2nd ERBN Consortium Meeting: Progress and Platform Development

The ERBN consortium held its second online meeting on June 25, 2025, reviewing progress from the first six months of the Horizon Europe project. Partners presented updates on urgent needs assessments in eight demo countries—Spain, Italy, Greece, Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania, France, and Poland—based on structured factsheets and practitioner interviews. Findings will inform the development of training materials, knowledge-sharing tools, and targeted support for rural stakeholders. A key focus was the rebranding and enhancement of the BioRural Toolkit into the ERBN platform, a multilingual, user-friendly hub for good practices, training, and tailored solutions, with planned integration into EU-FarmBook. National Working Groups were emphasized as central to engagement, with plans to convene local experts and practitioners for training, demonstrations, and country-specific tools. Interactive workshops addressed platform design and methods to capture grassroots innovations using participatory approaches. A Data Management Plan aligned with FAIR principles ensures data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable, with key datasets mapped for consistency and long-term value. The project, funded under Grant Agreement No. 101182955 with nearly €3 million and a 36-month timeline, aims to bridge the gap between innovative circular bioeconomy solutions and the real-world challenges faced by smallholder farmers and foresters across Europe.