Our contribution to Transform2Bio is part of work package 3 on "Transformation Trajectories and Assessment" of the Project " Transform2Bio - Integrated Transformation Processes and their Regional Implementations: Structural Change from Fossil Economy to Bioeconomy" financed by the Bio-Economy Science Center

Ensuring the well-being of current and future generations without transgressing environmental limits is an overarching objective of the concept of the sustainable bioeconomy. Achieving this objective will require major transformations of existing resource systems, value networks, business models, infrastructures and governance systems. The recent decision of the German government to phase-out coal mining will initiate major transition processes in the lignite mining region, the Rheinische Revier, creating a unique opportunity for understanding the socio-technical dynamics and implementation options towards an entire sustainable bioeconomy region.

Against this background, Transform2Bio aims to systematically identify transformation trajectories for the implementation of a strong and sustainable bioeconomy in the Rheinische Revier. These transformation routes need to be, at the same time,

1. desirable (from a sustainability perspective)
2. possible (from a techno-economic perspective), and
3. acceptable (from a stakeholder consensus perspective).

Pooling expertise from (agricultural) economics, operations and innovation management, entrepreneurship, political science, economic development, consumer psychology and socio-technical systems analysis, the research approach of Transform2Bio follows the inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability research agenda integrating orientation, system, and transformation knowledge. As part of this multi-dimensional approach, Transform2Bio will establish an interactive stakeholder network, the Stakes2Bio Lab. It will provide the room both for continuous stakeholder dialogue ('society to science') and the establishment of regional 'science to society' networks. These will provide bioeconomy implementation options based on cutting-edge scientific research which can be readily tested against 'real world' stakeholder settings. In this regard, Transform2Bio also provides the crucial basis for the BioSC FocusLabs to readily reflect their concepts and potential products against 'real stakeholder responses' and with respect to their complementarity with expected transformation trajectories.