Title Pages of Conference Proceedings

We are pleased to present the Proceedings of the 9th International Scientific Conference “Rural Development 2019: Research and Innovation for Bioeconomy”. The Conference took place in Academia, Kaunas district, Lithuania at the Vytautas Magnus University, 26–28 September, 2019. The 9th International Scientific Conference “Rural Development 2019” was the most effective bi-annual platform for the interdisciplinary scientific discussions and the presentations of new ideas for Sustainable Rural Development in the context of research and innovation for Bioeconomy. The Conference brings together scientists, practitioners, policy makers and actors from private sector around the world to share their experience helping countries to provide their citizens with a more competitive economy, more and better jobs and a better quality of life. The topic of the Conference has allowed for the exploration of different aspects of four main areas: Agro-innovations and Food Technologies Biosystems Engineering and Environment Integrity Multifunctional Approach for Sustainable Use of Bio-Resources Social Innovations for Rural Development The topic “Research and Innovation for Bioeconomy” chosen for the 9th International Scientific Conference sparked strong interest among the professional and scientific community and elicited great response to the call for papers. The Proceedings include 86 peer-reviewed papers and contributions from 283 authors. In total we received 106 submissions for the Conference. A selection of papers are available in this volume. The majority of the contributed papers are included as are selected papers from the discussions sessions.and have been peer reviewed by two experts. We want to thank Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuanian Ministry of Agriculture, and Research Council of Lithuania for the generous financial support that made the Conference possible.   2019, December 28