Category: News & Events

Participation in the FEWSUS 2022 Annual Conference “Circular Bioeconomy Systems For Urban-Rural Co-Prosperity”

Melisa Deciancio and Pablo Mc Clay participated in the FEWSUS 2022 Annual Conference, “Circular Bioeconomy Systems For Urban-Rural Co-Prosperity”, organized in Buenos Aires, from November 30 to December 2, 2022. Melisa participated as keynote speaker with the presentation “The role of State and Public Policies in the Development of the Bioeconomy in Argentina”, and Pablo presented his research on “Value Chain Transformations in the Transition to a Sustainable Bioeconomy” in the Workshop “Society-Smart Governance of Circular Bioeconomy”.

SABio Webinar on “Innovation networks and local value addition in South American bioeconomies: public-private alliances for a sustainable insertion into the global economy”

On November 23, 2022, SABio hosted a panel webinar, “Innovation networks and local value addition in South American bioeconomies: public-private alliances for a sustainable insertion into the global economy”, moderated and organized by SABio researcher, Dr. Melisa Deciancio (Uni Münster) with co-moderation from SABio researcher Pablo Mac Clay (Uni Bonn) and co-organized with support from SABio Research Group Leaders, Drs. Karen Siegel (Uni Münster) and Jorge Sellare (Uni Bonn).

Three panel experts from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay shared examples, perspectives and highlighted the current realities of the Bioeconomy innovation ecosystems in their respective countries. Forty-five attendees from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, the US, Germany, Ireland and Denmark tuned in to the event with simultaneous interpretation provided in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Victoria Santos, head of Decarbonization at the Insituto Clima e Sociedade (iCS), highlighted that while Brazil is home to established industries with specialization in use of biomass and waste streams in biorefinery applications (Sugar, Pulp and Paper, and Oranges), the country’s immense biodiversity and other biobased production chains have been overlooked and under researched for value-added opportunities. Existing waste streams may provide opportunities for fiber, plant-based protein or biochemical applications. A critical hurdle to Brazil’s bioeconomic innovation ecosystem is a lack of funding for entrepreneurs and start-ups trying to prototype and pilot products. Victoria coined these product development stages as the Brazilian bioeconomy’s “Valley of Death” which must be addressed.

Isabel Bortagaray from Uruguay’s Universidad de la República, shared the experiences, successes and challenges resulting from two bioeconomic initiatives. Although these initiatives attained high levels of private sector involvement and public institutional research support, a lack of communication space and time for stakeholders to engage, communicate problems and share knowledge emerged as barriers to innovation. Moreover, narrow and sectoral focused understandings of the bioeconomy emerged as a common obstacle to Uruguay’s bioeconomic development. Changing perspectives to that of Bioeconomies (plural), which embrace multi-dimensional and complex connections of bioeconomic activities and aspects of sustainability, is a necessary paradigm shift for achieving innovation.

Rafael Anta, from the division of Competitivity, Technology and Innovation at the Interamerican Development Bank shared perspectives on bioeconomic innovation and development opportunities throughout Latin America (LATAM) and insertion in the global context. Foremost, bioeconomic policy must contend with factors at multiple levels. Biomass and infrastructure are local, regulation is national, R&D tends to be international and biomass trade is global. In terms of education throughout LATAM, an increased emphasis on bioprospecting in the life sciences as well as increased funding for bioprospecting activities are desperately needed. Furthermore, public policies with strategies are ineffective without funding that supports entrepreneurship and providing the tools that entrepreneurs need, such as biorefinery infrastructure, biological materials and reagents. Following the panel presentations, a robust Q&A session ensued where the panelists and audience members highlighted cross-cutting issues facing bioeconomic development in the three focus countries and more broadly throughout LATAM. Firstly, public policies must reflect the complexity and broad scope of all that is entailed in the bioeconomy and the multi-dimensionality of sustainability. Bioeconomy policies do not belong to one ministry, but rather in an inter-ministerial policy framework that incorporates specificities from the local, national to regional levels.  Secondly, funding is crucial, especially in the prototype and piloting stages of bio-based products. Without adequate funding and support for entrepreneurs at these stages, LATAM countries – including Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay – will miss out on their bioeconomic development potential.

