The Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM), Charlie McConalogue T.D and the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Andrew Muir MLA., have announced the opening of a new €9 million funding initiative to support the development of the all-island bioeconomy.
The ‘Shared Island Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative’ will pilot and demonstrate the bioeconomy in action across the island of Ireland, as a key objective of the Bioeconomy Action Plan 2023-2025. This initiative is intended to advance sustainable opportunities on an all-island basis from biomass produced from both land and marine areas through the development of innovative, higher added value biobased products and solutions, with clear climate and environmental benefits.
The concept of a bioeconomy includes sectors that conserve, use, process, distribute or consume biological resources from land and sea including agriculture, horticulture, forestry, food processing, construction, packaging, chemicals and organic waste sectors and land and marine ecosystems.
The Irish Government’s Shared Island Initiative will provide €7 million in funding while, the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM) will provide €1.5 million, and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland will provide €0.5 million respectively.
InterTrade Ireland will support both Departments to aid applicants searching for a crossborder partner through an online partnering platform and supporting the hosting of in-person networking events.
Information sessions will be run by DAFM and DAERA, and supported by InterTrade Ireland, on the following dates:
• 22nd March, Dundalk Institute of Technology
• 19th April, AFBI Hillsborough
Applications must be submitted online through the Application Submission Portal before the closing date of 7th June 12pm (noon).
More information on the Shared Island Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative can be found here.