Environmental concerns in political bioeconomy discourses

Kleinschmit, Daniela; Arts, B.J.M.; Giurca, Alexandru; Mustalahti, Irmeli; Sergent, Arnaud; Pülzl, Helga

doi:10.1505/146554817822407420

Cited by 67 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Existing studies, e.g., [7,8] highlight the importance of future research on the economic and societal implications of the bioeconomy, and consequently observe an imbalanced focus on technology and science-based concepts of the bioeconomy in policy and research narratives that neglect socio-political aspects. The narrative about the bioeconomy and its implementation has placed a strong focus on industry and policy [9,10]. As a result, the ongoing bioeconomy discourse paints an image, which center on technological capabilities of using bio-based resources as replacements for fossil-fuel-based ones, whereas the role of the public and consumers appears to have been of minor interest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Perceptions of the Bioeconomy in Austria—An Explorative Case Study

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The bioeconomy provides new approaches to deal with environmental challenges by substituting fossil fuels for sustainable, renewable resources and fuels. In Europe, this process and discourse has mainly been driven from a strategic top-down level. This leads to a lack of inclusion of societal actors, which can consequently lead to reduced acceptance and engagement. Henceforth, in this study, we focus on exploring how the bioeconomy is perceived, understood and evaluated by a wider audience. Through convenience sampling, 456 interviews conducted with students, employees, farmers and pensioners living in Austria provide the database for the study. Due to the novelty of the study’s objective and the consequentially explorative research approach, qualitative and quantitative social science research methods are applied. The results indicate that the bioeconomy concept is associated with various themes and visions. These associated topics also have negative or positive implications. Furthermore, a division between two visions of the bioeconomy, a technology- and industry-driven vision and a vision defined by regional environmentalism, can be observed. The feasibility of a future bioeconomy identifies as the most critical aspect. Sustainable consumption was mentioned as an important topic of the bioeconomy by the participants, a result that could be of particular interest when creating an inclusive bioeconomy, since it calls for active involvement of consumers. The study also shows that responding farmers tend to believe that the bioeconomy will lead to more inequity.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Perceptions of the Bioeconomy in Austria—An Explorative Case Study

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite a number of articles addressing the bioeconomy concept from the perspective of policy strategy [15,32,33] and policy discourse [34,35] there has been limited application of analysis specifically related to policy coherence. Previous relevant studies have included assessment of policy coherence from the perspective of bio-gas production [31], forest based bio-energy [36] and of environmental and climate policies, e.g., [29,37].…”

Section: Policy Coherence: Definitions and Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy Coherence and the Transition to a Bioeconomy: The Case of Ireland

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Advancing a bioeconomy requires that policymakers understand how the design and coherence of public policy can contribute, or create barriers, to its development. Ireland’s first National Policy Statement on the Bioeconomy (February 2018) recognized the significance of policy coherence as a critical factor in a successful transition to a bioeconomy. Qualitative document analysis was employed to assess the level of coherence across a range of relevant policy documents. As is the case with most other countries the key sub-sectors related to the bioeconomy in Ireland have independent policy documents for their own developmental process, with obvious potential for conflict. The results of the analysis indicated inconsistency across sectors, highlighting the requirement to update certain strategy documents in order to raise the level of cross-sectoral coherence. This process is essential in both avoiding a ‘silo’ mentality and enabling the concept of the bioeconomy and its associated objectives to become mainstreamed. The methodology employed in this research is easily transferable and should prove useful for other countries in transition to a bioeconomy to assess the strengths and weaknesses of relevant documents and identify where change is required.

show abstract

“…Starches, from corn, potatoes and root crops, must first be hydrolysed via enzymes to fermentable sugars [13,27,35,52]. Cellulose, from wood, agricultural residues, waste sulphite liquor from pulp and paper mills, must likewise be converted into sugars, generally by the action of acids or cellulolytic enzymes [13,27,35,52]. Lignocellulose biomass has long been advocated as a key feedstock for cost-effective bioethanol production in an environment-friendly and sustainable manner.…”

Section: Biofuels For Sustainable Reduction Of Greenhouse Gases -Currmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As the country with the largest wood biomass resources in Europe, Finland has established its 2030 roadmap for development in bioeconomy that will lead towards a carbon-neutral society where forest resources are seen as the source of bioenergy, aimed at substituting fossil fuel, while food demand is planned to be met by a selfsufficient society [14,51,52]. The Finnish approach towards bioeconomy is, however, criticised as being too much "business as usual", in which dominant ideas and emphasis on sustainability are characterised as being economically driven and conservative, as will be enlarged in a separate paper [31,35].…”

Section: Model For the European Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying the challenges of implementing a European bioeconomy based on forest resources: Reality demands circularity

Dimić-Mišić¹,

Barcelo²,

Spasojević-Brkić³

et al. 2019

FME Transactions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Greenhouse gas emission reduction is strongly advocated within the European Union (EU). Biomass has emerged as a renewable energy source and as manufacturing raw material with ecological credentials to mitigate carbon imbalance. The EU has defined the bioeconomy encompassing these material sources as a basis for technological and economic development. Biocenology, describing the study of natural communities, however, additionally demands inclusion of a circular economy, in which it needs to be assumed that endless renewable products are kept in continuous circulation of use and reuse. Thus, there arises the question whether the bioeconomy route alone, promoted by the EU, is sustainable. Using research literature, based on the Delphi method, and EU documents, we discuss the importance of sustainable management of bioresources. Short term solutions may remain necessary to ensure economic stability but, without embracing the circular economy, only limited mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions can be expected.

show abstract

Environmental concerns in political bioeconomy discourses

Cited by 67 publications

References 0 publications

Understanding Perceptions of the Bioeconomy in Austria—An Explorative Case Study

Understanding Perceptions of the Bioeconomy in Austria—An Explorative Case Study

Policy Coherence and the Transition to a Bioeconomy: The Case of Ireland

Identifying the challenges of implementing a European bioeconomy based on forest resources: Reality demands circularity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About