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Socio-technical transitions to a sustainable construction industry in the bioeconomy: regional lead markets and global innovation systems - TRABBI

The construction industry, more than almost any other industry, is facing enormous challenges to achieve a transformation towards sustainability. In this context, the bioeconomy can become an important part of a sustainable construction sector and harmonize social, economic and ecological sustainability goals. Such a transformation of the building sector is linked to deep societal changes, which, however, are shaped differently across regions.

Against this background, this junior research group investigates the geographies of transformation processes towards a sustainable building sector in the context of the bioeconomy. It analyzes innovation systems, socio-technical regimes and lead market structures at global, national and regional levels. The national and regional research projects focus on Germany, China and India.

The results of the group will be relevant for various stakeholders. Regarding basic research, the results will help to expand and specify concepts and heuristics in the academic literature on human and economic geography, transition research and innovation studies. Theoretical approaches such as socio-technical regimes, innovation systems and lead markets will be reconceptualized against the background of multi-scalar linkages and will be tailored to characteristics of the bioeconomy. From an empirical perspective, there will be in-depth insights into the transformation of the construction sector on a global and regional level. From these conceptual and empirical findings, research-based recommendations for policy action will be derived with explicit reference to the German Bioeconomy Strategy. The results of the junior research group will thus make an important contribution to achieving the goals of the Bioeconomy Strategy as well as the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030. 

Project Lead: Dr. Sebastian Losacker (JLU Gießen)

Researchers: Tim Becker (JLU Gießen), Lennart Fischer (JLU Gießen), Dr. Lukas Kriesch (JLU Gießen), Moritz Schütz (JLU Gießen)

Duration: March 2023 - February 2028

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research

You can find more information on the research project here: https://www.trabbi-bioeconomy.de/en