2 What is the bioeconomy?
Markus M. Bugge, Teis Hansen and
Antje Klitkou
2.1 Introduction
1
The notion of grand challenges has over the last decade emerged as a central
issue in policymaking and – increasingly – academia. In a European context,
the Lund Declaration [1] stressed the urgency of pursuing solutions to problems in diverse fields such as climate change, food security, health, industrial
restructuring and energy security. A key common denominator for these
grand challenges is that they can be characterised as persistent problems,
which are highly complex, open- ended and characterised by uncertainty in
terms of how they can be addressed and solved – a partial solution may result
in further problems at a later point in time due to feedback effects (Coenen,
Hansen & Rekers, 2015; Schuitmaker, 2012; Upham, Klitkou & Olsen,
2016).
Still, despite these uncertainties, the concept of a bioeconomy has been
introduced as an important part of the solution to several of these challenges.
Moving from fossil- based to bio- based products and energy is important from
a climate change perspective, but it is also suggested that a transition to a bioeconomy will address issues related to food security, health, industrial restructuring and energy security (Ollikainen, 2014; Pülzl, Kleinschmit & Arts,
2014; Richardson, 2012).
However, despite the key role attributed to the bioeconomy in addressing
these grand challenges, there seems to be little consensus concerning what a
bioeconomy actually implies. For instance, the conceptualisations of the bioeconomy range from one that is closely connected to the increasing use of
bio- technology across sectors, e.g. Wield (2013), to one where the focus is
on the use of biological material, e.g. McCormick and Kautto (2013). Thus,
describing the bioeconomy, it has been argued that “its meaning still seems in
a flux” (Pülzl et al., 2014, p. 386) and that the bioeconomy can be characterised as a “master narrative” (Levidow, Birch & Papaioannou, 2013, p. 95),
which is open to very different interpretations.
With this in mind, the aim of this chapter is to provide an enhanced
understanding of the notion of the bioeconomy. Arguably, this is important if
the transition to the bioeconomy is indeed a key element in targeting a
Markus M. Bugge, Teis Hansen and
Antje Klitkou
2.1 Introduction
1
The notion of grand challenges has over the last decade emerged as a central
issue in policymaking and – increasingly – academia. In a European context,
the Lund Declaration [1] stressed the urgency of pursuing solutions to problems in diverse fields such as climate change, food security, health, industrial
restructuring and energy security. A key common denominator for these
grand challenges is that they can be characterised as persistent problems,
which are highly complex, open- ended and characterised by uncertainty in
terms of how they can be addressed and solved – a partial solution may result
in further problems at a later point in time due to feedback effects (Coenen,
Hansen & Rekers, 2015; Schuitmaker, 2012; Upham, Klitkou & Olsen,
2016).
Still, despite these uncertainties, the concept of a bioeconomy has been
introduced as an important part of the solution to several of these challenges.
Moving from fossil- based to bio- based products and energy is important from
a climate change perspective, but it is also suggested that a transition to a bioeconomy will address issues related to food security, health, industrial restructuring and energy security (Ollikainen, 2014; Pülzl, Kleinschmit & Arts,
2014; Richardson, 2012).
However, despite the key role attributed to the bioeconomy in addressing
these grand challenges, there seems to be little consensus concerning what a
bioeconomy actually implies. For instance, the conceptualisations of the bioeconomy range from one that is closely connected to the increasing use of
bio- technology across sectors, e.g. Wield (2013), to one where the focus is
on the use of biological material, e.g. McCormick and Kautto (2013). Thus,
describing the bioeconomy, it has been argued that “its meaning still seems in
a flux” (Pülzl et al., 2014, p. 386) and that the bioeconomy can be characterised as a “master narrative” (Levidow, Birch & Papaioannou, 2013, p. 95),
which is open to very different interpretations.
With this in mind, the aim of this chapter is to provide an enhanced
understanding of the notion of the bioeconomy. Arguably, this is important if
the transition to the bioeconomy is indeed a key element in targeting a