The current implementation of the innovation-driven and technology-centered bioeconomy policies shows a bias in the funding of research and innovation: research on technologies, which non-governmental organisations and social movements with focus on environmental justice, food sovereignty, or human rights consider important, are largely not funded. The debate on the role of technology for a just society is not new: In the past, different actors including academia and civil society groups have pushed debates on the role of technological innovation for just social changes and for environmental protection. Taking up on this, we would like to address the following questions: What kind of bioeconomy do we want? Which kind of technologies do we need for this? What do we mean by “innovation”? What would that mean for the shape of and struggles around the funding policies for research and innovation? What political instruments would be necessary in order to guarantee not only the participation of different and so far largely excluded actors in discussions rounds but to enable them to shape and influence research policies? What would that imply for ownership structures?
We invite speakers with corresponding experiences and expertise in the field to talk about what they understand as alternative technologies for a bioeconomy and how they would evaluate innovations for a just socio-ecological transformation.
The event will be held in English
May 07th, 2021, 10-12 a.m. CET
Online via Zoom*: registration and link: bioinequalities@uni-jena.de
Introduction/Chair: Rosa Lehmann (University of Heidelberg), Maria Backhouse (FSU Jena, Germany)
- Steffi Ober (NABU e.V., Berlin, Germany): The Bioeconomy – a (missed) opportunity for a societal transformation to sustainability?
- Willington Ortiz (Wuppertal Institute, Germany): Grassroots innovations in sustainable family farming. How can they contribute to socio-ecological transformations?
- Miriam Boyer & Sarah Hackfort (HU Berlin, Germany): Are Other Ways of Producing Viable? Mapping Technological and Property Alternatives in the Bioeconomy
[source of picture: pixabay.com]
