Last week, the BIOPOLISTA team participated in the conference “10 Years of Bioeconomy as Societal Change” in Bonn. The event celebrated a decade of achievements in socio-economic bioeconomy research, showcasing landmark projects and discussing the current and future roles of social sciences in shaping the bioeconomy. 

The BIOPOLISTA team contributed several presentations to the programme: Dr. Nicolai Goritz (né Schulz) and Dr. Maria Proestou delivered a power pitch introducing the BIOPOLISTA project, which investigates the political dynamics and dimensions of bioeconomy transitions. Alexandra Gottinger presented a poster titled “Policy (un)learning for the transition towards a sustainable bioeconomy,” focusing on shifts in bioeconomy policy mix and analysing policy changes in the German bioeconomy landscape over the past decades. Giorgio Varanini showcased a poster on “Assessing Bioeconomy Policy Success in Colombia,” exploring a new conceptual framework to assess the success of bioeconomy policies. 

The conference provided an excellent platform for exchange, providing an opportunity to reflect on the past decade and envision the next steps for social science research about the bioeconomy.