The STRONGBIONET project is co-financed by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme as a Coordination and Support Action. It aims to strengthen the European bioeconomy by improving the coordination and coherence of existing regional, national, supra-national, and sector initiatives. Acting as a true "network of networks", STRONGBIONET mobilises and integrates stakeholders across Europe, fostering co-creation processes that strengthen connections, encourage collaboration, and promote mutual learning, with a particular focus on lagging European regions, notably widening countries.

The Central European Initiative – Executive Secretariat (CEI-ES) leads the project's strategic engagement with widening and non-EU countries throughout the project's lifetime. In this role, it maps Communities of Practice and quadruple-helix stakeholders in widening countries to identify regional priorities and co-develops a living map of stakeholders to strengthen their participation in the European bioeconomy. The CEI-ES also contributes to stakeholder engagement, policy recommendations for a just transition, and the development of the project platform's long-term business model.

STRONGBIONET will develop a multilingual, EU-wide platform serving as a one-stop hub for networking, knowledge exchange, education, investment readiness and science-policy dialogue. The project will accelerate the uptake of bioeconomy solutions and ensure their long-term continuity through institutional anchoring, robust governance and sustainable exploitation pathways.