A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book
From Centralisation to Decentralisation? Transition Visions of Circular Bioeconomy in Rural Finland
Authors: Kuhmonen, Irene; Kuhmonen, Tuomas; Näyhä, Annukka
Editors: Halonen, Maija; Albrecht, Moritz; Kuhmonen, Irene
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
Publication year: 2024
Book title : Rescaling Sustainability Transitions: Unfolding the Spatialities of Power Relations, Governance Arrangements, and Socio-Economic Systems
Journal name in source: Rescaling Sustainability Transitions: Unfolding the Spatialities of Power Relations, Governance Arrangements, and Socio-Economic Systems
First page : 119
Last page: 145
ISBN: 978-3-031-69917-7
eISBN: 978-3-031-69918-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69918-4_6
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69918-4_6
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/492265767
Rural areas have been largely peripheralised and disempowered by the centralisation characteristic of the era of the fossil economy. The departure from fossil metabolism and the shift towards a circular bioeconomy represent a possibility for improved rural livelihoods. However, while the metabolic nature of a circular bioeconomy is more decentralised than that of the fossil economy, it is unclear whether the centralised social structures and power relations will become decentralised as a result of this transition. In this research, by utilising the approaches offered by futures research, we explored probable and preferable future visions across a set of 10 manifestations of circular bioeconomy in 60 expert interviews. The results indicated that most of the manifestations are likely to scale up through a non-local and centralised pathway, while the preferable visions fostering rural livelihoods would mean more local and decentralised modes of organising. At the same time, due to centralising tendencies, reaching the sustainability targets of a circular bioeconomy is difficult.
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Funding information in the publication:
We acknowledge the financial support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Finland [Project “The role and potential of the rural in a post-fossil society”, grant number VN/11093/2020]. Irene Kuhmonen also acknowledges financial support from Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland [Project “Biodiversity Respectful Leadership (BIODIFUL)”, grant number 345884], and Annukka Näyhä from Academy of Finland [Project “Future-oriented collaborative business models as a remedy for the sustainability transition: Finnish forest-based sector as an empirical arena for the creation of a transition framework”, grant number 340756].
