Networking activity: Sustainable production of biomass – a sectorial perspective

1) Tausta ja tavoitteet

The green economy concept calls for an increased use of biomass from agriculture and forests. National as well as EU documents rely on the use of biomass to realize CO2 emission targets. At the same time, the consequences are subject to intensive debate: What will happen to food production, what are the consequences for (forest) biodiversity, and what is the footprint in other regions of the world of increasing the use of feedstock from agriculture and forests in EU?

There is thus urgent need to try to couple different sectors and sub-sectors, with a focus on agriculture and forestry, to assess the impact of different strategies. The complexity of the issue makes it pertinent to bring together experts in a number of fields, not only economists mastering sector analysis but experts in a range of different fields related to, for instance, technology, ecology, and carbon flows and stocks.

The aim of the network is, by gathering related researchers in the field in the Nordic countries, to map existing competencies and current activities, to find synergies and gaps, and lay a basis for future research cooperation and common research application.

2) Toteutus

The main activities of the network consist of 3meetings, of which 2 are internal workshops and one is larger and open symposium with international participation.

Workshop 1: Copenhagen, organized by Copenhagen University, May 2016.

Workshop 2: Ås, organized by Norwegian University of Life Sciences, October 2016.

Symposium: Uppsala, organized by Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, April 2017.

3) Tuotokset

The network maps existing competencies and current activities, to find synergies and gaps, and lay a basis for future research cooperation and common research application.

Expected outcomes:

A) Publishable outputs:
a1) A proceeding mapping the current projects, activities and competencies in the Nordic countries of relevance for sector analysis including models and needed expert areas to populate the models (the outcome of workshop 1).

a2) A report describing future challenges, and from that standpoint, what areas need intensified research in terms of increased analysis capacity as well as more studies as such (the outcome of workshop 2).

a3) A proceeding (or scientific publication special issue if funding permits) with international perspectives of sector modelling for sustainable biomass production and use (the outcome of the final symposium).

B: Other outputs
b1) A homepage detailing different sector models in the area of forestry and agriculture (potentially in collaboration with the semantic wiki of the ForestDSS consortium; http://www.forestdss.org/CoP/).

b2) Results are going to be presented at the SSAFR 2017 symposium (the leading conference venue for operations research in forestry). Possibly at other conferences, e.g. at the MODSIM and URO/TIMES conference series.

b3) The final symposium will be organized in association with IEA Bioenergy to enlarge the number of participants and cut costs. IEA Bioenergy is one channel to be used for dissemination together with the ForestDSS consortium and other networks.

4) Vaikuttavuus ja käytäntöön vienti

Projektin ensisijaisena tavoitteena verkostoituminen tulevia rahoitushakuja varten jo olemassaolevien hankkeiden puitteissa. State of the artin kartoittaminen rahoitushakuja varten.

The networking is contributing to most of the specific goals of the Nordic Bioeconomy Initiative, like enhancing and facilitating Nordic cooperation within research and policymaking and between agriculture and forestry in order to develop the Nordic societies into sustainable biobased economies, to produce new knowledge to create and stimulate knowledge based policies, improve the sustainable management and utilisation of Nordic renewable biological resources, strengthen Nordic socioeconomic research on the consequences of introducing a biobased economy, contribute to adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts, and utilise existing structures and institutions in Nordic cooperation to foster discussion and development of the Nordic Bioeconomy Initiative.

The thematic priority that is particularly relevant for the network is, as the network title indicates, “Sustainable production and use of biomass for products and services in the Nordic countries”.

5) Asiakkaat