Collaboration drives community-based bioeconomy innovation in Brazilian Amazon

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An international project led by a Penn State team is helping to identify how community-based bioeconomies — economic systems that use renewable biological resources like plants and microorganisms to produce food, energy and industrial goods — in the Brazilian Amazon can support forest conservation while increasing income opportunities for the traditional and Indigenous communities that protect and manage these landscapes. The project is helping launch an initiative to connect global research and development specialists with Amazonian innovators to co-develop technologies that add value to Amazonian biodiversity while creating income for communities that help protect the forest. Faculty, researchers and technical specialists are invited to apply by June 30.

Funded by the Bezos Earth Fund, the project brings together Penn State and Brazilian partners Rede Terra do Meio, Cooperacre, Instituto Socioambiental and Institute of Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon (IDESAM) to assess technology opportunities for forest-protecting bioeconomy solutions in the Terra do Meio region of Pará and related forest-based value chains — the sequences of activities required to bring forest products to consumers — in Acre. The collaboration focuses on evaluating the technological feasibility, adaptability and economic potential of innovations that can strengthen community-based forest production systems.

The Penn State team, from the College of Agricultural Sciences, is led by Juliana Vasco-Correa, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering, with Siela Maximova, research professor of plant biotechnology, as co-principal investigator. Postdoctoral researchers Camila Gonzalez Arango and Lina Tami-Barrera also are part of the project team.

Through field-based research with forest communities in the Brazilian Amazon, the team is examining how community-managed small processing sites can help add value locally to products such as Brazil nuts, rubber, fruit oils and other forest-based resources. The work also considers the broader systems that shape these value chains, including logistics barriers, climate risks, limited access to energy and water, market instability, governance structures, and the time and labor capacity of community members.

“Forest-protecting bioeconomy solutions are not only about developing new products or technologies,” Vasco-Correa said. “They are about understanding the social, technical, cultural and environmental systems that allow communities to generate income while maintaining their relationship with the forest.”

During recent fieldwork with communities connected to the Terra do Meio Network, the Penn State team observed that technological solutions are most promising when they are incremental, co-developed and adapted to local realities rather than introduced as top-down interventions.

“These are community-based systems, where local organizations and families drive production, decision-making and conservation outcomes,” Vasco-Correa said. “For innovation to be sustainable, it has to build from traditional knowledge, collective governance and the leadership of the communities themselves.”

The project’s findings have helped inform the launch of the Bioinnovation Challenge Amazonia, an international call for proposals led by IDESAM and supported by the Penn State team. The challenge focuses on six strategic areas co-created with Amazonian communities: Amazon oil bioactives, functional oils, new rubber-derived products, unlocking the Brazil nut supply chain, functional starches and adding value to fruit waste. The priority sectors include food, cosmetics and new materials, using forest-based resources such as Brazil nuts, açaí, andiroba, copaíba, murumuru, buriti, babassu and native rubber.

Faculty, researchers and technical specialists are invited to apply as research and development (R&D) collaborators. According to the challenge website, R&D specialists may come from any country and should have experience in research, formulation or product development related to cosmetics, food or new materials.

During its initial phase, the Bioinnovation Challenge will pair 25 Amazonian innovators with 25 R&D specialists to help develop market-oriented solutions grounded in local supply chains and community priorities. Teams will then participate in online workshops, mentoring and solution-development activities, with selected teams advancing to an Amazon residency and validation phase. The program includes grants, validation funds and final awards for top teams.

For Vasco-Correa, the challenge represents a practical extension of the research team’s field observations.

“A central lesson from this work is that bioeconomy innovation has to start with the people already managing these landscapes,” she said. “The goal is not to replace local systems, but to strengthen them by connecting community knowledge with technical expertise, market access and long-term support.”

According to Vasco-Correa, the Bioinnovation Challenge also reflects the project’s broader emphasis on socio-technical systems — the idea that technologies cannot be evaluated separately from the infrastructure, governance, markets, labor, cultural practices and environmental conditions that determine whether they can succeed.

“In remote forest regions, a technology that looks feasible on paper may not work if it requires energy, water, transportation or maintenance systems that are not locally available,” Vasco-Correa said. “That is why our research focuses on adaptability and implementation, not only technical performance.”

The Penn State team said they hope the call will attract researchers and specialists across disciplines, including food science, materials science, cosmetics and personal care, agricultural and biological engineering, supply chains, bioprocessing, product development, entrepreneurship, and sustainable business.

“Penn State has a strong community of researchers who can contribute to this effort,” Vasco-Correa said. “This is an opportunity for our faculty and specialists to collaborate directly with Amazonian innovators and support technologies that are community-driven, culturally appropriate and connected to forest conservation.”

Penn State faculty, researchers and technical specialists interested in contributing to the Bioinnovation Challenge Amazonia are encouraged to apply by June 30. Selected R&D collaborators will work with Amazonian innovators to co-develop community-driven solutions that add value to forest-based products while supporting local livelihoods and forest conservation. More information about the call for proposals and application process is available through the Bioinnovation Challenge Amazonia website.