SOBIO Days: Discourses and Imaginaries of the Sustainability Pathways in the Transition to a Biobased Society

Transition to sustainable and climate-neutral future is currently considered as the development of the global economy based on the utilization of bioresources instead of fossils. Bioeconomy has become a trendy term and a widespread discourse in both science and policy recently. Knowledge-based bioeconomy provides a lot of opportunities for collaboration of various actors and regions on multiple governance levels to address global challenges. 

Bioeconomy is perceived as a tool to solve the global climate crisis. However, bioeconomy-driven intensification of bioresources utilization may provoke other crises on local and regional levels. For instance, the crises caused by unsustainable nature management practices. Overexploitation of forests, agricultural lands or fish farms may lead to resource depletion, environmental degradation, biodiversity decline, and violation of local communities’ rights.

Discourses and imaginaries of sustainability issues in the transition towards a biobased climate-neutral society should be critically analyzed.

SOBIO network invites fellow scholars to discuss the recent social scientific bioeconomy and biosociety research and the following topics:

1. What are the benefits, risks, and socio-ecological trade-offs in the context of bioresource intensification driven by the concept of bioeconomy growth?  

2. What are perceptions of ‘sustainable’ bioresource management in an era of bioeconomy discourse boom as a tool to solve the climate crisis?  

3. What new ways and practices are needed in conceptualizing of sustainability of making societal transformation towards biobased society? 

Please register as a participant at latest 8th December. Link to the seminar will be sent to registered participants.

Seminar Programme

Please see detailed information on the Keynote speakers and abstracts, sessions and programme here.

10.00 Seminar opening, opening words & Introduction about SOBIO network
Professor Teppo Hujala  
 
10.10 Keynote presentation by Dr. Alex Giurca: Our role as scientists in coproducing bioeconomy imaginaries
Chairs Irmeli Mustalahti and Teppo Hujala 
 
11.00 Keynote presentation by Dr. Sarah Mubareka: Building an EU Bioeconomy Monitoring system: development processes, future pathways, and the importance of a collaborative approach
Chair Dr. Moritz Albrecht and comments Dr. Markus Lier  
 
12.00–13.00 Lunch break  
 
13.00–15.45 Sessions of short presentations 
Chairs Professor Jarmo Kortelainen and Dr. Henna Konu  

15.45 Dr. Moritz Albrecht: Towards inclusive and sustainable circular bioeconomy: A summary of the results from the 2019 Sobio Roundtable in Brussels.  
 
15.55 Closing words, Professor Irmeli Mustalahti

Further information: Kaisa Vainio, kaisa.vainio@uef.fi

 
16.00–17.00 SOBIO network meeting: Planning the year 2021 

Social Scientific Biosociety Research Network, SOBIO, is a multidisciplinary research network, which brings together scholars studying social aspects of bioeconomy. SOBIO constitutes one of the research networks of University of Eastern Finland Bioeconomy Research Networks and it is a vital part of the LYY network, The Institute for Natural Resources, Environment and Society (LYY). SOBIO works with close collaboration with Natural Resources Institute Finland, LUKE, and The European Forest Institute, EFI.