The bioeconomy can make a decisive contribution to the implementation of the global sustainability goals of the United Nations. However, a bio-based economy is not sustainable per se and in some cases there may even be conflicting goals. Measures and processes must be constantly monitored and scrutinized to ensure that the path to a bioeconomy is sustainable and to prevent or counteract undesirable developments.

For monitoring the German bioeconomy, the collaborative project "Systemic Monitoring and Modeling of the Bioeconomy", or SYMOBIO for short, funded by the Federal Ministry of Research and others, was launched in 2016. Here, researchers have developed tools over the years to measure and evaluate pathways to a sustainable, bio-based economy. The most important material flows in agriculture and forestry have been analyzed in terms of their ecological footprint, associated national and global impacts have been identified, and approaches to solving problems have been named.

A hub for bioeconomy monitoring

The collaborative project SYMOBIO 2.0, which started in January 2022, will now specify and expand the results of the predecessor project and create a central platform that bundles all information on bioeconomy monitoring. The consortium is coordinated by the Center for Environmental Systems Research (CESR) at the University of Kassel.

"SYMOBIO is intended to become the hub for monitoring the German bioeconomy," says project manager Stefan Bringezu. "We prepare the data and core indicators in a clear way, evaluate them and provide links to further information." To create a coherent picture of the bioeconomy, the research team uses methods such as footprint analyses, remote sensing, stakeholder surveys, case studies, model simulations and patent analyses.

Clear communication of politically relevant results

The SYMOBIO researchers are not only looking at Germany, but are also taking a global perspective. An important concern is to clearly communicate those results that are politically relevant, as Bringezu emphasizes. "We need to go beyond the level of a mere research overview and make statements that inform the performance of the bioeconomy and the requirements in terms of sustainability."

Create links to other monitoring systems

The development of agriculture has a special place in the bioeconomy monitoring. However, the project partners see the monitoring as a "learning system". Therefore, there will also be interfaces to other monitoring systems, such as the general monitoring of raw materials and the monitoring of the energy transition, and users will be included. In addition to CESR, ten other German research institutes are involved in the SYMOBIO 2.0 project, which will run until 2024: