Education for a biobased economy: Integrating life and social sciences in flexible short courses accessible from different backgrounds

Abstract

To achieve ambitious 21st-century goals and deal with high-level complexity, a bio-based economy is required to cross the boundaries of a single sector and integrate tools, language and knowledge drawn from different disciplines and sub-disciplines. The present contribution highlights how life scientists, social scientists, policymakers and industrial stakeholders should work together to make this technological reversal real and feasible. Importantly, going beyond theoretical and methodological integration, the paper underlines the necessity of developing a new and more flexible educational framework that might facilitate interdisciplinary combination. Specifically, the experience of the summer school “Towards a bio-based economy: science, innovation, economics, education” organized by the University of Milano Bicocca in collaboration with Chalmers University is described. The results reveal the need for high-level education programs likely to promote and guide society towards bio-based innovation.