University of Helsinki
The United Nation’s Green Economy Initiative became the centerpiece of the United Nation’s “Rio+20” conference in 2012, making the green economy a buzzword of international policy discourse. Green economy is perceived as a concept replacing sustainable development as the new driving force of environmental action. In its simplest expression, a green economy is low-carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.
More recently, the concepts of bioeconomy and green-economy have been converging into a larger idea where it has been suggested that the green-economy should be considered as part of the integrated bioeconomy concept. However, the main ideological division reminds: do we move towards a low-carbon, sustainable future by given value to our natural capitals and ecological services in a way that is fair, efficient, and social inclusive (green-economy); or do we do it by developing a new industrial order that relies on biologically-based materials, technologies and services, that considers the real value of biological materials and products, allows for the manipulation of biological processes while creating jobs and maintain competitiveness (bioeconomy).
In Finland, the development discourse has used the word “bioeconomy” to describe systemic change from using non-renewable resources to renewables. It is hoped to use clean technologies, make us less dependent on fossil fuels, maintain ecosystem services, promote economic development and create new jobs.
In this seminar we will discuss the similarities and differences between these two concepts in the context of future development agendas. Panel discussion is organized after the experts’ speeches. The panellists include representatives from Finnish Universities, the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Kasetsart University (Thailand), and National University of Laos.
Wednesday 19 August, 2015
Location: University of Helsinki, Infocenter Korona (Lecture Hall 2), Viikinkaari 11
The program is available from the link
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