State/Academia Key Stakeholders’ Perceptions Regarding Bioeconomy: Evidence from Greece

Abstract

While researchers of the area try hard to conceptualize the bioeconomy, it appears that it is harder for the variety of stakeholders to agree on the critical elements that form sustainable bioeconomy models. The aim of the present paper is to gain insight into major players’ understanding of the bioeconomy concept to form policies and strategies or direct education and research. Using data collected from academia and state stakeholders in Greece, this paper articulates perceptions regarding the concept of bioeconomy from an academic, technological, and economic point of view. According to the results, the bioeconomy concept seems to be related to applied life and economic sciences, and engineering and technology sciences. Its technological interpretation regards innovation, new product development, and technologies. Empirical findings indicate an almost catholic acceptance of bioeconomy as an economic activity, no matter the science field or the state position of the stakeholders. They also highlight a clear need for synergies and a coherent cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary approach to produce novel knowledge, skills, technology, and innovation. The research contributes to the existing debate on the buzzing concept of the bioeconomy and fills a scientific gap at the regional level of a typical Mediterranean economy, enriching the related literature.

Non-Wood Forest Products’ Marketing: Applying a S.A.V.E. Approach for Establishing Their Marketing Mix in Greek Local Mountain Communities

“…In conclusion, we could, therefore, suggest that it is of great importance to support local value chains and local networks for NWFPs. The shortening of NWFPs' value chains fosters closer links between consumers, local producers, entrepreneurs, and traders, often allowing for further "space" for improvement [6,23]. The sizes of local supply and demand, available local capacities, and good practices are the preconditions for success factors [28,47,56].…”

“…This is a focal point of the present research. It is important to identify ways to improve the employment and income generation potential of NWFPs, through practices related to the transition towards a forest-based circular bioeconomy and marketing, which drives demand for NWFPs [2,10,22,23]. Uncovering the weaknesses of NWFPs as territorial products and identifying a potential effective marketing mix, our research could contribute to the creation of opportunities, especially for new sustainable entrepreneurial ventures at the local level, resistible to market pressures, and adjustable to customer demands [24,25].…”

How do individual-level factors influence the adoption of low-carbon technology? Proposing and validating the bioeconomy technology acceptance model in the context of Africa

“…The concept of bioeconomy possesses interpretative flexibility in ways that can be employed to the specific challenges and meet the needs of diverse actors and objectives (Meyer, 2017;Barañano et al, 2021;Mijailoff and Burns, 2023;Trigkas and Karagouni, 2023). Recent theoretical developments acknowledge the technology-based implementation pathway to bioeconomy (Leitão, 2016;Meyer, 2017;Hernández-Pérez et al, 2020;Bröring and Thybussek, 2023).…”

“…The European Commission (2018) defined the bioeconomy as an economy that uses renewable biological resources from the land and sea (e.g., animals, crops, fish, forests, and microorganisms) to produce energy, food, and materials. Bioeconomy remains an emerging concept (Bauer et al, 2018;Bröring et al, 2020;Mijailoff and Burns, 2023;Trigkas and Karagouni, 2023). Successful development, adoption, and diffusion of such new technologies depend on public acceptance, which in turn fundamentally depends on multidimensional constructs (Chen and Lou, 2020;Choung et al, 2022;Jayawardena et al, 2023).…”