Inclusive pathways to a sustainable bioeconomy

Abstract

The transition to a circular bioeconomy, where biological resources replace inputs from fossil fuels, offers a promising pathway to address climate change and sustainability challenges. However, establishing new bio-based value chains (BBVCs) presents substantial challenges, particularly concerning stakeholder inclusion, distributive justice, and context-sensitive implementation. While inclusive strategies have been extensively studied in agri-food systems, their practical application in the bioeconomy remains underexplored. This paper investigates how inclusive business, inclusive value chain, and inclusive development strategies can be applied to BBVCs. Drawing on a comparative analysis of three empirical case studies, olive oil residues in Spain, coffee and cocoa residues in Colombia, and encroacher bush in Namibia, we examine the practical and contextual barriers to inclusion and identify what different stakeholders require to meaningfully engage to create positive social impact and a just transition towards a sustainable bioeconomy. Our findings underscore the importance of a pluralistic, stepwise approach to inclusion, acknowledging that full inclusion may not be feasible initially in all contexts, particularly where enabling environments are weak. Instead, more modest strategies such as inclusive business can serve as an entry point, providing tangible benefits while laying the groundwork for more ambitious inclusion over time. We argue that inclusive learning and adaptive strategies are essential to balance ideal goals with practical constraints, and that inclusive BBVCs must evolve in response to local realities, stakeholder capacities, and institutional conditions.