Sustainable development is the most important challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. The global economic growth in the recent past has indeed exhibited marked progress in many countries. Nevertheless, the issues of income disparity, poverty, gender gaps, and malnutrition are not uncommon in the global landscape, in spite of the upward growth of the economy and technological advances. This grim picture is further exacerbated by our growing human population, unmindful resource use, ever-increasing consumption trends, and changing climate. In order to protect humanity and preserve the planet, the United Nations issued the “2030 agenda for sustainable development,” which includes but is not limited to sustainable production and consumption practices, e.g. in a sustainable bioeconomy. The hallmark of the sustainable bioeconomy is a paradigm shift from a fossil-fuel-based economy to a biological-based one, which is driven by the virtues of sustainability, efficient utilization of resources, and “circular economy.” As the sustainable bioeconomy is based on the efficient utilization of biological resources and societal transformations, it holds the immense potential to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This book shares valuable insights into the linkages between the sustainable bioeconomy and Sustainable Development Goals, making it an essential read for policymakers, researchers and students of environmental studies.

The current era of incredible innovations has made science and technology one of the most powerful tools to meet the goals of incremental prosperity for humans and sustainable development. The development of the biotech industry in any given country is shaped by the characteristics of the technology—particularly its close relation to scientific knowledge—and by country-specific factors—the level and nature of the scientific knowledge base, the institutional set-up, and the role assumed by the government—which influence the country's ability to exploit new opportunities and appropriate the respective results. This book presents an integrated approach for sustained innovation in various areas of biotechnology. Focusing mainly on the industrial, socio-economic and legal implications of biotechnological advances, it examines in detail not only the implications of IPR in omics-based research but also the ethical and intellectual standards and how these can be developed for sustained innovation. Integrating science and business, it offers a peek behind the scenes of the biotech industry and provides a comprehensive analysis of the foundations of the present day industry for students and professionals alike. The book is divided into three parts: Food and Agricultural BiotechnologyIndustrial BiotechnologyPharmaceutical Biotechnology

This book gathers contributions from scientists and industry representatives on achieving a sustainable bioeconomy. It also covers the social sciences, economics, business, education and the environmental sciences. There is an urgent need to optimise and maximise the use of biological resources, so that primary production and processing systems can generate more food, fibre and other bio-based products with less environmental impacts and lower greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, we need a “sustainable bioeconomy” – a term that encompasses the sustainable production of renewable resources from land, fisheries and aquaculture environments and their conversion into food, feed, fibre bio-based products and bio-energy, as well as related public goods. Despite the relevance of achieving a sustainable bioeconomy, there are very few publications in this field. Addressing that gap, this book illustrates how biological resources and ecosystems could be used in a more sustainable, efficient and integrated manner – in other words, how the principles of sustainable bioeconomy can be implemented in practice. Given its interdisciplinary nature, the field of sustainable bioeconomy offers a unique opportunity to address complex and interconnected challenges, while also promoting economic growth. It helps countries and societies to make a transition and to use resources more efficiently, and shows how to rely less on biological resources to satisfy industry demands and consumer needs. The papers are innovative, cross-cutting and include many practice-based lessons learned, some of which are reproducible elsewhere. In closing, the book, prepared by the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP) and the World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre (WSD-RTC), reiterates the need to promote a sustainable bioeconomy today.

The current era of incredible innovations has made science and technology one of the most powerful tools to meet the goals of incremental prosperity for humans and sustainable development. The development of the biotech industry in any given country is shaped by the characteristics of the technology-particularly its close relation to scientific knowledge-and by country-specific factors-the level and nature of the scientific knowledge base, the institutional set-up, and the role assumed by the government-which influence the country's ability to exploit new opportunities and appropriate the respective results. This book presents an integrated approach for sustained innovation in various areas of biotechnology. Focusing mainly on the industrial, socio-economic and legal implications of biotechnological advances, it examines in detail not only the implications of IPR in omics-based research but also the ethical and intellectual standards and how these can be developed for sustained innovation. Integrating science and business, it offers a peek behind the scenes of the biotech industry and provides a comprehensive analysis of the foundations of the present day industry for students and professionals alike. The book is divided into three parts: Food and Agricultural Biotechnology Industrial Biotechnology Pharmaceutical Biotechnology.

