How do you show that an emerging bio-based value chain is genuinely sustainable, and not just greener on paper? That question framed BioFairNet’s contribution to Italy’s national Bioeconomy Day.
On 28 May 2026, as part of the eighth edition of the National Bioeconomy Day promoted by the SPRING Italian Circular Bioeconomy Cluster with Assobiotec-Federchimica, BioFairNet ran an online workshop titled “Assessing sustainability in emerging bio-based value chains.” Held from 10:00 to 12:00 CET, the session was delivered by project partners UNITELMA Sapienza and the University of Ferrara. It centred on Environmental and Social Life Cycle Assessment (LCA and S-LCA), showing how these methods quantify environmental and social impacts, expose trade-offs, and identify where bio-based systems can realistically be improved across value chains and regional contexts.
Sustainability assessment sits at the core of what BioFairNet does. Drawing on concrete examples from the project, the presenters walked participants through applications in biomass valorisation, circular use of resources, and responsible supply chains, the same areas the project is testing across its pilot regions. The webinar was also one of the transferability webinars BioFairNet runs to move its methods and findings beyond the consortium and into the hands of researchers, industry, and policymakers.
Placing this work inside a national event that reaches academia, business, and public institutions is how a research method stops being internal and becomes a tool others can pick up and use.
