The Biodiversity and Environmental Research Center (BERC), Lead Partner of the EONANOBIOPS project, convened an online Work Package 5 (WP5): Nano-biopesticides Scale-up, Production and Commercialization coordination meeting on 29 June 2026 to review the progress of WP5 activities, discuss ongoing and upcoming tasks, identify implementation challenges, and agree on the next steps for the coming implementation period. The meeting was coordinated and chaired by Dr. Wafa B’Chir from Connect’Innov, leader of WP5, and brought together 10 representatives from the EONANOBIOPS partner institutions in Palestine, Tunisia, Greece, and Italy.
Opening the meeting, Prof. Mohammed Saleem Shtayeh, Project Coordinator, emphasized that WP5 represents a key step in transforming the project's scientific achievements into practical solutions ready for market uptake. He highlighted the importance of close collaboration among partners to ensure that the results generated under WP3 and WP4 effectively support future industrial deployment and market readiness.
Before the WP5 technical presentation, Dr. Rana Jamous, Project Manager at the Biodiversity and Environmental Research Center (BERC), presented the proposed updates to the implementation timetable for WP3, WP4, and WP5. The revised schedule will provide additional time to complete ongoing scientific activities while ensuring effective coordination between research, nano-formulation development, and market preparation.
Dr. Wafa B’chir presented progress under WP5, which focuses on market analysis, life-cycle assessment, business planning, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, licensing, stakeholder engagement, and startup infrastructure. She also introduced the draft Partnership and Licensing Report, designed to identify companies and organizations capable of supporting the future scale-up and market uptake of the project’s nano-biopesticides.
Connect’Innov has also begun mapping potential industrial partners and assessing existing nano-biopesticides, market demand, competing products, and commercial opportunities. In parallel, preliminary planning for startup infrastructure in Palestine and Tunisia is progressing in collaboration with the Biodiversity and Environmental Research Center (BERC) and the Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS).
Partners agreed to advance market preparation in parallel with the project’s scientific progress, allowing results from Work Package 3 (WP3) on essential oil selection and Work Package 4 (WP4) on nano-formulation development to progressively guide market analysis, business planning, and regulatory preparation, while maintaining the confidentiality of scientific results until they are ready to support collaboration with potential industrial partners.
By connecting scientific innovation with market needs, regulatory planning, and industrial collaboration, EONANOBIOPS is laying the foundations for innovative, sustainable, and commercially viable crop protection solutions that will benefit farmers and support greener agriculture across the Mediterranean.
