Bioeconomy: Shaping the transition to a sustainable, biobased economy, edited by Iris Lewandowski (Springer, 2018)

Abstract

Today’s increasing demands for food, feed, products and energy, in conjunction with the security concerns brought about by a growing global population and anthropogenically induced climate change, are making the need for a sustainable system more pressing than ever. In this context, to reflect the need for a comprehensive societal transformation, the bio-based or knowledge-based economy is targeting a reduction in the present dependency on fossil fuels along with other forms of finite resources through their gradual replacement by renewables. However, while the objectives of such a major system change are mainly agreed upon, the pathway to achieving them is still a subject of dispute. Having the purpose of engaging in the debate, and attempting to lay the keystones for shaping the future, this book, Bioeconomy, explores and conveys the advantages of a sustainable, innovative and knowledgebased bioeconomy from an interand transdisciplinary perspective. Its aim is to advance the existing knowledge and to pioneer national as much as international cooperation in the field. The book’s editor, Iris Lewandowski, is known for her involvement in national and EU-funded bioeconomy research projects. One of these is called “Accelerating the transition towards a BioBased Economy via Education – ABBEE” which was initiated as of September 1, 2018 with the objective of creating new educational materials for students and professionals that incorporate the key elements of a biobased economy. Currently, the author is affiliated with the University of Hohenheim, where she is the Chief Bioeconomy Officer, and is also responsible for an international master’s program on Bioeconomy. Taking these facts into consideration, and framing them in the form of a textbook, this joint venture of the University of Hohenheim’s educators and students has resulted in Bioeconomy, which