Friuli Venezia Giulia, thanks to its rich and diversified agricultural heritage, offers significant potential for the development of biotechnologies applied to food, nutraceutical and cosmetic value chains. However, many SMEs in the region struggle to access technology transfer and to fully exploit research results.

The BioTech2Agri project, funded by the INTERREG Italy–Slovenia Programme 2021–2027, seeks to bridge this gap by strengthening companies’ capacity to adopt biotechnologies and by reinforcing cooperation across the Italy–Slovenia cross-border area.

In 2025, the project achieved important results, including the development of a thematic report mapping biotech competences, technologies and potential in the Italy–Slovenia area, as well as an open-source Digital Map—an intuitive tool enabling SMEs and researchers in Friuli Venezia Giulia to quickly explore available technologies, innovation actors and relevant biotech applications.

The Report on the Biotech Potential of the Cross-Border Area

The Report on the biotech potential of the cross-border area collects data on the territories of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto and the Slovenian cross-border area, stakeholder involvement and the assessment of available technologies. This activity made it possible to build a clear picture of the competences present in the territories and to understand the real potential of the area in terms of biotechnological innovation applied to agrifood.

The document opens with an introduction devoted to the opportunities offered by the valorisation of biotechnologies through the extraction of active compounds from plant species relevant to the partnership and continues with a set of methodological guidelines to help companies assess application feasibility.

The central part of the report is enriched by two thematic in-depth analyses illustrating in concrete terms how biotechnologies can be applied in different agrifood sectors. The first case study focuses on grapevine and olive tree, presenting the characterisation of the main active compounds, the most suitable extraction technologies and possible final applications in the food, feed, nutraceutical and cosmetic sectors. The second analysis is dedicated to plant cell cultures, illustrating their potential and fields of application as an innovative tool for the sustainable production of bioactive compounds.

The Digital Map: an Open Tool for the Innovation Network

Alongside the report, BioTech2Agri developed an open-source Digital Map designed to make the information collected during the analysis phase immediately accessible. Built on the PREZI platform, the map allows users to visually explore:

• relevant plant species in the territory,
• biotechnologies applicable to different production sectors,
• public and private actors forming the cross-border innovation network.

The tool is designed to be intuitive, updatable and easily accessible for SMEs, researchers, public bodies and stakeholders, facilitating the matching of innovation supply and demand.

The evidence collected in 2025 shows that the cross-border area has a rich and diversified pool of biotechnological knowledge, skills and technologies. Stimulating demand for innovation from enterprises therefore becomes a priority: only by making this potential visible and accessible can it be translated into new high value-added products, processes and services. The report and the digital map represent two key tools in this direction.

Why Biotechnology Is Now Central to Agrifood

Biotechnologies, understood as the set of techniques that use living organisms or their components to create or modify products and processes, represent one of the pillars of European innovation. The European Commission is devoting increasing attention to this sector, working on the future Biotech Act, expected in 2026, which aims to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable, safe and technology-intensive production models.

In the agrifood sector, biotechnologies can play a significant role in several respects: improving agricultural productivity, reducing environmental impact through lower use of water, soil, fertilisers and plant protection products, and making food safer, more sustainable and more nutritious.

There is reference both to traditional biotechnologies, for example based on fermentative, microbial and enzymatic processes, and to innovative biotechnologies, grounded in discoveries in molecular biology and genetic engineering, with applications in sectors such as pharmacology, veterinary medicine, bioindustry, environment and agriculture. Within BioTech2Agri, the focus is primarily on green biotechnology, linked to agricultural processes, and yellow biotechnology, dedicated to food and nutraceutical production.

Activities in 2026

In the coming months, the project will continue to develop networking, technology transfer and direct support activities for SMEs, particularly through the call “Support for SMEs in the Agri-food Sector”, thus contributing to the growth of the biotech ecosystem and to the competitiveness of agri-food value chains in the Italy–Slovenia area.

Informest, together with the Agrifood & Bioeconomy FVG Foundation, participates in the project by coordinating communication activities and supporting the involvement of territorial stakeholders, with the aim of facilitating dialogue between enterprises, research centres and clusters and making biotechnologies more accessible to SMEs in Friuli Venezia Giulia.

To learn more about the project and its activities: BioTech2Agri | Italy-Slovenia