Opportunities For Youth In The Bioeconomy

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of key challenges and barriers to achieving greater youth inclusion in the bioeconomy. The analysis covers key factors (push/pull factors) that impact youth employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, such as education, vocational training, skills building, technology and business development. It also underscores the significance of considering economic development opportunities, rural–urban dynamics, and sustainable resource management when implementing policies. The study assesses the youth inclusiveness of current bioeconomy strategies and related policies and identifies six policy goals and how they need to be addressed for greater youth inclusion. Additionally, the report assesses specific youth employment opportunities and challenges in different sectors of the bioeconomy and provides a specific set of recommendations to support youth participation in the bioeconomy. Finally, the report provides generic recommendations for better youth inclusion and support in the bioeconomy. Overall, the report concludes that the bioeconomy offers considerable opportunities and is attractive to youth, but more needs to be done to support youth entrepreneurship and employment in the sector.

Bio-Economy and Agri-Production: Concepts and Evidence bridges the knowledge gap between sustainability and bio-economy aspects of agri-production. It complements traditional perspectives of agri-production with advanced engineering, information and communication technologies recently applied in agri-business. Including knowledgebased agriculture and reflecting sustainability and circular economy principles, the book presents a holistic view of sustainable bio-economy, contributing to the development of integrated agricultural systems. As technology advances, agricultural production management practices are now being called upon to address the need for sustainability in the bio-economy. Bio-Economy and Agri-Production: Concepts and Evidence presents information to broaden the awareness and promotion of practices and technology to reduce the use of inputs, protect health and environment and improve resource-use efficiency. Topics that are addressed include circular economy in agri-business, lifecycle thinking, lean management, agri-chains, green production, and waste management. Bio-Economy and Agri-Production: Concepts and Evidence is a valuable reference for professionals, consultants, and policy making stakeholders in biosystems engineering and agricultural industries Focuses on responsible management practices to protect the environment while producing needed resources Application based for those in agricultural sectors seeking to integrate bioeconomic strategies Provides real-world insights into transitioning practices

The FAO Conference in 2017 endorsed the call to develop a rural youth action plan that addresses the importance of making rural areas more attractive for young women and men. Under the aegis of the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), the Rural Youth Action Plan (RYAP) was developed and presented at COAG’s Twenty- seventh Session in 2020. The Plan presents a five-year Action Plan (2021–2025), aligned to five thematic areas (or pillars) with the goal of contributing to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by equally empowering rural young women and men. The RYAP is embedded in FAO’s Medium Term Plan (2022–2025), and serves as a key performance indicator (KPI) for the cross cutting theme on youth.

This comprehensive report provides an overview of the objectives, speakers, and outcomes of each session of the second edition of the FAO Science and Innovation Forum (SIF) 2023. The SIF, a pivotal component of the annual flagship World Food Forum, unfolded from 18 to 20 October 2023 at FAO headquarters. Centered around the theme of leveraging science and innovation for the transformative enhancement of agrifood systems in the context of climate action, the Forum fostered discussions aimed at identifying concrete actions. It served as a platform for strategic deliberations on the nuanced ways in which science, technology, and innovation contribute to vulnerability, impact, and capacities, crucial for reshaping agrifood systems and bolstering climate action. Noteworthy attendance marked the event, with a total of 8 967 registrants, comprising 4 000 in-person participants and 7 153 virtual attendees representing diverse global backgrounds. The Forum featured the insights and perspectives of nearly 150 speakers drawn from academia, research, business, government, non-governmental organizations, farmers' organizations, young entrepreneurs, and Indigenous Peoples. These experts actively contributed to the discourse through engaging roundtables and panel discussions.

The growing global demand for food, feed and bio-based renewable material is changing the conditions for agricultural production worldwide. At the same time, revolutionary achievements in the field of biosciences are contributing to a transition whereby bio-based alternatives for energy and materials are becoming more competitive. Creating Sustainable Bioeconomies explores the prospects for biosciences and how its innovation has the potential to help countries in the North (Europe) and the South (Africa) to move towards resource efficient agriculture and sustainable bioeconomies. Throughout the book, the situations of Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa will be compared and contrasted, and opportunities for mutual learning and collaboration are explored. The chapters have been written by high profile authors and deal with a wide range of issues affecting the development of bioeconomies on both continents. This book compares and contrasts the situations of these two regions as they endeavour to develop knowledge based bioeconomies. This volume is suitable for those who are interested in ecological economics, development economics and environmental economics. It also provides action plans assisting policy-makers in both areas to support the transition to knowledge based and sustainable bioeconomies.

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.

Developing the Global Bioeconomy: Technical, Market, and Environmental Lessons from Bioenergy brings together expertise from three IEA-Bioenergy subtasks on pyrolysis, international trade, and biorefineries to review the bioenergy sector and draw useful lessons for the full deployment of the bioeconomy. Despite the vast amount of politically driven strategies, there is little understanding on how current markets will transition towards a global bioeconomy. The question is not only how the bioeconomy can be developed, but also how it can be developed sustainably in terms of economic and environmental concerns. To answer this question, this book’s expert chapter authors seek to identify the types of biorefineries that are expected to be implemented and the types of feedstock that may be used. They also provide historical analysis of the developments of biopower and biofuel markets, integration opportunities into existing supply chains, and the conditions that would need to be created and enhanced to achieve a global biomass trade system that could support a global bioeconomy. As expectations that a future bioeconomy will rely on a series of tradable commodities, this book provides a central accounting of the state of the discussion in a multidisciplinary approach that is ideal for research and academic experts, and analysts in all areas of the bioenergy, biofuels, and bioeconomy sectors, as well as those interested in energy policy and economics. Examines the lessons learned by the bioenergy industry and how they can be applied to the full development of the bioeconomy Explores different transition strategies and how the current fossil based and future bio-based economy are intertwined Reviews the status of current biomass conversion pathways Presents an historical analysis of the developments of biopower and biofuel markets, integration opportunities into existing supply chains, and the conditions that would need to be created and enhanced to achieve a global biomass trade system

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of how important the life science industry is, and compels us to find efficient management methods specific to the industry. Pharmaceuticals, drug and vaccine development labs, R&D labs, medical instrumentation, and tech companies, hygiene supply companies, medical distribution chains, all form an integral part of this industry. At the interface of scientific research, technology, innovation and management and embedded in regulatory and legal frameworks, life science management is still an under-researched field of practice and science. This edited volume addresses this research gap and offers a wide range of practical and theoretical contributions that provide insights into one of the most exciting industries. The book is primarily directed at practitioners and decision makers in the life science industry. Students and professionals of life science management at all levels as well as policy makers will find valuable insights and inspiration for their daily work and career development.