Bioeconomy in the Metropolitan Region of Central Germany

The Central German Metropolitan Region includes eight counties, seven cities, about 60 structurally determining companies as well as chambers, universities and research institutions in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

As a cross-state action platform and driver of regional development, it also provides the framework for the initiative to create a joint bioeconomy region of Central Germany. The aim is to make Central Germany fit for the future against the backdrop of environmental protection and climate change. To this end, energy supply and material value chains must be transformed in a sustainable and climate-neutral manner – to which the bioeconomy can make a decisive contribution, as it is based on biological resources, uses renewable raw materials and can be combined with biotechnological manufacturing processes.

The signatories of the declaration of intent, which also includes IAK Agrar Consulting GmbH, want to "develop Central Germany into a bioeconomy region where high-performance biobased processes and innovative products are researched, produced and marketed." The prerequisites are excellent: Central Germany is an agricultural region and at the same time has industrial centers with a biobased connection in the food industry and wood processing, as well as large integrated locations for the chemical industry. There is an efficient scientific landscape with proximity to industry. Central Germany is also a leading location for green electricity and hydrogen, so that climate-neutral energy would also be available here in the future.

As a Central German company with close ties to the region for over 40 years, IAK will also contribute its international experience from work on the bioeconomy, currently from the BMEL-funded projects German-Argentine Dialogue on Sustainable Agricultural Innovations and German-Brazilian Agricultural Policy Dialogue (APD).