The BIOPOLISTA team organized and participated in a panel at the 29th Convention of the German Political Science Association (DVPW), held from September 24-27, 2024, at the University of Göttingen. This year’s convention theme, “Politics in Times of Polycrisis,” addressed the interconnected challenges of overlapping crises—ranging from economic instability and public health emergencies to climate change and geopolitical conflict. The conference explored how political actors and institutions navigate these crises and the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration to address complex, interdependent issues.

The panel titled “Bioeconomy Politics and Policy in Times of Polycrisis” was chaired by Dr. Nicolai Goritz from BIOPOLISTA in collaboration with Dr. Karen Siegel (University of Münster), and explored the pressing question of how bioeconomy policies can respond to the resilience and sustainability challenges posed by polycrises. Dr. Nicolai Schulz and Giorgio Varanini presented their paper, “Explaining Low Salience of Environmental Resilience Challenges in Bioeconomy Strategies: A Cross-Regional Comparative Analysis,” co-authored with Maria Proestou, which aimed to contribute insights into the adaptive capacities of bioeconomic policies in addressing complex, interconnected challenges.