The event was recorded and is available for viewing in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

SABIO supports the program “Amazônia Bioeconomy Connections”

SABIO supports the program “Amazônia Bioeconomy Connections”

SABIO supports the program “Amazônia Bioeconomy Connections” a partnership for technology, innovations, and sustainability in the Amazon Rain Forest led by Brazilian Embassy in Berlin, Germany. Between August and October 2022, SABIO senior researcher Jan Börner was part of the committee that selected four Amazonian startups from an initial pool of 87 applicants. The selected initiatives will be offered support to identify and establish contact with potential German partners and the possibility to visit Germany. 

For more information see: https://www.bioeconomy-connections.com/en

“Innovation networks and local value addition in South American bioeconomies: public-private alliances for a sustainable insertion into the global economy”

“Innovation networks and local value addition in South American bioeconomies: public-private alliances for a sustainable insertion into the global economy”

November 23rd, 10:00-12:00 (Buenos Aires/Montevideo/Brasilia) / 14:00-16:00 (Berlin)

Format: Zoom

Registration: https://wwu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8hZcYLVQTq-gFCidDXiFeg

Speakers

  • Anabel Marin, Institute of Development studies, UK, CONICET Argentina
  • Victoria Santos, Instituto SENAI de Innovación en Biosintéticos y Fibras, Brazil
  • Isabel Bortagaray, Instituto de Desarrollo Sostenible, Innovación e Inclusión Social, Universidad de la República, Uruguay
  • Rafael Anta, Technology and Innovation Competitiveness, IADB

Chair: Melisa Deciancio, SABio Project, University of Münster, CONICET Argentina

Organisation: Dr Melisa Deciancio, Dr Karen Siegel (both University of Münster) and Dr Jorge Sellare (University of Bonn)

Contact: Dr. Melisa Deciancio, mdeciancio@uni-muenster.de

» Download “Concept note”

SABio at GreenRio 2022

SABio at GreenRio 2022

Entre os dias 01 e 03 de setembro de 2022, os pesquisadores do SABio, Prof. Dr. Jan Börner, Dr. Jorge Sellare e Me. Guilherme de Queiroz Stein, participaram da GreenRio, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. A GreenRio é uma plataforma de negócios sustentáveis, que reúne diversos stakeholders para debater temas estratégicos para o desenvolvimento e a sustentabilidade da bioeconomia brasileira. Entre os temas de destaque, estavam a busca de soluções para insegurança alimentar, novas políticas públicas para inovação em bioeconomia, os potenciais da socio-biodiversidade brasileira, os regimes de propriedade intelectual e as contribuições da bioeconomia para a segurança energética e para ações em prol da saúde humana. Além disso, foi possível conferir de perto novos negócios e políticas públicas, visitando os estandes de startups e órgãos governamentais. Assim, o evento foi um importante espaço para apresentar as pesquisas realizadas por nosso grupo de pesquisa, conhecer mais da diversa realidade que configura a bioeconomia brasileira e estabelecer novas redes com atores governamentais e acadêmicos e com representantes de organizações internacionais e do setor privado.

 Um dos pontos altos do evento foi o German-Brazilian Bioeconomy Workshop, que discutiu a cooperação entre Brasil e Alemanha e seus potenciais para promover uma bioeconomia sustentável nos dois países. Esse workshop contou com a presença do Dr. Tilman Schachtsiek, representando a Agência de Recursos Renováveis (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe – FNR) do Ministério da Agricultura da Alemanha (Bundesministeriums für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft – BMEL), entidades responsáveis pelo financiamento do SABio. Também, contou com a participação do Dr. Jorge Sellare e do Prof. Dr. Jan Börner, que apresentaram alguns dos principais resultados das pesquisas realizadas pelo SABio entre 2020 e 2022. Tanto o workshop, quanto os demais debates ocorridos na conferência foram registrados e podem ser acessados no canal do YouTube. Confira no link abaixo:

