A social network analysis of Germany’s wood-based bioeconomy: Social capital and shared beliefs

Giurca, Alexandru; Metz, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.eist.2017.09.001

Cited by 61 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Despite increasing funding for research related to the forest-based bioeconomy, social sciences remain largely underrepresented in the scientific disciplines dominating bioeconomy projects, which primarily are associated with the natural sciences, engineering, chemistry, or other technical disciplines (Giurca and Metz 2018 ; Korhonen et al 2018a , b ; Toppinen et al 2019a , b ). However, the bioeconomy is more than simply or primarily a techno-scientific or economic endeavour, as the relevance of social science is increasingly acknowledged (Goven and Pavone 2015 ; Sanz-Hernández et al 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioeconomy imaginaries: A review of forest-related social science literature

Holmgren

D'amato

Giurca

2020

Ambio

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This review article examines how social science literature co-produces various imaginaries of forest-based bioeconomy transformations and pathways for reaching desired ends. Based on an analysis of 59 research articles, we find that despite a growing number of social sciences studies on the forest-based bioeconomy, much of the research tends to replicate a bioeconomy imaginary articulated in EU and national bioeconomy policies and strategies. Accordingly, the research primarily reproduces a weak approach to sustainability, which prioritize economic growth and competitiveness. Expectations are largely directed at national and regional corporate interests and forest industrial renewal, while the state has a supportive rather than restricting role. We discuss the findings against the role of social sciences, and conclude that social science scholars may adopt various strategies if interested in opening up forest-based policy debates and offer alternative imaginaries of sustainable bioeconomy transformations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioeconomy imaginaries: A review of forest-related social science literature

Holmgren

D'amato

Giurca

2020

Ambio

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“…Social network analyses have proven to be a useful tool to assess and visualize the effects of social activities (e.g. Lang and Leifeld, 2008;Varone et al, 2017;Giurca and Metz, 2018). The effects of knowledge exchange tools such as web portals and workshops are hardly measurable, especially in policy advice and innovation support.…”

Section: Social Network Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Network analysis of workshop activities reveals increasing transdisciplinarity of German biodiversity research community

Geschke

Lutz

Vohland

2020

Preprint

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Boundary spanning activities in the biodiversity science-policy interface are urgently needed. Effective science communication and uptake of scientific findings by policymakers is crucial for a successful, cross-scale policy implementation. For this, national platforms promoting knowledge exchange between different stakeholder groups are key. Established in 2009, the Network-Forum on Biodiversity Research Germany (NeFo) until 2018 has organized more than 40 workshops bringing together actors from science, policy and society. In this paper, we present a network and cluster analysis of these NeFo workshops. Based on this, we discuss the importance of sciencepolicy interface projects and networks as knowledge brokers and boundary organizations, as well as challenges in using network analysis as a tool for evaluating workshop impacts. Based on the network analysis outcomes as well as experiences in the conduction of workshops, recommendations to strengthen the innovation impact of networking efforts are drawn.

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“…From the theory viewpoint, our study used both socio-technical transition studies and the advocacy coalitions literature, with particular focus on actor network structure and policy core beliefs [31]. It complements the growing literature on the politics of transitions [24,27] and actor networks in BE transition [22,23,38,39]. We posed the following research questions:…”

Section: Socio-technical Transition Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the high stakes and national importance of the BE transition, the emergence of diverse cross-sectoral actor networks driving this process and spanning diverse interests could be expected. Thus far, however, such new networks appear to have slowly emerged, and research on actor partnerships and forms of cooperation in the context of Finnish BE is scant [16,22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Actors and Politics in Finland’s Forest-Based Bioeconomy Network

et al. 2018

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To foster innovativeness for supporting (forest-based) bioeconomy development, participation in decision-making and interaction between diverse actors become a necessary precondition for designing and implementing transition policies. However, who forms the emerging policy networks, and which policy beliefs are promoted? Based on data from a national online survey, we performed a quantitative social network analysis to investigate emerging social structures and policy beliefs in the context of the Finnish forest-based bioeconomy. Our explorative analysis shows that research, governmental, and industrial organizations mainly constitute the Finnish forest-based bioeconomy network. Actors primarily exchange information, and most key organizations report high levels of trust among each other. However, the network structure is rather closed. This raises concerns about equal benefit sharing and the inclusiveness of concerned actors. We discuss the implication of this network structure for enabling new innovations. Finally, we present the key aspects and drivers of “business as usual”, and suggest an option for or a more transformative change in the Finnish forest-based bioeconomy.

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A social network analysis of Germany’s wood-based bioeconomy: Social capital and shared beliefs

Cited by 61 publications

References 41 publications

Bioeconomy imaginaries: A review of forest-related social science literature

Bioeconomy imaginaries: A review of forest-related social science literature

Network analysis of workshop activities reveals increasing transdisciplinarity of German biodiversity research community

Actors and Politics in Finland’s Forest-Based Bioeconomy Network

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