Vojvodina is one of the five autonomous provinces in Serbia. It is the northernmost part of Serbia (bordered by Croatia– west, Hungary–north, Romania–east) and part of the Pannonian Basin. It is typical agricultural region, with total surface of 21,506 km2 (agricultural arable land 80.39%, forests 10.87%) and the population of 1,931,809 (2011 census), GDP is 13.7 billion € and the unemployment rate 8.1%. Regarding bioeconomy, agricultural by-products and energy crops are used in energy generation (biogas). However, green urban waste is only partly composted, several sewage sludge plants in operation and the largest unused potential is the agricultural biomass (straw). Critical environmental risks are air quality (energy from fossil resources) and water/soil pollution (inappropriate municipal/industrial waste disposal, etc.). There is agricultural poverty (insufficient state support)  and intensive brain-drain since the 1990ʻ, leading to the abandoned rural areas, quality of education constantly decreasing. RIBES will elaborate on innovative approaches and solutions to capitalize on available technical knowledge and human capital to advance social entrepreneurship in CBE.