Research and innovation challenges for better policies in food systems and bioeconomy transitions – evidence from Poland

Climate changes and depleting natural resources call for the urgent sustainability transition of the economy. This also refers to food systems, which are a vital part of the economy directly linked to the nature. The first step in creating better forward-looking policies for the transition of food systems is identification of knowledge gaps to target R&D spending. In the paper we focus on the presentation and analysis of research directions that constitute future challenges for the transformation of research and development in Poland. The methodology of research applied in the study is based on participatory action research philosophy. The approach to determine the research challenges and needs included round tables and focus groups under the BIOEAST initiative. The results show that the most important weakness is low level of R&D expenditure in bioeconomy sectors, while the strength is a large number of new active entities for implementation of innovations, supporting bioeconomy and science-practice cooperation. The key recommendation is increasing the R&D spending and prepare national bioeconomy strategy to make use of the large potential of the Polish bioeconomy sector.