Sustaining Biomaterials in Bioeconomy: Roles of Education and Learning in Mekong River Basin

Abstract

The demands to improve the livelihood of small farmers require a systemic shift from fossil fuel-based and destructive approaches to sustainable renewable raw materials and non-destructive approaches. This should be accompanied by a fundamental reorganization of education and learning policies to create new bio-oriented value chains for biomaterials, food, wood, and energy, as well as in large parts of the health, manufacturing, and service industries. In the long run, the successful implementation of bio-oriented production depends on the systemic linking of both first- and second-hand learning in communities in rural as well as urban settings. The purpose of this paper is to present a concept for the co-design of a new curriculum to better equip new graduates with the ability to support the effort of the sustainable production of biomaterials that are non-destructive to the environment. To sustain biomaterials and enhance non-destructive ways of thinking, learning needs a community of practice in both online and onsite platforms—allowing students to better understand and support cascade use. Therefore, the use of by-products and recycling products after use will increase in importance. A community of practice, and institutions, must create education and learning platforms for improved actions regarding biomaterials across generations and experiences, which will subsequently be integrated into the circular value chains of the bioeconomy. The first- and second-hand learning to sustain these value chains depends on higher education and learning institutions with both legal mandates and systems approaches.

Scenarios for a Scaling-up System for Organic Cassava Production in the Mekong River Basin: A Foresight Approach

“…This policy must be shifted towards changes in structure, procedure, and culture of learning and education to transform the status quo into a desirable future [43]. The policy must couple formal and informal education and training for job creation and an industry built around the production and processing of organic cassava products [44,45]. Actors in the MRB region need a roadmap to develop and enhance the capacity of human resources in the essential field of the economy, in particular, the upscaling of the OCS system [46,47].…”

A Review of the Current Practices of Bioeconomy Education and Training in the EU

“…Sacchi et al (2021), investigate the educational processes required for a bio-based economy, and highlight that the main challenge for education related to the bio-based economy is the development of an effective framework that bridges the life sciences and the social sciences [22]. Onpraphai et al (2021) argue for the importance of creating new education approaches that are able to support the shift to a sustainable bioeconomy [23]. It is documented that education for the bioeconomy is conceptually related to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and education for sustainable development (ESD).…”

Education for Advancing the Implementation of the Green Deal Goals for Bioeconomy

“…The number of research in bioeconomy education has been growing over the past years to stress the necessity for new specialists in the field to devlope innovative technologies and products [5]- [11]. [12] writes that implementing bioeconomy goals and transforming to a knowledge-based sustainable bioeconomy should be considered transdisciplinary, learning, interdisciplinary and system-thinking, anticipatory, normative, strategic and interpersonal competence, where [13] ads policy and decision-making skills.…”