What we have learned throughout the learning challenge can be divided in the following broader areas with specific learning objectives;  1. Public Sector innovation - Today, cities produce more than 50 percent of global waste (OECD) due to inadequate waste management, higher food consumption patterns in urban areas, and a lack of composting infrastructures. Skopje joins a growing number of cities bent on embracing a circular economy – making and consuming things in a way that minimizes our use of the world’s resources, cuts waste and reduces carbon emissions. With the opening of the biohacking laboratory, the City of Skopje is becoming a pioneer city in the area of reusing and repurposing bio-waste as an entry point to create entrepreneurial opportunities through citizen science while supporting the delivery of science-based educational programmes in schools. 2. Making Science fun for future innovators  - Rooted in the practice of biohacking, more generally understood as do-it-yourself biology, the fully-equipped Skopje laboratory is not just an innovative experimental facility. It’s also part of a movement to democratize science, making scientific knowledge, research and education more accessible, inclusive and participatory. Strategically nested in a state high school in Skopje, the lab is opening up science to students and teachers, providing a space to experiment with science and technology-based projects. It uses biowaste as an entry point to foster innovation, education and meaningful community engagement to find solutions to pressing environmental challenges. 3. First challenge for startups working with biotechnologies - The Skopje'sBio Hack My World 2023 challenge had a core objective to discover are there remarkable teams, startups, entrepreneurs, and innovators with groundbreaking ideas aimed at addressing pressing environmental challenges and second to facilitate progress from the initial ideation phase to the achievement of tangible outcomes, be it a proof of principle, proof of concept, or the development of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Simultaneously, an important aim of the challenge was to generate increased recognition and understanding of the recently established Biohacking lab and its extensive capabilities. And all this within 3 weeks. The challenge garnered significant attention. 44k people were reached on social media through various social media campaigns, 37 participants started the program who created 11 proof of principles or MVPs. The and participation, with 37 individuals forming 11 diverse teams. Following the Design Thinking methodology used by leading Startup Accelerators such as YCombinator, the teams managed to identify the customer's needs, rapidly create and test prototypes, and bring new innovative solutions that fit the identified needs. All teams underwent the 5 cyclical stages: empathize, define, ideate, and prototype. All converged to explore new horizons, leveraging biowaste to create innovative solutions. 4. Private sector engagement - The biohacking lab and the city can be an innovation facility for the private sector as well. The methodological framework and waste valorization indexes done as a result of open R&D process showed how biowaste from one industry be a resource or a product to another. The 30 pre-selected companies and the biowaste they create served as a case study to give holistic approach on the total biowaste that is created from the private sector in the country. The theoretical part of the program was complimented with specially dedicated 2-day workshops that had a goal not only to transfer knowledge and know how to representatives of the private sector but also work in the biohacking laboratory recreating some of the processes how the MVPs were created together with private sector representatives. Two 2-day workshops were conducted in the biohacking laboratory with total of 19 private sector companies that were part of the case studies where 31 MVPs/prototypes and how they were created was presented. The program, which was first of its kind in the country gained attention from other development organizations such as GIZ who took part in the workshops with representatives of one of the largest wine producers in the country. Biowaste streams that were researched were: Wine and Grape Industry, fruits and vegetables, Truffle and microgreens industry; Organic food leftovers; Coffee industry; tobacco industry; Cereal production (Rice, nuts etc.) and meat and related industries 5. Building capacities with the City officials on how to make City of Skopje a zero-waste city with representatives from the city of Ljubjana.  Lastly, we worked with city officials in building their capacities to operate such a laboratory. The mayor milestone was the study visit to Ljubljana, one of the most Zero-Waste cities in Europe. The study visit is arranged in such a way as to facilitate the transfer of know-how and acquaint city officials, representatives from the Public Enterprise Drisla, scientists, and experts with examples of the best practices in the area of biowaste transformation and biotechnologies. The mission included various meetings and direct exchange of experiences among the host institutions and organizations and the group, providing opportunities for the participants to get acquainted with the day-to-day operations of a biohacking laboratory, as well as with good practices from the City of Ljubljana and their department for the circular economy.  

The Mayor of Skopje presented the Biohacking laboratory and adjusted activities as an example of public sector innovation on COP 28 at the Local Climate Action Summit of Mayors event. 

The Bio Hack My World project marked a significant milestone in North Macedonia's journey towards fostering innovation, collaboration, and sustainable solutions in biotechnology and biowaste transformation. One of the notable outcomes of the challenge was the heightened awareness and interest in biotechnology and biowaste transformation. The whole process that we are doing around 

We generated interesting insights from the programs that we piloted directed to the private sector and startups companies. Moreover, the pilot program for startups working with biotechnologies, first of its kind in the country and in this region, showed that there are interested innovators and entrepreneurs working in the area of transforming biowaste into useful products and with biotechnologies. Similar to the IT revolution in 2005 when startups in the IT started popping in with creative software solutions to problems that they see in their everyday live. On a baseline of 10, we got 14 applications, whereas 11 startups pitched their ideas to interested investors and had a product (MVP) to showcase.  On the other hand, with the workshops for the private sector, we got insights that there are interested private companies to transform their biowaste into products that they can eventually either sell to another industry or as their own separate product. Although is early to tell some of the private sector companies are already interested to procure similar equipment and make their own “biohacking labs” as part of their businesses. For example, one owner of a hotel is interested to pilot in his restaurant an open glass oil distillery for biowaste coming from citrus leftovers.