Abstract
The bioeconomy approach offers potential solutions to global challenges, including sustainable forest management. The body of literature on the forest-based bioeconomy is rapidly expanding, and the diversity of approaches is bewildering. In this paper, we (1) discuss and clarify terminology related to the forest-based bioeconomy as a basis for (2) developing a general framework for analysing the forest-based bioeconomy, which is then (3) applied to two bioeconomy cases. The point of departure is a structured literature review; through qualitative content analysis, we identified the key questions characterizing current approaches to the forest-based bioeconomy; subsequently, the two cases were investigated through analysis of nominal and functional national bioeconomy policy documents and case-specific literature. Answering the key questions allowed the identification of five distinct schools of thought that make up the global framework: the biotechnology, techno-bioresource, socio-bioresource, eco-efficiency, and eco-society schools. These provide a systematic tool to analyse key paradigms, public policy goals, product or service sold, stakeholders, strength of environmental sustainability, and likely transition pathways. We illustrate the application of the framework through analysis of two cases (medicinal plants in Nepal and timber in Finland). We end by discussing how to operationalize the framework further.
Highlights
IntroductionThe bioeconomy, the green economy, and the circular economy are concepts that have grown strong roots since the early 2000s [1]
We present the key questions coming out of the literature content analysis, answer the questions to generate the general framework of forest-based bioeconomy schools
The qualitative content analysis resulted in 19 questions; combining questions with similar focus and removing questions with only one answer, the qualitative content analysis resulted in seven key questions that distinguished approaches to the forest-based bioeconomy: (1) what is the paradigmatic belief system, (2) what are the public policy goals, (3) what final product or service is sold, (4) who are the key stakeholders, (5) which are the likely transition pathways, (6) is the informal economy included, and (7) what is the strength of the link to environmental sustainability
Summary
The bioeconomy, the green economy, and the circular economy are concepts that have grown strong roots since the early 2000s [1]. They are often vaguely defined, used interchangeably, and overlap. An enquiry into the bioeconomy must start with terminological clarification. A recent comprehensive study of nearly two thousand papers reviewed the three concepts and found substantial differences [1]. The concept of the circular economy originated during the 1970s and 1980s as an evolution of industrial ecology and industrial metabolism [1,2] and aims to replace the “take, make, and dispose”
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