On 8 July 2020, Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and Guillaume Boudy, General Secretary for Investment, announced the results of the "Jobs and qualifications campus" call for projects under the "Educational innovation regions" initiative of the Future Investments Programme (PIA Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir)¹.

12 projects were selected, including the Bioeco Academy project led by the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne. As such, URCA will benefit from state funding making it possible to implement the project.

The Bioeco Academy project should make it possible in the medium term to develop emerging training courses and better support audiences in the bioeconomy sector, to promote the latter at regional level and to position itself as a reference at European level. For this, it will rely in particular on a collaborative approach between training (ranging from secondary school level to baccalauréat+8 years of education) and research institutions, in partnership with local authorities, the Grand Est academic region and stakeholders of the socio-economic fabric.

The purpose of the Bioeco Academy is to create and build a real reference campus on the bio economy, based around 3 main focuses: to make known and to promote the bioeconomy and industrial biotechnologies sector to encourage active guidance of learners; to develop the ambitions of learners and encourage higher qualification levels; and improve professional integration.

It will include a set of initiatives and measures broken down into five areas which will, in the medium term, help develop the skills of learners in the field of bioeconomy. In line with the needs of industrialists, this genuine regional planning tool will enable the region to achieve its ambition of being a European leader thanks to:

• a place that embodies the system through a “totem building”, which is visible and can be identified by all audiences, a concrete symbol of the desire shared by all stakeholders to welcome all types of learners,
• an observatory capable of diagnosing the needs of companies in terms of training, organising and adapting the training offer,
• innovations in terms of training, put together in close consultation with industrialists, "end users" of the system, and concrete partnerships in terms of guiding audiences, discovering professions and training,
• initiatives allowing societal, economic, cultural and sporting openness for the entire population, in particular for learners,
• international openness, with a system offered to member countries of the European Union as well as internationally.

The Bioeco Academy will, in the long term, ensure better guidance, better success and better professional integration for each user, regardless of their origin (those studying straight after the baccalauréat or in lifelong training), their skills or their professional project related to the bioeconomy; and this through dedicated systems. To date, it concerns a total of more than 3,400 beneficiaries of all profiles (learners, employees in work-study programmes, in continuing education and vocational training trainees, job seekers with professional transition projects, etc.).

The university would like to thank all the partners who supported this call for projects:

Local authorities: the Grand Est region, Grand Reims, the city of Reims, the city of Châlons en Champagne, Troyes Champagne Métropole

The Grand Est academic authority

Training stakeholders: sixth form colleges, technological and agricultural colleges (Avize VITI Campus, Crogny, Les Lombards, Libergier, Oehmichen, Saint Pouange, EPL de l’Aube, EPL Balcon des Ardennes, EPL Chaumont, EPL Rethel, PFAE de Somme Suippe, EPL de Sommes-Vesles), the CFAs (apprentice training centres) (Avize VITI Campus, EPL de l’Aube, EPL Chaumont, Saint Jean Baptiste de la Salle, EPL Balcon des Ardennes), the continuous training organisations (Greta de Reims, Greta Sud Champagne Balcon des Ardennes), Néoma BS Reims (51), UTT, AgroParisTech, CentraleSupélec and secondary schools which are members of the Campus des Métiers et des Qualifications Bioraffinerie Végétale et Biotechnologies Industrielles Grand Est

Training and research stakeholders including the European Centre of Biotechnology and Bioeconomy (CEBB)

The stakeholders of the socio-economic fabric: Chamtor (51), Crédit Agricole du Nord Est (51), Givaudan, Active Beauty (51), Cristal Union (51), Marne Chamber of Commerce and Industry (51), France Chimie (02), Fibres Recherche Développement (10), Viti-Concept (51), Accustica (51), Terre Avenir, Maison pour la science de Champagne-Ardenne, APEC, Pôle Emploi, Entreprendre Pour Apprendre, in particular OCAPIAT (51), Socofret (51), l'Européenne de Biomasse Bazancourt (51), Pôle de Compétitivité de la Bioéconomie (IAR), UIMM Champagne Ardenne, Chambre d’agriculture de la Marne (51), Bionef (93), LI-COR (Germany), Socofret (51), InVivo (France and world), Vranken-Pommery, the newspaper L’Union (51), and Fondation Paris Reims (51) for their financial support.

_{[1] The Investments for the Future Programme (PIA), managed by the General Secretariat for Investment (SGPI), was set up by the State to finance innovative and promising investments in the region, in order to enable France to increase its potential for growth and jobs.}