7 research outputs found
A strategic niche management approach for shaping bio-based economy in Europe
The goal of this paper is to investigate the transition towards a bio-based economy as part of a broader sustainable transition in Europe. To analyse the challenges and opportunities associated with the bio-based economy, we applied the Strategic Niche Management approach to investigate the drivers that boost the emergence of the bio-based economy, the factors hindering it, as well as institutional changes which are at the base of the socio-technological transition. Although considered as just one piece of the sustainability puzzle, the bio-based economy behaves as a socio-technical system on its own, providing valuable hints on systemic transitions
Smart Specialisation Strategies for Supporting Europe 2020 Vision. Looking at the American Experience: the Case of the Boston Area
These reflections aim to highlight the crucial challenge that European Regions are called to face applying the âResearch and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specializationâ policy for pursuing the virtuous implementation of EU Cohesion Policy and âEurope 2020â Agenda. The original cultural style of the âUS Smart Specialization modelâ, supported by the âcluster theoryâ and the âinnovation paradigmâ, represents a significant lesson in Boston area
Transitioning towards the bioâeconomy: Assessing the socialdimension through a stakeholder lens
International institutions are calling for a transition towards more sustainable systems
of production and consumption. In this transition, sustainable innovations are
expected to play an everâincreasing role. In particular, the production of innovative
bioâbased productsâproducts wholly or partly derived from biological materials or
from innovative production processes and/or innovative biomass such as food waste
or forest residualsâwill be part of this process. However, the sustainability of such
products must be assured along their entire life cycle and across the three dimensions
mentioned above. Against this background, our study aimed at identifying a social
impact framework tailored to bioâbased products. It employed a twoâstep methodological
framework encompassing (a) identification of the relevant social impact categories,
subcategories, and indicators and (b) validation of these factors, according to
participatory stakeholder involvement. The validation exercise enabled us to consider
a restricted number of social indicators so as to reduce the amount of data needed for
assessing and decreasing related costsThe authors are very grateful to the STARâProBio project (Sustainability Transition Assessment and Research of Bioâbased Products) for their financial support. The project is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement 727740, Work Programme BBâ01â2016: Sustainability
schemes for the bioâbased economyS
The transition towards a bio-based economy. A comparative study based on social network analysis
This paper focuses on the development of a bioplastics innovation niche as an important sector of the bio-based economy and a viable solution to promote sustainable long-term growth. Relying on the Strategic Niche Management framework, the following niche mechanisms are analysed: (1) convergence of expectations, (2) learning processes, and (3) networking with powerful actors in the sector. We conducted a comparative analysis, looking at Italy and Germany, two frontrunner countries in the bioplastic production who have enacted divergent policies in support of this sector. The comparative perspective has brought some interesting insights into the maturity level of the two respective niches, as well as into the emerging architectural properties of the underling social networks. Core findings show a general high level of expectations in the bioplastics sector in both countries, whereas key elements undermining the niche development refer either to the lack of policy support or to the changing and unstable institutional and regulatory framework. Regarding the architectural
structure, the Italian network of actors was largely characterized by an active exchange of knowledge among firms, whereas the German network was characterized by the presence of several institutional actors actively participating in knowledge flows. This last result relates, in the authorsâ view, to the different policy strategies followed by national governments in the two countries: the German case being characterized by large public investment in R&D, whereas the Italian case is mostly characterized by demand side policies that effectively created a market for bioplastic shoppers