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New textbook published as part of BMBF-funded research project “Bio-Ecopoli”

Resulting from the research project “BIO-ECOPOLI”, the textbook Zielkonflikte in der Bioökonomie: Biobasiertes Wirtschaften im Spannungsfeld von Ökonomie und Ökologie (Conflicts of objectives in bioeconomy: bio-based business in the field of tension between the economy and ecology) has recently been published.

The project “Political processes of bioeconomy between economy and ecology – BIO-ECOPOLI” has been funded by the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) for four years until December 2020 as part of the funding line “Bioeconomy as Societal Change”. It has been realized as a joint project of the FernUniversität in Hagen and the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg. The project analyzed areas of the bioeconomy that give rise to conflicts between ecological and economic objectives. The focus lay on questions of policy design to handle these conflicts of objectives and bio-economic policies in the field of tension between the economy and ecology.

An online seminar has been developed as part of this project. It has been taught several times since the winter term 2019/2020 as part of both the interdisciplinary distance learning degree on environmental sciences (infernum) at the FernUniversität in Hagen and social science degrees at the OVGU Magdeburg. The recently published textbook is based on the material developed for this seminar.

The textbook introduces readers to the background and developments the bioeconomy, especially in the European Union and Germany. It fosters an understanding for the objectives governments pursue through their bioeconomic strategies, how they are related, and what it means for specific political measures when objectives are at odds.

Links:

Textbook “Conflicts of objectives in bioeconomy” [German]

For more information on the research project “Political processes of bioeconomy between economy and ecology – BIO-ECOPOLI”, please visit the project website.