Consumer acceptance of new bio-based products plays a key role in the envisioned transition towards a forest-based bioeconomy. Multi-storey wooden buildings (MSWB) exemplify a modern, bio-based business opportunity for enacting low-carbon urban housing. However, there is limited knowledge about the differing perceptions consumers hold regarding wood as an urban building material. To fill this gap, this study explores Finnish students’ perceptions of MSWB relative to their familiarity with wooden residential buildings, and then connects these perceptions to ‘consumption styles.’ Data were collected in the Helsinki metropolitan area via an online questionnaire (n = 531). The results indicate that the aesthetic appearance of MSWB are appreciated most by frugal and responsible consumers, whereas the comfort, environmental friendliness, and longevity of MSWB are important to consumers who identify themselves as ‘thoughtful spenders.’ The study suggests that both environmental and hedonic young consumers already familiar with the use of wood in housing contribute to a successful bioeconomy in the urban context.

In the urbanizing society faced with the climate change challenge, wood has major potential as a lowcarbon and renewable construction material. Yet, Wooden Multi-storey Construction (WMC) remains a niche even in countries with rich forest resources. This paper compares the institutional and policy setting and assesses the WMC growth prospects in Austria and Finland, based on expert interviews, Delphi surveys, and the review of secondary materials. Clear differences were detected in the policy frameworks and institutional settings between the two countries. The Austrian fairly informal and largely private sector driven approaches to promote the growth of the WMC sector seem to have had a rather similar effect on the markets, as the formal policy measures, typically driven by the public sector in Finland. In both countries, the interviewed experts suggested additional, but partly different, policy measures and institutional changes to accelerate WMC market diffusion. In spite of the increase in WMC activity within the past ten years, the WMC market share is likely to remain rather low by 2030 in both countries, as the institutional frameworks are not expected to change abruptly. However, the future market prospects appear to be somewhat more positive in Finland compared with Austria.

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Increasing societal interest towards sustainable and low-carbon materials contributes to demand for wood-based materials and modern solutions for urban construction. Wooden multi-storey construction (WMC), however, is a relatively new phenomenon in the construction business, and collaborative business models in projects that adopt such novel building techniques are yet to develop. Shared logic is a key concept shaping the development of well-functioning business ecosystems, even though actor priorities may vary between the WMC business ecosystem members. This study examines the applicability of business ecosystem concept based on actor perception involved in three Finnish WMC projects. The results suggest that elements from the business ecosystem thinking can be identified in all the cases. Moreover, network collaboration created benefits to the ecosystem, such as reference value and new insights from research and development. For some companies, engagement in the business ecosystem created financial and employment benefits, while some interviewees perceived these projects also to create immaterial value, such as awareness on sustainability issues in their business, marketing gains, or in the form of mutual learning effects.

The East Usambaras in Tanzania are a tropical biodiversity hotspot where current agricultural management practices pose threats to forest conservation and development objectives. Promoting sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) would improve long-term productivity and reduce pressure on forest reserves. The study objective was to identify household-level characteristics that influence adoption of improved management practices, specifically soil replenishment practices, in order to identify opportunities and constraints to scaling up SAI to landscape level. First, three common farming systems and a fourth agroforestry (AF) model were developed to estimate the relative profitability of incorporating fallow, manure, and non-timber forest product activities. Next, household surveys were conducted and a logistic regression analysis was used to measure the influence of socioeconomic characteristics, physical and financial assets, tenure security, and plotspecific attributes on adoption of soil replenishment practices that were specified in the model. Findings showed that the AF model was financially competitive but raises opportunity costs to labour when compared to common systems. Marital status, household size, remittances, credit access, and tenure security significantly influenced adoption of fallow and applying organic inputs. Significant plot-specific attributes included perceived fertility and distance from the homestead. Policies to scale up SAI should consider these factors and emphasize improving markets for AF species and extension services.