Publications - Bioregions

Roadmap “Circular bioeconomy for Germany”

Rodrigo on September 27, 2023

Fraunhofer researchers present a bioeconomy roadmap for resources conservation, climate protection, and food security

Climate change, over-consumption of resources, international dependency on the supply of raw materials and an increasing global population are major challenges for politics, industry and society. To address these ongoing crises, raw materials must undergo a similar transition to those in energy and agriculture. In addition, resilient systems must be established to ensure the security of supply in Germany. A key factor in this process is the circular bioeconomy, which is based on the circular economy and the use of renewable raw materials instead of non-renewables. Researchers at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are highlighting the scientific and technological potential of the bioeconomy in their roadmap “Circular bioeconomy for Germany”. The roadmap includes recommended actions to be taken at a political level to help accelerate the market ramp-up of bio-based products and technologies, and to address social and ecological challenges.

Download

Content: Roadmap “Circular bioeconomy for Germany”: A roadmap by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft for implementing the bioeconomy in Germany

Publisher: Fraunhofer

Authors: Jens Buller Robert Daschner, Lena Grimm, Michael Hofer, Bärbel Hüsing, Julia Krayer, Robert Miehe, Elke Präg, Esther Stahl, Andreas Stäbler, Anna-Katharina Stumpf, Lina Vieres, Bert Volkert and Sven Wydra

Mass Timber Insurance Playbook

Rodrigo on August 15, 2023

The objective of the Mass Timber Insurance Playbook is to enable a collaborative approach between construction teams and insurers, opening the door to more equitable insurance for mass timber buildings.

Mass timber has the potential to reduce the embodied impact of construction versus more conventional materials such as concrete and steel. It is strong and light, and as a natural material, has a strong aesthetic appeal. But, especially since the Grenfell disaster, mass timber projects have sometimes faced difficulty securing insurance.

The Mass Timber Insurance Playbook is a direct response to the challenges developers have faced, providing guidance for all parties involved in arranging insurance – for both development and operation of projects.

The Playbook was written by insurance and building resilience specialists, to help stakeholders in the insurance and construction industries to understand each other’s priorities and language. The aim is to enable constructive communication, to help overcome gaps in understanding that sometimes hold back mass timber construction.

Download

Content: Mass TImber insurance Playbook

Publisher: The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP)

Year: 2023

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in the Basque Country

Rodrigo on August 3, 2023

The Bioregions Facility launched Perceptions on the bioeconomy survey in the Basque Country, Spain, from April to July 2022 in Spanish and Basque.

The survey targeted different groups within government and industry to understand how they perceive the bioeconomy, its benefits, and its challenges.

Learn more about the Government and industry bioeconomy perceptions survey and ways to implement the survey in your region.

Download

Content: survey report government and industry perceptions on the Bioeconomy in the Basque Country

Author(s): Siebe Briers, Inazio Martinez de Arano

Year: 2022

Learn more

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in the Basque Country

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Flanders

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Tuscany

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in North Karelia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Central Bohemian Region

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Catalonia

Perceptions on bioeconomy in South Ostrobothnia: Results from a regional survey targeted at government and industry. In collaboration with Regional council of south ostrobothnia, Finland

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in South Ostrobothnia

Perceptions on bioeconomy in Castilla y León: results from a regional survey targeted at government and industry. In collaboration with Junta de Castilla y León, Cesefor, RED, ERIAFF network

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Castilla y León

Guidance on the development of public and private payment schemes for forest ecosystem services

Rodrigo on August 2, 2023

Forests provide not only wood and non-wood materials and products but also multiple other services, such as habitats for biodiversity, water purification, and regulation of floods and climate. Their carbon sequestration and cooling capacities and their role in providing renewable raw materials, food and medicines are indispensable for fighting climate change, the transition to a circular bioeconomy and a healthy society.

Public and private payments for forest ecosystem services represent an alternative option to secure financial sources for multifunctional and protective forest management and sustainable maintenance of ecosystem services .

The guidance in this document is intended to be voluntary and not prescriptive. It aims to be a useful source of information and advice – in a user-friendly document – to help public and private entities and forest owners and managers develop and implement payment schemes for forest ecosystem services. It complements any national guidelines that may exist.

Download

Content: Guidance on the development of public and private payment schemes for forest ecosystem services

Publisher: European Commission

Year: 2023

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Flanders

Rodrigo on July 31, 2023

The Bioregions Facility launched Perceptions on the bioeconomy survey in Flanders, Belgium, from October to December 2022 in the local language, Dutch.

The survey targeted different groups within government and industry to understand how they perceive the bioeconomy, its benefits, and its challenges.

Learn more about the Government and industry bioeconomy perceptions survey and ways to implement the survey in your region.

Download

Content: survey report on government and industry perceptions on the bioeconomy in Flanders, Belgium

Author(s): Siebe Briers, Inazio Martinez de Arano, Ronit Bohra, Jasmine Versyck, Gudrun Van Langenhove, Hanna Van Renterghem

Year: 2023

Learn more

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in the Basque Country

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Flanders

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Tuscany

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in North Karelia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Central Bohemian Region

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Catalonia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in South Ostrobothnia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Castilla y León

Critical review on a sustainable circular bio-economy for the forestry sector

Rodrigo on July 27, 2023

Environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainable development must be considered to address global challenges in using bio-based resources. System thinking is the foundation of a sustainable circular bio-economy. The forestry sector is needed to (i) enable biomass use in a series and (ii) manage conflicts over the various forest demands.

