On March 25th and 26th, Vic will become the epicenter of the debate on applied economics in the region with the 5th edition of the BIT Congress. The event, which has been fostering reflection and connections between strategic local sectors for five years, will address two key themes this year in the agri-food and forestry fields. BIT AGRO and BIT FOREST will be the new sections of BIT 2026, aimed at professionals, companies, and institutions in the agri-food and livestock sectors, as well as stakeholders in the forestry, wood, and bioconstruction sectors, with a program tailored to their specific needs and interests. This new edition aims to chart a new course in the development and future of a well-established and rapidly expanding congress. "This year we have reinvented ourselves by starting to work with two very distinct themes, whereas previously we defined bioeconomy in a very general way," explains BIT Director Carme Sáez.

The bioeconomy aims to consolidate its position as a key component of Catalonia's green transformation. The Catalan Government will allocate over €269 million over three years to 44 initiatives linked to the agricultural, livestock, and forestry sectors—two crucial pillars for a production model based on renewable, locally sourced resources with the capacity to create jobs and foster innovation in the region. One of the key developments for this new period is the broadening of the scope of these initiatives, which now address not only the supply of biomass but also the demand side, encompassing new economic sectors. These initiatives are outlined in the 2025-2027 Action Plan and continue the rollout of...Catalonia's Bioeconomy Strategy 2030The first action plan, implemented between 2022 and 2024, laid the foundations for a bioeconomy policy. New tools were created, such as the Agri-food, Rural, and Environmental Observatory, the Resilient Agroforestry Landscapes program, and BioHubCat, the support center for companies and entrepreneurs in the sector. The new plan aims to scale up these initiatives and give them greater transformative capacity. The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food, Òscar Ordeig, sees the bioeconomy as a lever for change for the entire country. "We have a clear, defined, and ambitious roadmap to make the bioeconomy and the circular economy a leading business model, both in rural and urban areas," he emphasizes. Four pillars for transforming the model

The 44 planned actions are structured around four main value chains. The first emphasizes improving the management and use of forest resources, with the aim of transforming forests into a source of economic wealth and, at the same time, a key tool for mitigating the effects of climate change. The second focuses on valorizing livestock manure and organic waste by transforming them into energy and value-added fertilizers. The third focuses on co-products and by-products of the food chain, ensuring that nothing is wasted and everything can be reused. Finally, the creation of resilient agroforestry landscapes aims to strengthen the protection of ecosystems and the environmental services they provide.

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