Growing the Bioeconomy: Social, Environmental, and Economic Implications

Recipient Organization
UNIV OF WISCONSIN
21 N PARK ST STE 6401
MADISON,WI 53715-1218

Performing Department
Research Division

Non Technical Summary
As the bioeconomy expands, decision-makers need up-to-date knowledge to develop strategies and manage this growth. Environmental scientists, policy experts and scientific leaders will work together to understand the implications of the bioeconomy. Three leading academic associations working on the life sciences in Europe and North America invite others to attend and contribute to a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities relating to the bioeconomy. Growing the Bioeconomy will address the environmental, social and economic implications of the growth in this sector, following an initial overview of the latest technical developments. The final day of the conference will be devoted to a wide range discussion of what government policies are required to enable future growth in the bioeconomy and to examine what the next steps should be for government, industry and research.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

100%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
902	2420	2020	50%
903	2420	2020	50%

Knowledge Area
902 - Administration of Projects and Programs; 903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
2420 - Noncrop plant research;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;

Keywords

bioeconomy conference

Goals / Objectives
The expected outcome of this conference is a shared understanding of the issues of growing the bioeconomy, and shared viewpoints of natural and social scientists, economists and environmentalists.

Project Methods
Growing the Bioeconomy will bring together people from universities, industry, research institutes, and government, across North America and Europe to discuss the technical advances, the economic viability, and the environmental sustainability of the bioeconomy sector over the next decade, and beyond. The first session will set the context for discussion with a review of the latest technical developments in Europe and North America. Speakers will explain the factors driving the growth of this sector as they relate to agriculture and forestry, and secondary industries such as biofuels, chemicals, and health products. Against this introduction, the three main sessions will address the social, environmental, and economic implications of growing the bioeconomy. Each session will include contributed presentations. The final session will bring together the issues raised in the previous sessions and ask what steps need to be taken in addressing the growth of the bioeconomy.

Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Growing the Bioeconomy brought together peoplefrom universities, industry, research institutes, and government, across North America (i.e. APLU, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities) and Europe to discuss the technical advances, the economic viability, and the environmental sustainability of the bioeconomy sector over the next decade, and beyond. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The conference provided the participants a platform of professional development opportunities through knowledge exchange and networking--not only the interactions among life scientists, environmental scientists, economists, and other social scientists, but also among those of North America (U.S. and Canada), South America, EU, China, and other countries. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The conference, “Growing the Bioeconomy 2012”, program, speaker bios, and other relevant information can be accessed by the scientific community as well as the general public at http://www.ales.ualberta.ca/bioeconomy.aspx. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The project was a one-time event. No further report is required.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Besides organized panel discussions and other presentations, internationally renowned keynote speakers from a number of scientific disciplines shared their knowledge and insights on a variety of critical issues, such as (1) biofuel economics and policies; (2) interactions among energy, agriculture, and forestry; (3) implications of crop and forest residue removal on soil organic pools and greenhouse gas emissions; (4) adaptive capacity building in a global bioeconomy market; (5) calibrating an environmental science research agenda; and (6) transforming technologies: Game changers for the bioeconomy. The information generated helps support future bioeconomy strategic directions.

Publications

Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2012 Citation: Conference proceedings on meeting website: at http://www.ales.ualberta.ca/bioeconomy.aspx