The Handbook targets bio-based value chains across agriculture, forestry, fisheries, aquaculture, and organic municipal waste.

It provides a structured governance assessment framework with detailed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and a dashboard tool (BERST) that regions can use to evaluate their current bioeconomy governance. It enables cities and regions to identify governance gaps, monitor progress, and benchmark against other regions, thereby supporting strategic policy development, innovation support, and investment planning.


The resource supports the design and implementation phases of Circular Solutions by equipping regional actors with tools to evaluate and enhance governance collaboration, policy coherence, and resource mobilization. It fosters multi-actor cooperation by using participatory modelling and KPIs that reflect cross-sectoral engagement, policy incentives, and resource flows.

To navigate the governance framework described in this handbook, the user should begin by identifying their region’s current governance performance using the three-tier assessment structure outlined in the generic framework (Section 2.1, Figure 1).

First, assess governance functions across the tiers: start with basic functions (e.g., information-sharing, rule-setting, implementation/finance), then dive into specific bioeconomy governance areas (like collaboration or innovation support), and finally evaluate using detailed assessment criteria and KPIs listed for each indicator (Section 2.2 and Annexes).