Bioeconomy, innovation, and quality of life in regions outside the Greater Metropolitan Area
The industrial revolution was possible thanks to technological innovations (new knowledge) that made it possible to use existing natural resources more efficiently. This is a fundamental relationship, especially if we have the vision of promoting a new knowledge economy with sustainable production of high added value, inclusive, with low ecological impact, and balanced in the various territories of the country. The project’s objective is to study the link between people's well-being and bioeconomy and innovation initiatives in areas outside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM).
What is BIOINCAVI??
This research seeks to contribute to the fulfillment of several of the SDGs by incorporating in the central core of the object of study, the welfare of people, the transformation of production and consumption processes. This will be achieved through new approaches to a green economy and bioeconomy, and of course, investigating how innovation systems can better drive transformations in the territory and different sectors.
In recent years, Costa Rica has focused its development efforts on transforming the economy to a low-carbon one, in which poverty is eliminated and social justice is improved. A new National Decarbonization Plan, 2018-2050, was approved in February 2019 (Gobierno de Costa Rica, 2019), just as the National Bioeconomy Strategy was launched in August 2020 (MICITT, 2020).
Both initiatives seek to deepen and establish as State policy a more efficient form of production that impacts the value chains, reducing the impact on nature and climate change, taking advantage of resources in a sustainable manner to generate jobs, and finally impacting the quality of life.
Justification
Since the 1990s, after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Costa Rica has become more aware of the need to change its production and consumption processes towards what was called "Sustainable Development". Consistent with this approach, the country has been transforming its economy through various policies, which have allowed it to position itself as a global leader in several fields. However, there are still several problems, as well as enormous room for improvement in practically all the SDGs, which in general revolve around the urgency of improving the quality of life of citizens.
Inequality in Costa Rican society is a serious problem. According to OECD data (2021), Costa Rica is more unequal than all European countries. Also, from a territorial perspective, the latest Atlas of Cantonal Human Development 2021 (UNDP, 2021), based on measurements of health, knowledge, and decent standard of living, revealed that coastal and border areas have the lowest human development index (HDI). Also, in the country, there is a distribution of multidimensional poverty at the cantonal level that shows how poverty and opportunities are different for people depending on their territories.
In this sense, from the university-society-government relationship, it is necessary to seek how to transform this reality by addressing the problems of underdevelopment, poverty, and inequality that are blamed on the country and that often trigger other problems. Therefore, this research seeks to contribute to the fulfillment of several of the SDGs, by incorporating in the central core of the object of study the welfare of people, and the transformation of production and consumption processes, through the implementation of new approaches to green economy and bioeconomy, maintaining the interest in how innovation systems can better drive transformations in the territories and the different sectors.
Formally, the research "Bioeconomy, Innovation and Quality of Life in the regions outside the Greater Metropolitan Area" (BIOINCAVI) will evaluate how the promotion of the bioeconomy and innovation impacts the quality of life of people. This will be the first study, to our knowledge, that evaluates the relationship between the levels of well-being of the populations (understood as quality of life) and the bioeconomy and innovation initiatives, being a fundamental relationship if we have the vision of promoting a new economy based on knowledge and learning (Lundvall, 1992); Segura, 2000), with sustainable production of high added value and low impact on natural resources and the environment, but above all, with the fairest and most equitable distribution possible, significantly reducing poverty.
With the BIOINCAVI project, it will be possible to generate evidence, based on robust research methods, of the impact of the bioeconomy and innovation processes on people's quality of life. Specifically, we will seek to identify the innovation’s determinants of eco-innovative processes and products derived from the bioeconomy, through the analysis of at least three different territories, and subsequently some sectors which allow us to identify the cause-and-effect of these processes on the quality of life of the inhabitants. With this, we hope to better understand the causal chain of impacts of the bioeconomy and innovation on the quality of life of human beings; for example, with changes in water and air quality, generation of new business opportunities and jobs, generation of sources of employment, among others.
Objective
Research Question
How do bioeconomy and innovation initiatives relate to human well-being in areas outside the GAM?
Main Objective
Study the relationship between human well-being and bioeconomy and innovation initiatives in areas outside the GAM to support decision-making by local actors and institutions.
Questions
- What is the theoretical/methodological relationship between bioeconomy, innovation, and quality of life?
- How do the elements of the bioeconomy, innovation, and quality of life interrelate with sectors or industries?
- How does the relationship between bioeconomy, innovation, and quality of life manifest itself empirically at the level of regions?
