Presentation of «Towards Sustainable Bioeconomies»

Presentation of the forthcoming book

The ICABR (International Consortium of Applied Bioeconomy Research) celebrated its 30 years with a great Conference taking place in the scenic place of Ravello Italy from July 5-9, 2026. As member of the ICABR council, Philipp Aerni presented the content of his forthcoming book on the bioeconomy, which he published together with Ursula Jenal.

In his talk, he argued that a transition from a petro-based to a bio-based economy will not be sustainable if it implies a return to the bioeconomy prior to industrialization; considering the fact that it led to the overuse of the renewable biological resource 'wood' with all its negative consequences for the environment and public health. Instead the new bioeconomy must build on the application of knowledge for development that also includes context-specific combinations of agro-ecology and biotechnology that are good for farmers, consumers and the environment.

After all, knowledge is the only non-rival resource to manage rival natural resources in more sustainable ways.