Publications and references

Call for submissions: Justice and Power in Bioeconomy and Biosociety: a Multidisciplinary Perspective

Submissions are invited for a Special issue of Forest Policy and Economics (IF 3.099).

The policy discourse of bioeconomy calls for transitions of economy from fossil-fuel driven systems of production and consumption to systems based on renewable-materials. It also calls for societal transformations. While these transitions and transformations hold various opportunities, they also imply various risks. The self-sufficiency in bio-resources in many EU countries is decreasing, while demand and import of bio-resources from Asian and African countries, among others, are increasing. Transition to bioeconomy in these countries may exacerbate climate risks, food insecurity and eviction of local people. In particular, less powerful and small-scale actors and the politically and socially marginalized groups are likely to bear the associated burdens and risks. The local access to genetic materials and the traditional knowledge are also at risk of abuse and commercial exploitation, considering the prominent role of agribusiness and pharmaceutical industries in bioeconomies of many industrialized countries.

The current state of the art in bioeconomy predominantly focuses on economic, technological and innovation dimensions towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns. It also mainly focuses on trends and discourses in European and industrialized countries. It is therefore crucial to study the societal and political struggles and tensions associated to bioeconomy transitions at the global level, and especially in the context of non-industrialized countries of the ‘Global South’. We invite contributions exploring the concepts of social and environmental justice, power and hegemony, extractivism, discourses and politics in the context of bioeconomy and biosociety transformations. We invite contributions from the following disciplines: environmental and forest policy and governance, human geography, development and indigenous studies, political economy, political ecology, feminist political ecology, social transformations and decoloniality perspectives.

Submission period: 1 January 2021 – 30 June 2021
Guest authors: Sabaheta Ramcilovik-Suominen, Helga Pülzl, Wolfram Dressler,  Markus Kröger, Mary Mention, Juha Hiedanpää

Details: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/forest-policy-and-economics/call-for-papers/call-for-papers-on-special-issue-justice-and-power-in-bioeco


Special Issues

Special Issue in Ambio - A Journal of the Human Environment titled: 'Socio-political  dimensions  of  forest-based  bioeconomies  in  Europe: competing  perspectives  and regional disparities of bioeconomy policies'.
Issue editors: Lea Ranacher, Ida Wallin, Lauri Valsta, Daniela Kleinschmit. An outcome of the PERFORM Project
https://link.springer.com/journal/13280/volumes-and-issues/49-12


Publications of interest

  • European forest governance post-2020
    This new science-policy study takes a look at the forest governance in Europe and provides an outlook to potential pathways for the future. To maximise synergies and minimise trade-offs, consistent policymaking across all levels of governance is needed using evidence-based information, the findings of the study show. The publication, co-authored by the IUFRO officeholders Helga Pülzl, Daniela Kleinschmit, Georg Winkel, Laura Secco and IUFRO HQ member Magdalena Lackner and others has been published as Science to Policy Publication by the European Forest Institute (EFI). Available from http://www.efi.int/sites/default/files/files/publication-bank/2020/efi_fstp_10_2020.pdf
     
  • Piecemeal Integration: Explaining and Understanding 60 Years of European Union Forest Policy-Making.  Helga Pülzl, Doris Wydra and Karl Hogl. Forests 2018, 9(11), 719; 19 November 2018; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9110719 
     
  • Orchestrating forest policy making: Involvement of scientists and stakeholders in political processes 
  • Edited by Daniela Kleinschmit, Laura Secco, Arnaud Sergent, Ida Wallin and Helga Pülzl. Forest Policy and Economics, Volume 89, Pages 1-106, April 2018.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/forest-policy-and-economics/vol/89/suppl/C