214 E. J. Iversen et al.
• Compatibility across countries and across time;
• Granularity in terms of the actors involved and their activities;
• Timeliness; and
• Replicability and legitimacy.
The following section will present a first estimate of formal R&D activities,
the population and the survey based on this population. Two of the lenses
featured here are based on collecting data from the actors themselves: the
Agrifood R&D carried out by NIFU (Rørstad & Sundnes, 2017), and the
survey of Norwegian firms engaged in organic waste activities carried out by
TIK in 2017 (Normann, 2018). These two collection rounds are census- based
activities rather than sample surveys. Each is based on an established (notionally) complete list of entities (for the defined categories); established criteria
have been applied and respondents and non- respondents have been validated.
This provides a point of departure that is distinct from other efforts (such as
Biosmart (2018)) and that can reveal something new about the extent and
direction of R&D allocations and innovative activities respectively.
We address the following questions:
• Who are active ‘bioeconomy’ actors in Norway?
• What activities do the different subcategories report?
• How do these activities square with related activities within the sector?
11.3.1 Baseline: R&D activity in the circular bioeconomy
NIFU, which produces the official R&D statistics for the higher education
sector (HES) and the research institute sector in Norway, conducts extended
census work to look more deeply into thematic areas of specific interest such
as polar research, climate change or ‘agriculture and food’ research. We utilise
the results and the population frame from the study of ‘agriculture and food’
R&D to set the baseline for sizing up the circular bioeconomy in Norway.
The term ‘agriculture and food’ corresponds to the following categories in
the Web of Science database: agriculture economics and policy, agricultural
engineering, agriculture, dairy and animal science, agriculture multidisciplinary, agronomy, food science and technology, forestry, and veterinary
science.
Conducted in 2015/2016 (reference year 2015), this national survey
mapped the allocations of Norwegian actors to R&D in the area of agricultural and food- related R&D. Agriculture and food research is admittedly not
a perfect proxy for the research area we wish to capture. However, agriculture and food research does provide an instrumental foundation from
which to start to size up actors and activities: it spans a number of important
industries that focus on organic matter and waste streams; it involves a range
of commercial activities; and these activities are relatively research intensive
within our scope of interest.
• Compatibility across countries and across time;
• Granularity in terms of the actors involved and their activities;
• Timeliness; and
• Replicability and legitimacy.
The following section will present a first estimate of formal R&D activities,
the population and the survey based on this population. Two of the lenses
featured here are based on collecting data from the actors themselves: the
Agrifood R&D carried out by NIFU (Rørstad & Sundnes, 2017), and the
survey of Norwegian firms engaged in organic waste activities carried out by
TIK in 2017 (Normann, 2018). These two collection rounds are census- based
activities rather than sample surveys. Each is based on an established (notionally) complete list of entities (for the defined categories); established criteria
have been applied and respondents and non- respondents have been validated.
This provides a point of departure that is distinct from other efforts (such as
Biosmart (2018)) and that can reveal something new about the extent and
direction of R&D allocations and innovative activities respectively.
We address the following questions:
• Who are active ‘bioeconomy’ actors in Norway?
• What activities do the different subcategories report?
• How do these activities square with related activities within the sector?
11.3.1 Baseline: R&D activity in the circular bioeconomy
NIFU, which produces the official R&D statistics for the higher education
sector (HES) and the research institute sector in Norway, conducts extended
census work to look more deeply into thematic areas of specific interest such
as polar research, climate change or ‘agriculture and food’ research. We utilise
the results and the population frame from the study of ‘agriculture and food’
R&D to set the baseline for sizing up the circular bioeconomy in Norway.
The term ‘agriculture and food’ corresponds to the following categories in
the Web of Science database: agriculture economics and policy, agricultural
engineering, agriculture, dairy and animal science, agriculture multidisciplinary, agronomy, food science and technology, forestry, and veterinary
science.
Conducted in 2015/2016 (reference year 2015), this national survey
mapped the allocations of Norwegian actors to R&D in the area of agricultural and food- related R&D. Agriculture and food research is admittedly not
a perfect proxy for the research area we wish to capture. However, agriculture and food research does provide an instrumental foundation from
which to start to size up actors and activities: it spans a number of important
industries that focus on organic matter and waste streams; it involves a range
of commercial activities; and these activities are relatively research intensive
within our scope of interest.