A review on strategies, policies and mechanisms supporting Bioeconomy and Sustainable Development

Abstract

Bioeconomy development has established a new paradigm by which fossil-based products and associated services are replaced by sustainable, renewable, circular biobased materials, which will ensure the preservation of natural resources and eco-systems, while ensuring both an economical and a societal balance. A successful implementation of Bioeconomy requires the availability of appropriate public policies and governance mechanisms. Given the multi-sectorial nature of Bioeconomy , the adequacy of public policies and governance mechanisms will require a frame-work exploiting synergetic and complementary aspects from agriculture, energy, environment and social areas. Due to its inherent complexity, a successful implementation of Bioeconomy strategies shall consider inter-ministerial cooperation, policy coherence, coordination between local, regional, national, EU, international stakeholders and integration of scientific knowledge provided by Academia and Research driven projects, involving multiple stakeholders from industry, private and public sectors, policy makers, etc. This work reviews the current status of European and National policies supporting Bioeconomy and reflects on some of the gaps that need to be addressed to ensure a successful implementation of the Bioeconomy sector.