Why this buzz about bioeconomy, you might wonder? Perhaps because it can be seen as a “silver bullet”, able to avert several staggering threats to our societies: economic and demographic decline in rural areas; joblessness and the climate crises. Clearly, there are several good reasons for the Nordic countries to dig deeper into their bountiful biological assets. First, it is about replacing fossil fuels with biofuels and replacing non-degradable products with bio-degradable ones. Second, the bioeconomy could boost the productivity and product development within agriculture, fisheries, forestry and the chemical industry. Finally, the bioeconomy creates new jobs in sparsely populated areas, by utilizing existing natural resources in new ways.
This policy brief is based on a larger case study report, read more here.