Perspectives on bioeconomy

The insight provided by the authors of this special issue on bioeconomy give a reassuring sign of optimism, vitality and strong will to make bioeconomy a success story. Key to these advances will be inventing and shaping our future and the cooperation of people who will create new scientific and technological discoveries, developments and their implementation into industrial practice. The vibrant global megatrend bioeconomy is developing along various dimensions depending on natural and social conditions, economic development and political objectives. As value chains from producer countries and regions to their corresponding customers are interconnected globally and bioeconomies are diverse, constructive dialogues and agreed social consensus are therefore relevant worldwide. Mapping and engineering the uncharted territories of the molecular transformations, which are key to the bioeconomy, represents a great opportunity for the molecular and engineering sciences to bring in their important contributions. The development of smart bioeconomies needs excellence in science based concepts, long-term support of innovative and mission-oriented research and a subtle equilibrium between science push and market and social pull. On the policy front, coherent and science-based policy decisions embracing bioeconomy and being consistent with each other are needed. From a global perspective, bioeconomy topics should be included in the international and national agendas on sustainable development goals. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.