Policy dialogue on a bioeconomy for sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region

The report details a policy dialogue workshop in Tallinn, Estonia, aimed at designing pathways toward a sustainable bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea region. Participants identified energy as the primary driving sector and emphasized the need for high-value-added products, localized value chains, and a shift in consumer thinking. Five key enabling factors were identified: clear policy goals (including carbon taxes and national strategies), support for research and innovation through multi-helix interaction models, public procurement and education to drive demand, cross-sector cooperation to manage biomass competition, and the integration of circularity to preserve biodiversity. The document also reflects on the pilot methodology, noting that the pre-selected global sustainability scenario was too general and that future workshops should group participants by economic sector rather than organization type.

• Energy was identified as the primary sector to drive sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region by 2050, encompassing biomass-based energy as well as solar and wind power.
• A sustainable bioeconomy in the region should be characterized by an increase in value added for bio-based products, a shift from global to local scales, and a focus on the consumption dimension through education.
• Clear policy goals are essential to provide a vision for the transition, which may include national bioeconomy strategies, carbon taxes on fossil fuels, and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies.
• The transition requires a knowledge-based bioeconomy supported by innovation through triple, quadruple, and quintuple helix models of interaction, as well as predictable funding for 10 years or more.
• Demand for bioeconomic products can be stimulated via top-down public procurement at national and subnational levels and bottom-up education to promote transparency and traceability.
• Cross-sector cooperation is necessary to mitigate potential conflicts arising from competition for limited biomass resources among industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, packaging, and renewable energy.
• Circularity is viewed as a way to optimize biomass use in the region while ensuring the long-term sustainable availability of bio-resources and the preservation of biodiversity.

APA

Canales, N., Gladkykh, G., Bessonova, E., Fielding, M., Johnsson, F. X., & Petersson, K. (2020). Policy dialogue on a bioeconomy for sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/200129b-mash-fielding-workshop-bioeconomy-talinn-pr-1912h.pdf

Chicago

Canales, Nella, Ganna Gladkykh, Ekaterina Bessonova, Matthew Fielding, Francis X. Johnsson, and Kaja Petersson. Policy dialogue on a bioeconomy for sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2020. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/200129b-mash-fielding-workshop-bioeconomy-talinn-pr-1912h.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{canales2020policy, author = {Canales, Nella and Gladkykh, Ganna and Bessonova, Ekaterina and Fielding, Matthew and Johnsson, Francis X. and Petersson, Kaja}, title = {{Policy dialogue on a bioeconomy for sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = jan, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/200129b-mash-fielding-workshop-bioeconomy-talinn-pr-1912h.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }