The Research Debate “Other lenses are needed to keep bioeconomy on a sustainable track” by Diana Morales has been published in Versus

The Versus Research Debate by Diana Morales is based on her Fennia Research Paper Spaces of the forest-based bioeconomy in Finnish Lapland and Catalonia: practitioners, narratives and forgotten spatialities (2021).

Over the last decade, the bioeconomy has become a popular strategy proposed to shift our economies away from fossil fuels and boost local economic growth, especially of rural areas. However, critiques of the bioeconomy have pointed at its reductionist view of rural areas as providers of biomass and containers of industries and infrastructure. Environmental concerns about the sustainability of an increased demand for biomass have been raised too.

Current discussions and policy development have emphasised on the need to have a socially inclusive approach that takes sustainability seriously. Therefore, it is urgent to continue questioning the narratives and motives supporting bioeconomy developments, especially in rural areas, to offer different perspectives on how a greener future can look like.

The Research Debate icludes the commentaries Focus on forest-based bioeconomy in the regions rather than countries by Maija Halonen and Socioecological relations as the central lens for analysing bioeconomy by Hariati Sinaga.