FURTHER DEVELOPMENT  Translate instrument to a user-friendly, web-based application  Further development of the prelisted main- and subcriteria through further literature review and stakeholder interviews  Overview sheet of the weight distribution between different stakeholder types An innovation feasibility instrument to support innovation in the bio-economy Van Lancker, J. 1, Mondelaers, K. 1, Hanseeuw, E. 1, Kips, L. 1, Viaene, J. 1 and Van Huylenbroeck, G. 2 1 Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium 2 University of Ghent, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium CONTEXT Europe is increasingly encouraging the development of a bio-economy. The transition of the current fossil-based economy towards this more sustainable economy based on inputs from renewable biomass, requires a multitude of radical system innovations in agriculture and the involved industries such as the food, feed, pharmaceutical and energy industry. These radical system innovations are multi- disciplinary, exceeding technological innovations and generally have a significant impact on whole value chains. Therefore, such innovation projects often face even more uncertainty about their feasibility and desirability compared to more uni-disciplinary innovations. The multi-disciplinary knowledge required to asses the impact of potential innovations can be acquired through s takeholder involvement and participation. However, different stakeholder groups have different priorities, viewpoints and speak different languages. Therefore, we have developed an easy-to-use, quick-scan innovation feasibility instrument that facilitates discussion and decision making in multi-stakeholder innovation projects. INSTRUMENT FEATURES Based on literature review on Multi-Actor Multi-Criteria Analyses (MAMCA), Business Models and Boundary Objects, combined with interviews conducted with diverse stakeholders, the instrument was constructed with the following features:  Evaluation and comparison of innovation projects  Based on seven main criteria, representing the system dimensions  Each main criteria divided in number of prelisted subcriteria  Possibility to easily add additional case-specific subcriteria  Description of each subcriterion allowing unambiguous scoring  Scoring system based on bottlenecks and opportunities  Weighing each (sub)criterion according to relevance & importance  Total feasibility score calculated per innovation project  Color-coded scores, red – yellow – green, for easier interpretation  Overview page facilitating analysis and interpretation This instrument was used to facilitate the network formation and innovation project decision by the lead researchers within the transdisciplinary and participatory GeNeSys-project, consisting of three cases aiming to develop innovations within the emerging bio- economy USER INSTRUCTIONS Step 1: Define & describe different innovation projects Step 2: Identify relevant stakeholders Step 3: Add additional subcriteria Step 4: Each stakeholder weighs & scores each subcriteria Step 5: Interpret and discuss results Step 6: Select most feasible and desirable project INSTRUMENT GOALS AND POSSIBLE USES  Evaluation of feasibility and desirability of innovation projects  Comparison of projects based on different criteria  Clarification of differences in opinion between stakeholder groups  Identification of knowledge gaps in certain areas (within network)  Checklist of important themes in stakeholder discussions  Boundary object in stakeholder discussions and participation to bridge ‘language’ problems between different stakeholder types  Repeated use throughout project allows for progress evaluation Figure 2: Overview sheet with summarizing table, graph comparing projects and overview graph per innovation project Figure 1: Input sheet with main criteria and subcriteria LITERATURE Klerkx, L., van Bommel, S., Bos, B., Holster, H., Zwartkruis, J., Aarts, N. (2012). Design process outputs as boundary objects in agricultural innovation projects: functions and limitations. Agricultural Systems, 113, 39-49, Macharis C., Turcksin, L., Lebeau, K. (2012). Multi actor multi criteria analysis (MAMCA) as a tool to support sustainable decisions: State of Use. Decision Support Systems, 24, Teece, D. J Business models, business strategy and innovation. Long Range Planning, 43(2-3): 172– Iteration