The newly established European Bioeconomy University is an alliance of six European universities with a focus on the bioeconomy.
Scientific research, a high level of education and innovations play a key role in the transition towards the bioeconomy.
“We are very pleased to have been invited to this alliance of Europe’s leading bioeconomy universities. Joining this alliance as an expert of the forest-based bioeconomy also implements the university’s bioeconomy policy, which sets forests, wood and land use in strategic focus,” Head of the School of Forest Sciences, Professor Jyrki Kangas says.
“In the alliance, the University of Eastern Finland brings multidisciplinary expertise in research, education and innovations to the table, especially in the context of the forest-based bioeconomy.”
In addition to UEF, the alliance comprises the University of Bologna in Italy, the University of Hohenheim in Germany, AgroParisTech in France, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Austria, and Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands.
The bioeconomy faces a range of major challenges in the future. The rapidly growing global population makes it more difficult to ensure food security, and at the same time natural resources need to be used sustainably. Furthermore, the European economy is still highly dependent on fossil fuels. Bioeconomy innovations can contribute to the mitigation of climate change by finding ways to reduce the use of oil and coal, and by replacing these with renewable natural resources, for example, in the production of energy and in the textiles industry.
The universities seek to serve as a European think tank in the field of the bioeconomy, and to join their forces in research, education and innovation activities in this field. The European Bioeconomy University strives, through joint efforts in research and education, for the European economy to become more resource-efficient, sustainable and competitive. Each university in the alliance has its own specific strengths that supplement one another.
“The University of Eastern Finland promotes the growth of the bioeconomy, related innovations and the use of novel forest and wood-based materials through its research and education. The university’s research also addresses the ecological and social implications of the bioeconomy, including the sufficiency of natural resources and the acceptability of their use,” Kangas says.