Bioeconomy includes agriculture, foestry, food industry, fish farming, chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and textile industries as well as energy production based biomass as the main raw material.The impact of bioeconomy includes replacement of non-renewable resources by biobased ones e.g. in production of energy, plastics and medicine. Bioeconomy can be considered sustainable if it is ensured that resources are spent reasonably and in a strategic manner and that they are used in most efficient way by producing high value products. Such a bioeconomy is able to improve the supply security of the country in terms of major resorces, such as food, fuels and materials as well as to create an opportunity of a new knowledge based intensive industry.The potential for renewable energy provided by bioresources is an important conribuion to sustainability. Biomass is considered to be a renewable resource because it receives energy from the sun, but only as long as the nutrients used for growth are returned to the land. Bioeconomy can alleviate poverty by adopting technologies such as bee-keeping, lac cultivation, edible mushroom production etc. which can be implemented by people who remain below poverty line. They need training and guidance in marketing their products.

In this edited volume, scientists from different disciplines discuss modern biotechnological processes and a knowledge-based bioeconomy. The authors base their arguments on ecological, economic, legal, social and ethical aspects. Moreover, they explore the opportunities, risks, and challenges of bioeconomic concepts and biotechnologies in many subject areas. The chapters consider land use, nature and environment, nutrition, technology and governance, energy, economy, law and regulation, as well as ethics. A special focus should be on new technologies and how they can be used, without compromising the ambitious goal of creating a more sustainable, but also fair world. To do justice to this broad array of topics, the editors frame all topics in overarching introductions and close the volume with final conclusions. Thereby this volume offers data and critical thoughts for any member of a Bioeconomy – be it from academia, the industry or public regulation.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book defines the new field of "Bioeconomy" as the sustainable and innovative use of biomass and biological knowledge to provide food, feed, industrial products, bioenergy and ecological services. The chapters highlight the importance of bioeconomy-related concepts in public, scientific, and political discourse. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the authors outline the dimensions of the bioeconomy as a means of achieving sustainability. The authors are ideally situated to elaborate on the diverse aspects of the bioeconomy. They have acquired in-depth experience of interdisciplinary research through the university’s focus on “Bioeconomy”, its contribution to the Bioeconomy Research Program of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, and its participation in the German Bioeconomy Council. With the number of bioeconomy-related projects at European universities rising, this book will provide graduate students and researchers with background information on the bioeconomy. It will familiarize scientific readers with bioeconomy-related terms and give scientific background for economists, agronomists and natural scientists alike.

It is a first of its kind volume to address the recent issues emerging in agro-based economies. It will be the single point source for recent advancements in agro-based global bioeconomy. It empowers the utilization of biotechnology to address worldwide ecological issues by supporting sustainable resolutions for global agricultural markets. It gives both foundation hypothesis and functional direction on commercialization and regulatory issues. Empowers usage of adaptable approaches that can adjust to and uphold socially and financially valuable agro-based technologies.

This volume presents a timely recognition, warning and mapping of the fast approaching wave, or “bio-tsunami”, of global socio-technical transformation, built by a much wider spectrum of converging powers, including biotechnology, new agriculture, novel foods, health, quality of life, environment, energy, sustainability, education, knowledge management, and design of smart applications. The book contains eight sections corresponding to different clusters of bioeconomic and socio-technical change, as identified by the editors’ “Scanning the Horizon” foresight research; it also offers an integrated view of the future bioeconomy landscape though the convergence of several technologies that affect everyday life. The clusters offer methodologies for forecasting the future bioeconomy, and how these predictions can affect target-setting and the orientation of policies and actions to manage cultural and societal change, and achieve sustainable development in less developed areas. The book will be of interest to researchers, producers, logistics experts, policy makers, regulators, business and financial institutions, and biotechnologists (e.g. geneticists, food experts, etc.).