- What policy recommendations can be drawn from the analysis?
Project Phases
Phase 1
A review of scientific and technical literature on existing indices, including subjective indices of well-being and quality of life, and their relationship with the bioeconomy and innovation will be conducted. On the subject of quality of life, we will review the different indices developed that seek to calculate the level of well-being of people (for example, HDI, the Municipal Management Index, and the Cantonal Development Index). The main result of this phase will be the state’s construction of the art related to the three main concepts.
Phase 2
In this phase, a theoretical model is constructed that relates the three main concepts, which are bioeconomy, innovation, and quality of life. This way, we can establish the theoretical relationships derived from the literature and the existing indices, creating a theoretical framework that allows the study of the dynamics in the regions outside the GAM.
Phase 3
This phase can be advanced in parallel to the previous one to establish a methodological model that allows an analysis of the theoretical relationships established and to contrast them with empirical experience. To this end, a research design will be developed with criteria to facilitate comparative analysis. The comparative case study is a useful tool for generating causal explanations and answering research questions related to how and why. This privilege in-depth knowledge of cases or entities, and it involves an iterative reflection between theory, case study selection, data collection, and comparative analysis, within and between cases. Likewise, within this phase of the study, the criteria for the selection of regions and cases to be studied will be established.
Phase 4
Once the regions and case studies have been selected, we will proceed with the theoretical/methodological model defined in phases 1 to 3. To this end, the support of students and partners in the municipalities will be sought. The survey instrument will be designed specifically for this project (field work). The definition of the methodological theoretical model includes the selection of the control, bioeconomy, and innovation variables to be included in the general model presented above.
Phase 5
Within the regions analyzed, one or two case studies will be selected at the sector or industry level, where an in-depth analysis will be applied. The selection of these cases at the sector or industry level may consider success stories and best practices, but also exceptional cases under adverse conditions. Different qualitative techniques, such as workshops, focus groups, interviews, and participant observation, will be used both for the selection of industries or sectors and for collecting information about them. Secondary sources of information associated with the selected case will also be reviewed, if available.
Phase 6
The derivation of policy recommendations will be based on the exhaustive analysis of the research results, among which a central input will be the aspirations of decision makers and communities that were found in the previous phases. The conclusions and policy recommendations will be presented at a final workshop in the 3 study regions, to which the stakeholders involved during the project and representatives of public institutions linked to the research topic will be invited.
Teamwork
Olman Segura Bonilla, Ph.D.
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Daniela García Sánchez, Ph.D.
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Jorge Soto Rodriguez. M.Sc.
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Roxana Acuña Rodríguez. M.Sc.
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Ezequiel Duarte Balmaceda. Bach.
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Geaninna Villalobos Arce. Bach
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Publications
BIOECONOMICS, INNOVATION AND QUALITY OF LIFE: State of Play
by Olman Segura Bonilla, Daniela García Sánchez, Jorge Rodríguez Soto, Geannina Villalobos Arce (2023, November).
(Under revision) Proposal for a theoretical and methodological approach to analyze the impact of innovation and bioeconomy on the quality of life in regions outside the GAM.
Events
XVII Biannual Conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics. Santa Marta, Colombia
During October 26, 27 and 28, 2023, two papers entitled "Payment for Ecosystem Services of the Sea: a new paradigm" and "Economic Instruments for a circular Economy, what options do we have?" were presented at the XVII biannual conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE), at the University of Magdalena in Santa Marta, Colombia. These presentations represent a significant part of the work of the BIOINCAVI project, as they address innovative aspects that have a direct impact on the quality of life of people, both in coastal areas and in the rest of the territory. With the participation of the team in the biannual ISEE conference, it was possible to contact and exchange knowledge with other people and professionals in the field of economics for life, taking into account the context of a world in transition.
Papers presented by the work team:
V Congress of the Mesoamerican and Caribbean Society of Ecological Economics & Latin American Meeting of Ecological Economics. Guadalajara, Mexico.
During November 21-22, 2024, a paper entitled "Boosting innovation in bioeconomy on quality of life: proposal of a research model" was presented at the 1 V Congress of the Mesoamerican and Caribbean Society of Ecological Economics & Latin American Meeting of Ecological Economics. Guadalajara, Mexico. This paper represents an advance in the work of the BIOINCAVI project by presenting the theoretical model and the relationships established in the literature of the fundamental concepts of the research.