Circular Voices in Agrifood: Funding, Partnerships & Innovation Across Europe - Register today

Europe’s agri-food systems are under increasing pressure from climate change, resource depletion, food waste, rising production costs and supply chain instability. At the same time, agriculture and food systems remain central to the European Green Deal, the Bioeconomy Strategy and the transition toward more resilient regional economies.

According to European Commission data, the EU generates more than 59 million tonnes of food waste annually, while agriculture remains one of the largest users of water, land and biological resources. Large quantities of agricultural residues, manure, processing side streams and organic waste remain underutilised despite their strong potential for circular valorisation, renewable energy production, biomaterials and regenerative farming applications.

In Bulgaria specifically, circular transition in agriculture still faces major structural barriers despite strong biomass potential and growing innovation activity. Research from the Bulgarian bioeconomy and biomass assessment landscape shows that Bulgaria has significant agricultural and forestry resources, with approximately 47.1% agricultural land and 38% forest coverage, alongside large underutilised biomass streams from cereals, sunflower, vineyards, orchards and livestock systems.

The country generates substantial residual biomass potential from agriculture, including over 6.6 million tonnes of agricultural residues annually according to S2BIOM assessments, alongside nearly 3.9 million tonnes biomass potential from unused lands. Livestock manure also presents major opportunities for biogas, biofertilisers and circular nutrient management, with estimated electricity generation potential exceeding 313 GWh annually.

Despite these opportunities, the transition toward circular agrifood systems remains fragmented. Stakeholder mapping and field research conducted within Circular Voices identified recurring barriers across communication, regulation, financing, skills and innovation ecosystems.

These include weak collaboration between universities and businesses, fragmented information flows, lack of practical education, insufficient cooperation between stakeholders, unclear regulatory processes and limited access to coordinated support mechanisms for circular innovation.

Additional challenges include:

• limited visibility of successful circular practices

• lack of farmer-oriented communication approaches

• insufficient advisory and innovation systems

• low cooperation between public institutions and innovators

• shortages of skilled human resources and technical know-how

• inadequate platforms connecting startups, researchers, farmers and industry actors

• limited financial instruments adapted to circular business models

At the same time, Europe is seeing rapid growth in circular bioeconomy startups, regenerative agriculture models, alternative proteins, agricultural biotechnology, precision agriculture and waste valorisation technologies. This creates strong opportunities for regional ecosystems capable of connecting research, entrepreneurship, financing and implementation capacity.

Against this backdrop, Circular Voices Agrifood Talks brings together startups, researchers, farmers, investors, ecosystem builders and policymakers to explore how circular innovation can reshape the future of agri-food systems across Europe.

The event will focus on:

• circular agrifood innovation and policy uptake

• funding opportunities for circular and bioeconomy solutions

• partnerships between science, startups and industry

• cross-border collaboration and ecosystem building

• scaling climate-smart and resource-efficient agriculture

• visibility and adoption of real circular farming practices

• practical implementation challenges across the agrifood sector

The programme includes contributions from Circular Voices, Agriventures, Alberizas, Wageningen University & Research, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Circular Food Systems Network.

The discussion will also address how circularity can move beyond policy narratives into practical implementation through collaboration between farmers, startups, researchers, public institutions and investors.

The Circular Voices initiative has already highlighted examples of circular agriculture, biomass valorisation, regenerative farming and innovation ecosystems across Bulgaria and Spain, while supporting dialogue around financing, education and ecosystem development.

Agenda

16:00–16:05 | Welcome from Agriventures and introduction to the Agriventures ecosystem16:05–16:10 | Alberizas presentation16:10–16:20 | CFS Network presentation: ongoing work and initiatives16:20–16:40 | Circular Voices presentation: insights, achievements and community impact16:40–16:50 | Presentation of the TrueFoods project16:50–17:05 | Funding opportunities for circular solutions in agri-food systems17:05–17:25 | Panel discussion: “What is needed to scale circular innovation in agri-food systems?”17:25–17:30 | Interactive Q&A and networking discussion

Registration

Circular Voices Registration

More about the initiative:

• Circular Voices Platform

• Agriventures

Related articles:

• Circular Voices: Revealing the Real Impact of Circular Agriculture in Spain and Bulgaria

• Circular Voices goes live: check circular farming across Europe

• Circular Voices Workshop: Sharing Stories, Building a Living Circular Ecosystem

• International online event on Circular agrifood opportunities for funding