Public perceptions of using forests to fuel the European bioeconomy: Findings from eight university cities

The political project on bioeconomy strives to address multiple societal aspirations, namely combine economic growth with environmental sustainability in some socially acceptable manner. The contradictions between the goals and the concrete plans to increase production, processing, and consumption of forest biomass in Europe have however raised sustainability concerns within and beyond its borders. While political actors articulate such contradictions differently and compete for traction for their viewpoints in the public discourse, little is known about how citizens of urban areas perceive this discourse. Conceptualising perception as a multidimensional construct, data from eight European university cities (Bordeaux, Bratislava, Freiburg, Helsinki, Padua, St. Petersburg, Uppsala, Vienna) are statistically analysed to explore its dimensions, the communities of like-minded citizens forming across those dimensions, and the traits associating with membership in each such community. Five communities across six dimensions from biocentrism through distributional aspects to adherence to political goals are identified: adherent-environmentalist, adherent-governmentalist, critical-reformist, critical-agriculturalist, and indifferent. City of residence and perceived familiarity with bioeconomy clearly interact with perception. There is however considerable variation in communities within and across the eight cities, suggesting deeper social tension beyond the public discourse. Much of the within-community variation remains unexplained, though, calling for more work locally. Implications for forest policy are derived.Peer reviewe

POSSIBILITIES OF USING FOREST ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ON THE EXAMPLE OF RECREATIONAL FUNCTION

Renewable resources and their efficient, sustainable use are coming to the fore. Forest ecosystems provide a wide range of services that are vital for both human well-being and the health of the planet. As the recognition of the importance of ecosystem services grows, various financing strategies have been developed to support conservation efforts. The forest’s recreational function can serve as an additional financial source for both public and private entities. Forests offer a wide range of recreational opportunities and experiences that attract visitors and tourists, generating revenue and supporting local economies. The article analyzes the question of the use the forest\u27s recreational function, using the example of a treetop sidewalk in Bachledova dolina. The aim is to analyze the benefits and hazards related to the development of a treetop sidewalk as an object supporting the forest\u27s recreational function. Economic research indicates that such a project would be both economically and financially efficient. Additionally, some positive socio-economic consequences on the investigated locality were observed, such as employment creation directly tied to the attraction\u27s provision of services, as well as related occupations in gastronomic establishments and tourism. On the other hand, it is important to note that there are several undesirable consequences. These effects are mostly influenced by increased tourist traffic in the area, but they may also be influenced by a potential conflict between the project\u27s owner and the impacted owners and users of forest land. In conclusion, it should be emphasized that it\u27s important to manage the recreational use of forests sustainably to avoid negative impacts on the natural environment and to maintain the long-term attractiveness of the area. Balancing the conservation of ecosystem services with recreational activities can ensure that forests continue to provide economic benefits while preserving their ecological value

Acceptance of bioeconomy principles in strategic documents on European and Slovak level

Research background: The European Union has laid the foundations of European bioeconomy by publishing Innovating for Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe in 2012 and A sustainable bioeconomy for Europe: strengthening the connection between economy, society and the environment in 2018. These publications have inspired individual countries to develop their national bioeconomy strategy. Purpose of the article: The lack of engagement in the area of bioeconomy appears to be a problem, as individual national strategies differ vastly amongst the countries. For successful bioeconomy development, there is a need to identify and address the differences in these strategies. That is why, we aim our attention at comparing European and Slovak bioeconomy legislative and at analysing to what extent have Slovak legislative implemented aspects of the European legislative. Methods: The methodology of this study relies on document analysis of officially adopted policy strategies and roadmaps in the EU and Slovak Republic. The paper aims at defining the concept of bioeconomy, its relevance for the society and identifying the differences in European and Slovak strategic documents. Findings & Value added: Since Slovakia is a part of EU, it largely transmits the key areas of EU strategies to its own national strategy. Nevertheless, while comparing strategic documents on the two levels, disparities can be find resulting from specific prerequisites, economic situation and other circumstances. The main difference being the extend to what bioeconomy is addressed. While EU places a great importance to this concept, Slovakia does not aim as much attention to it

Decision-making model for the specification of wood as an input for the production of wooden musical instruments

The main aim of the paper is to propose formalised decision-making model for the selection of suitable parts of raw wood for the production of musical instruments and to decrease uncertainty in the purchasing process. It deals with the problem which was never solved before. The paper presents the methodology of input evaluation, considering the principles of sustainable development. We present by means of a supplier selection example and criteria evaluation, that an outranking approach may be very well suited as a decision-making tool for initial purchasing decisions. We have identified this step from the scientific point of view and from the questionnaire sent to musical instrument producers. There were used the following methods: questionnaire, decision tree and statistical methods of questionnaire processing. Our proposed decision tool/methodology could help on both sides of supply chain – as on the side of raw wood supply as on the side of raw wood demand. Based on the results of scientific research we can say that all assessed hypotheses were confirmed and, in the following, it was designed decision-making model by the method of decision tree. We have developed a conceptual model of buyer’s decision-making uncertainty can be reduced by the buyer’s perceptions of supplier trust, supplier commitment, and supplier dependence. Based on data collected from a questionnaire, our study confirms the negative effect of buyers’ trust in the supplier on their uncertainty in purchase decisions. It helps to optimise the identification, specification and evaluation of key factors for a wood as an input into the production of musical instruments. From the economic point of view, our proposals could help to increase value added in the production of wooden musical instruments and at the same time it could decrease possible waste from the undesirable raw wood input