A transition towards a sustainable circular bioeconomy can bring many potential benefits. For example, resource value retention strategies, enabling wood use in multi-stage cascades, can secure jobs, resource supply, and healthy ecosystems. The biggest hindrance to action so far is the not well-thought-out path. Therefore, this report ends with a guide to start discussions, across the forestry sector, on all practicalities and consequences of a transition.

Content: Critical review on a sustainable circular bio-economy for the forestry sector

Author(s): Nele Schmitz, Andreas Krause, Jan Lüdtke

Year: 2023

Language: English, Germany

Download

Circularity concepts in wood construction

Rodrigo on July 24, 2023

Wood construction has many advantages over other building constructions: bio-based resource, carbon-storing, thermal insulation, human health and well-being. Innovative wood products provide less manufacturing waste, low carbon-emission alternatives and store massive quantities of carbon while new technologies speed construction processes, promote energy efficiency and minimize waste.

This publication presents the benefits of wood as a construction material and discusses practices applied in the wood construction sector from the perspective of circularity, sustainability and climate change mitigation. It analyses how circularity concepts can be applied in the construction industry using different construction methods and at different stages of value chains.

Content: Circular concept in wood construction

Publisher(s): Joint UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section in Geneva and at FAO in Rome

Year: 2023

Download

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Tuscany

Rodrigo on July 21, 2023

The Bioregions Facility launched Perceptions on the bioeconomy survey in Tuscany, Italy, from December 2021 to January 2022.

The survey targeted different groups within government and industry to understand how they perceive the bioeconomy, its benefits, and its challenges.

Learn more about the Government and industry bioeconomy perceptions survey and ways to implement the survey in your region.

Download

Content: survey report on government and industry perceptions on the bioeconomy in Tuscany, Italy

Author(s): Siebe Briers, Inazio Martinez de Arano, Venla Wallius, Fabio Boscaleri

Year: 2022

Learn more

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in the Basque Country

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Flanders

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Tuscany

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in North Karelia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Central Bohemian Region

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Catalonia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in South Ostrobothnia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Castilla y León

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in North Karelia

Rodrigo on July 21, 2023

The Bioregions Facility launched the Perceptions on the bioeconomy survey in North Karelia, Finland, from September to November 2021.

The survey targeted different groups within government and industry to understand how they perceive the bioeconomy, its benefits, and its challenges.

Learn more about the Government and industry bioeconomy perceptions survey and ways to implement the survey in your region.

Download

Content: survey report on government and industry perceptions on the bioeconomy in North Karelia, Finland

Author(s): Siebe Briers, Inazio Martinez de Arano, Venla Wallius, Milla Suomalainen

Year: 2022

Learn more

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in the Basque Country

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Flanders

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Tuscany

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in North Karelia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Central Bohemian Region

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Catalonia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in South Ostrobothnia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Castilla y León

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Central Bohemian Region

Rodrigo on July 21, 2023

The Bioregions Facility launched the Perceptions on the bioeconomy survey in the Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic, September–October 2022 in the local language, Czech.

The survey targeted different groups within government and industry to understand how they perceive the bioeconomy, its benefits, and its challenges.

Learn more about the Government and industry bioeconomy perceptions survey and ways to implement the survey in your region.

Download

Content: survey report on government and industry perceptions on the bioeconomy in Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic.

Author(s): Siebe Briers, Inazio Martinez de Arano, Radek Rinn

Year: 2023

Learn more

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in the Basque Country

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Flanders

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Tuscany

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in North Karelia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Central Bohemian Region

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Catalonia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in South Ostrobothnia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Castilla y León

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Catalonia

Rodrigo on July 21, 2023

The Bioregions Facility launched, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of Catalonia, Spain, a survey in Catalonia targeting government, industry and research sectors from 29 September to 1 December 2022 in Catalan.

The survey sought to understand how these sectors perceive the bioeconomy, its benefits, and its challenges. Some of the key findings are the following:

Participants perceive the bioeconomy as a promising economic model highly related to a circular economy and providing several environmental benefits.
Bioeconomy is perceived to be highly linked to circularity, biomass use for multiple purposes, and sustainable land management.
Catalan business and policy actors suggest that bioenergy is the region’s bioeconomy sector with the highest potential for growth.
Participants indicate that the government and industry are equally responsible for research, development, and innovation investments.
According to respondents, the bioeconomy has the strongest goal alignment with climate change mitigation & adaptation, circular economy, clean energy, and rural development. Technological innovation and biodiversity conservation are other policy areas with very high overlap with bioeconomy.

Learn more about the Government and industry bioeconomy survey and ways to implement the survey in your region.

Download

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Catalonia, Spain

Content: a bioeconomy report targeting government and industry in Catalonia, Spain

Author(s): Siebe Briers, Inazio Martinez de Arano

Year: 2023

Learn more

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in the Basque Country

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Flanders

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Tuscany

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in North Karelia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Central Bohemian Region

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Catalonia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in South Ostrobothnia

Perceptions on the bioeconomy in Castilla y León

Timber Perception Lab report

Timber Perception Lab on July 14, 2023

Timber Perception Lab First Year Report Climate-KIC

The Timber Perception Lab report includes seven lessons and recommendations. It concludes that while the barriers to the adoption of timber in Italy are interlinked and spread across the value chain of circular, bio-based buildings, the solutions to these barriers are within reach.