CLIC accelerates Finland’s fossil-free bioeconomy – powered by collaboration between research and industry

Case - Published 2.12.2025

CLIC Innovation is a Finnish innovation cluster that brings together industry, research institutions, and public actors to develop and scale sustainable bioeconomy solutions. CLIC aims to speed up the transition to a fossil-free economy by supporting breakthrough innovations, building ecosystems, and strengthening cross-sector collaboration.

When Finland published the world’s first national Bioeconomy Strategy over a decade ago, it became a European pioneer in the circular bioeconomy. The strategy set an ambitious goal: double the sector’s value added by 2035. Achieving this goal and maintaining Finnish leadership, however, will demand constant renewal – more cross-sector partnerships, bolder pilots, and faster scaling from lab to industry.

As supply chains and geopolitical stability are increasingly unpredictable, Finland’s industries are pressured to strengthen self-sufficiency while staying competitive. The EU’s forthcoming Bioeconomy Strategy further reinforces the green transition, urging European industries to adopt circularity, increase the value of biological resources, and build the industrial symbioses needed for a sustainable, competitive economy.

CLIC accelerates the Finnish bioeconomy through open innovation

This transition away from fossil-based materials relies on accelerating the development of high-value bio-based alternatives – particularly those derived from woody biomass – through efficient collaboration between academic, industry and other societal stakeholders. CLIC Innovation, a non-profit open innovation cluster based in Eteläranta 10, Helsinki, plays a central role in enabling this shift in three thematic sectors: bioeconomy, circular economy, and future energy systems.

Owned jointly by leading companies and Finnish research institutions, CLIC supports breakthrough sustainable solutions through ecosystem facilitation, industry engagement, and co-creation methods that build cross-sectoral trust.

The CLIC Bioeconomy Thematic Group develops its own Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, frequently updated by member companies and research organizations to reflect the national, EU and global developments and emerging priorities.

“Our thematic group helps Finnish bioeconomy actors connect, set national direction, and collaborate across Europe – enabling impact at a scale no single organization could reach alone,” says Aila Maijanen, CLIC Head of Bioeconomy.

By the end of 2025, CLIC will have facilitated systemic innovation initiatives worth more than €92 million, supported 58 demonstration activities, and built a project partner network of over 180 organizations.

From resource smartness to value creation

To advance Finland’s bioeconomy ambitions, shared understanding between industry, researchers, investors, and policymakers is crucial. To improve this dialogue, CLIC launched CLIC Talks, a podcast series that brings leading voices together to explore Europe’s sustainable future.

In its second episode – “From Wood to Value: How Bio-Based Solutions Accelerate a Fossil-Free Future” – Riina Muilu-Mäkelä (Luke, Natural Resources Institute Finland), Antti Ritala (Tesi, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) and Stefan Sundman (UPM) discuss how Finland can convert its renewable resources into long-term competitive advantage.

Muilu-Mäkelä highlights the essence of the bioeconomy in the podcast as the “resource-smart use of renewable natural resources”, with sustainability beginning in food security and extending to the replacement of fossil materials. Concepts such as cascade processing—extracting multiple high-value components from the same biomass—illustrate Finland’s ability to turn circularity into industrial practice.

Scaling can be seen as the critical bottleneck, despite Finland´s strong innovation base. “Often the bottleneck is setting up the first commercial plant. Acquiring capital for production is important for us all,” Antti Ritala explains. With biomass becoming a more limited resource, prioritization and high-value applications are key to competitiveness.

Sundman illustrates in the podcast, how Finnish industry is already evolving, from historic wood-based exports to today’s biochemicals and advanced packaging materials. Long-term policy consistency, he stresses, is vital for companies making decade-scale investments.

Building a competitive bioeconomy ecosystem

The discussion underlines Finland’s strongest asset: its culture of openness and sincerity. Start-ups, research institutions, and global companies work in interconnected value chains where innovation scales faster and side streams become new revenue streams. Yet maintaining that edge requires skilled talent, predictable policy, and international investment and as Muilu-Mäkelä notes, “we must keep people and innovations in Finland.”

Turning wood into value is just one pathway to replacing fossil materials, and CLIC Innovation will continue supporting Finnish stakeholders in reimagining how to create sustainable, high-value growth from its natural strengths.

Text was written by CLIC Innovation

More information

• For more information about CLIC’s bioeconomy activities, contact Aila Maijanen, Head of Bioeconomy, aila.maijanen(at)clicinnovation.fi, +358 50 375 1182
• Listen to the full episode of CLIC Talks here:
  “From Wood to Value – How Bio-Based Solutions Accelerate a Fossil-Free Future.”
• CLIC Innovation Oy is an open innovation cluster enabling breakthrough solutions in the bioeconomy, circular economy, and future energy systems. Jointly owned by leading companies and research institutions, CLIC specializes in ecosystem facilitation, EU and national project coordination, impact creation, and collaborative innovation development. CLIC Bioeconomy membership connects customers with the right partners, insights, and strategic influence to turn ambitious ideas into impactful, fundable RDI projects. CLIC members gain accelerated project support, access to innovation ecosystems and expert networks, and clear financial benefits through discounted services.
• Read more about CLIC Innovation: https://clicinnovation.fi/