VERAM

Vision and Roadmap for European Raw Materials

VERAM provided an umbrella and coordination function for the raw materials related research and innovation activities across the relevant ETPs and their national technology platforms (while maintaining the flexibility and individual visions of each ETP network). The project also connected stakeholders across the raw materials value chain in order to increase synergies and facilitate uptake of research results and innovation across the sectors and their value chains.

Within the project, an online portal: “VERAM ROADMAP 2050 – Raw Materials Research and Innovation Portal” consisting of actual data about R&D projects, research programs and open calls was created. Based on the analyses of the data as well as strategy papers and reports, a long-term vision (until 2030) for European raw materials was created.

The Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR), representing WoodWisdomNET+ in VERAM, and together with nine other partners, has mobilized the most important stakeholders from the biotic sectors and requested their participation in the experts’ workshops and public consultations organized by VERAM. With the joint contribution of all related stakeholders from the biotic and abiotic raw material sector, a common long-term road map “RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ROADMAP 2050 - A Sustainable and Competitive Future for European Raw Materials“ was created.

The VERAM roadmap included analysis of the five ETPs’ Strategic Innovation and Research Agendas (SIRAs), the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw materials SIRA, public consultations and workshops. This highly inclusive process resulted in the formulation of some 178 Research & Innovation Areas (RIAs) across the four identified priorities. Remarkably, within the RIAs, over 50% overlapped between the two categories of raw materials: biotic on one side and metals, minerals and aggregates on the other.