According to the UN, by 2050 almost seven out of ten people worldwide will be living in urban areas, especially in very large cities, compared to just over one in two today. This trend toward the urbanisation of today’s societies brings considerable challenges, such as fresh water supply, waste and pollutant management, urban sprawl, increasing pressure on agricultural land, and more traffic. Indeed, cities come with a whole set of problems.

The "Bioeconomy of Urban Areas" metaprogramme, known as BETTER, brings together researchers from different fields in order to overcome stumbling blocks to the bioeconomy transition of cities. In a context of socio-economic, organisational, structural and technological change, scientists are studying solutions that could help cities make better use of and recycle their mineral and organic waste, and to reduce their fossil fuel consumption.

The roll-out of bioeconomic and circular-economy solutions that guarantee a transition towards resilient territories is a major societal challenge today. It is also the very heart of the BETTER metaprogramme.