The 7th International BioSC Symposium on 6 and 7 November 2023 once again covered a broad spectrum of topics. At the LVR Landesmuseum Bonn, around 130 participants from academia, industry, civil society and politics discussed current topics and developments, from primary production and the development of new products and concepts to sustainability assessment and social transformation. The presentations and discussions were complemented by 39 posters, three of which were awarded prizes.

The 8th NRW PhD Day "Future Bioeconomy" took place on 25 October 2023 in Neuss with around 70 participants, this year on the topic of "Biomass as feedstock". PhD students from all over NRW from a wide range of disciplines took the opportunity to exchange ideas and network, both with the speakers and among each other. The speakers gave very realistic reports on the challenges and obstacles in the transformation from fossil to bio-based raw materials.

The Federal Ministry for Economics Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has published a position paper entitled "LEITMARKT BIOÖKONOMIE: TRANSFORMATION UND SKALIERUNG FÜR NACHHALTIGKEIT UND RESSOURCENWENDE".

The lecture series "Meet the Circular Economy - Sustainable Innovation in Practice", held in cooperation with the Bioeconomy Science Center (BioSC) as co-organizer at RWTH Aachen University, successfully entered its second round in the summer semester 2023. In this event, students, experts and the general public gained insights into innovative concepts for sustainability and their practical implementation.

On 24 May, the German Bioeconomy Council handed over its recommendations for the implementation of the National Bioeconomy Strategy to BMBF and BMEL. Recommendations include, for example, sustainable land use, measures and innovations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a turnaround in raw material consumption and the creation of reliable framework conditions for sustainable innovations.

Around one hundred BioSC members gathered for the ninth BioSC Forum, the annual internal retreat, to exchange information about new developments research results. In addition to the presentation of all running projects within the NRW BioSC strategy project, there were presentations on successful further developments from previous BioSC projects as well as an overview of BioSC initiatives in the field of education and early career.