York, 11th October 2017: The Bio
Base NWE project, coordinated by Bio Base
Europe Pilot Plant from 2013 to 2015, and in which NNFCC was the UK partner, has won the RegioStars Award 2017 in the
category ‘Smart Specialisation for SME Innovation‘. The winners of the
RegioStars Awards 2017 were announced during a ceremony on October 10th,
in the frame of the European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels.
Bio Base NWE, co-financed by the INTERREG IVB
programme of the European Union, brought together bio-based economy experts from eight
organisations in five different countries. Through this network, it provided technological solutions and networking
opportunities to more than 755 SMEs, identified hurdles SMEs encounter during
their innovation track and translated these into policy recommendations. 27
SMEs received financial support through the project to conduct feasibility
studies and scale-up trials at the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (Ghent,
Belgium). This support created a substantial leverage effect: up to €71million
of investments and the creation of 320 new jobs in the biobased economy in
North-West Europe.
To read a case study on NNFCC's involvement with Bio Base NWE, please click here.
NNFCC is also a project partner for Bio Base NWE's successor project, BioBase4SME.