Projects

ReValueD — Residue valorization for bio-based products in developing countries: bridging the gap between technical knowledge and socio-economic realities

Institution: University of Passau, Bioeconomy Economics Research Group, Germany

Project Leader: Dr Terese Venus

Many countries and international organizations promote the concept of the bioeconomy as the global solution to sustainable development. As developing countries face the challenge of fostering economic growth under the constraint of environmental regulation, the bioeconomy is touted as a means to bridge the development gap between agrarian economies and sustainable industrialization by creating industries based on biological resources and bioprocesses. In light of this goal, there has been significant technological innovation, but there remains a gap between this technical knowledge and socio-economic realities. Thus, the goal of ReValueD is to bridge the gap between technical knowledge of the bioeconomy and socio-economic realities. In terms of societal change, we seek to answer two overarching questions: (i) What kind of societal change is needed to transition to a sustainable bioeconomy and (ii) What kind of societal change results from the transition to a bioeconomy?