges while advancing bio-based industries. Learn more on their website.
Thank you for joining us for Synergy Days 2025. Is this your first time participating? If yes, what are your expectations of the event?
This is our first time at Synergy Days, and we’re looking forward to sharing the vision behind the bi0SpaCE project with such a diverse and dynamic community. We see this as a unique opportunity to spark new ideas, meet future collaborators, and connect with innovators who share our passion for a smarter, more sustainable bio-based sector
What inspired the creation of your project?
The digital transition is a cornerstone of Europe’s move toward a circular and sustainable industry. Yet, most digital solutions have been shaped by manufacturers working with technical materials. The bi0SpaCE project was created to bridge this gap. That is, accelerating the bio-based industry’s sustainability journey through digitalisation, while promoting transparency, efficiency, and trust along the entire value chain.
What are some of the biggest challenges your project is currently addressing in terms of scaling digital innovation within the agri-food sector?
bi0SpaCE addresses two pressing needs: modernising digital systems and decarbonising bio-based value chains to meet Europe’s climate goals. By moving beyond static digital product passport models, we enable rapid experimentation with emerging technologies, best practices, and standards. We want to support bio-based industries lead the way in delivering next-generation green and digital solutions.
Can you share some key lessons you have learned so far?
In these early stages, we’re focused on listening and gathering insights from industrial partners and shaping user stories. One key lesson is that there is wide variation in digital maturity across bio-based manufacturing industries. Another is that creating digital product passports for continuous-flow processes requires sector-specific solutions for traceability, digital tagging, and sustainability performance reporting.
How do you see emerging trends like AI, IoT, and blockchain shaping the future of the agri-food sector, and how is your project exploring or implementing these technologies?
Digital technologies are at the heart of bi0SpaCE. We’re advancing interconnected tools such as AI-powered tracking of continuous process flows and emissions, digital twins for process optimisation, Industry 4.0-enabled product passports, circular economy dataspaces, and semantic models for interoperability. Together, these lay the groundwork for a digitally connected, resource-efficient bio-based sector.
What are the key factors that will drive or hinder the widespread adoption of digital technologies in the agri-food sector in the coming years?
Adoption will depend on two key factors: clear best practices and widely accepted standards. Equally important is ensuring that new technologies earn public trust by designing them with social acceptance in mind and creating business models that demonstrate value.
How do you ensure that the solutions you develop are adaptable to the diverse needs and capabilities of farmers, food producers, and other stakeholders across Europe?
Adaptability is a key consideration in our project. bioSpaCE develops standards-based reference models and modular solutions that can be customized for different contexts. We aim to deliver solutions that can be easily adapted by a wide range of end-users, whether that’s a small enterprise innovating new bio-based materials or a well-established manufacturer of bio-based products.
What opportunities do you foresee for further collaboration between research, policy and private sector actors to drive forward digital transformation in agri-food?
As Europe embraces bio-based solutions to accelerate the circular economy, collaboration between research, policy, and industry will be crucial. Scaling tools like digital product passports and circular economy dataspaces demands broad stakeholder engagement, making cross-sector partnerships both necessary and highly impactful.
And lastly, what is for you the potential of communities such as Synergy Days to contribute to that? If so, would you encourage others to join it?
Communities such as Synergy Days are a catalyst for collaboration, by bringing together diverse actors with the knowledge to turn innovative ideas into real-world impact. This year, bi0SpaCE joins forces with our sister project ARGONAUT. Because when we share the same vision, we believe that combining efforts is the fastest way to create meaningful change.