 

Virtual seminar with David Jofré (University of Santiago) on 8 September

Virtual Seminar “Mediatizing Agribusiness-related Conflicts in Chile: How Activists Still Resort to Legacy News Media to Raise Awareness on Water and Pesticides Risk”

David Jofré is a journalist (Universidad de Playa Ancha, Chile) with a PhD in Politics and a MSc in Political Communication (University of Glasgow, UK). He is currently Assistant Lecturer at the University of Santiago (USACH), where he teaches contemporary politics and organizational communications at the School of Journalism. Previously, David Jofré was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (CIGIDEN) led by Pontifical Catholic University. of Chile His research focuses on activist media practices, social movement organizations and socio-technological change, with an emphasis on Chilean environmental governance processes, conflicts and risks.

Please e-mail Karen.Siegel@uni-muenster.de if you would like to participate in the seminar.

David Jofré
Participation in the 9th European Workshops in International Studies (EWIS) 2022: “The dark side of sustainability”

Participation in the 9th European Workshops in International Studies (EWIS) 2022: “The dark side of sustainability”

Melisa Deciancio participated of the 9th European Workshops in International Studies (EWIS) 2022, “The Interconnected Worlds of the Past and the Present: Co-constituting the International” at the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, 6-9 July 2022. She participated of the workshop “The dark side of sustainability” and presented her work on the analysis of the bioeconomy through the lens of Dependency Theories and its implications for the Argentine case.

SABio project present at ICABR Conference 2022

SABio project present at ICABR Conference 2022

The 26th Conference of the International Consortium of Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR) took place at the University of Bologna from July 5th to July 8th, 2022. The main topic of the conference was “Bioeconomy Innovation Pipelines and Supply Chain Shocks”.

Two papers by SABio researchers were accepted to present at the Conference:

How Can Market Structures Hinder the Effectiveness of Inclusive Bioeconomy Policies? An analysis of the Brazilian Social Fuel Stamp. Authors: Kemel Kalif, Jorge Sellare.

Can Auctions Foster Renewable Energy under Institutional and Macroeconomic Instability? Authors: Pablo Mac Clay, Jan Börner, Jorge Sellare.

The International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research is a unique international consortium of people interested in bioeconomy, agricultural biotechnology, rural development, and bio-based economy research (https://icabr.net/)

Presentation at the World International Studies Committee Annual Conference (WISC)

Presentation at the World International Studies Committee Annual Conference (WISC)

Melisa Deciancio participated in the roundtable “The Politics of Development” at the World International Studies Committee Annual Conference, held in Buenos Aires on July 1st, 2022. She presented the chapter “Bioeconomy governance and (sustainable) development”, co-authored with Karen Siegel, Daniel Kefeli, Guilherme de Queiroz Stein and Thomas Dietz and published in her co-edited Handbook on the Politics of International Development (Elgar Publishers) with Pablo Nemiña and Diana Tussie.

Presentation at the Energy Research & Social Sciences Conference

Presentation at the Energy Research & Social Sciences Conference

Pablo Mac Clay, Junior Researcher at the University of Bonn, presented the paper “Can Auctions Foster Renewable Energy under Institutional and Macroeconomic Instability?” at the 3rd International Conference on Energy Research & Social Sciences. The paper is part of the SABio project and is co-authored by Prof. Dr. Jan Börner and Dr. Jorge Sellare.

Renewable energy auctions have become an increasingly popular policy in the last few years. Countries seeking to decarbonize their energy matrixes have been adopting auctions to replace administratively-set incentives. Moreover, many of the newcomers to auctions are Global South countries, characterized by macroeconomic and institutional instability. This paper seeks to explore whether auctions are a suitable instrument to foster investments in renewable capacity, even in contexts of weak business environments.

The 3rd International Conference on the Energy Research & Social Sciences took place between June 20 and 23, 2022 at the University of Manchester. It is among the main global forums exploring the nexus between energy and society.