The bioeconomy and the circular economy describe a world in which we rely on renewable biological resources to cover our needs for food, materials and energy. Due to the gradual depletion of fossil fuels, we have to make a transition from minerals to biobased products, using Biotechnology.

Dr. Dimitris Sarris suggests in his special speech titled “Microbial Fermentation: Τhe Heart of Bioeconomy, Circular Economy and Sustainability” that there is an abundance of renewable – sustainable resources (from farms, forests, seas and organic waste), as well as microorganisms that can be converted, by fermentation, into valuable materials. These “bio-products of nature” can often be replaced, in a sustainable cycle, creating, in turn, a variety of innovative products. We have the opportunity to have healthy foods, revolutionary medicines, green energy and consumer bio-products, all derived from microbial fermentations.

In this way, innovative technologies are created, new industries and new jobs are created, while at the same time sustainable economic growth is enhanced, in a future full of natural bio-solutions.

Dr. Dimitris Sarris is an Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology & Food Biotechnology in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the Faculty of the Environment at the University of the Aegean. He is a researcher of Laboratory of Biology, Microbiology and Biotechnology of Foods (LBMBF) in the same Department. His field of expertise comprises the Food Biotechnology and Industrial Fermentation and more specifically, the simultaneous treatment and valorization of agro-industrial by-products and wastes with the use of microorganisms, in the context of bioeconomy, circular economy and sustainable development. He is the author of seventeen publications in international scientific journals, one chapter in a book and he has also participated with 20 announcements in conferences, in the field of Food Science.

Speech title: Microbial Fermentation: Τhe Heart of Bioeconomy, Circular Economy and Sustainability || Date & time: Sunday 26, September, 10.30-11.00