Bioeconomy and white biotechnology as a basic pillar of the Lisbon strategy

The entrance into the new millennium is branded by intensive development of science and new technologies. Life science and biotechnologies are widely recognize to be, after ICT, the parallel wave of knowledge – based economy, creating new opportunities for our society and economies. This application is the basic object of Lisbon strategy in Europe. This new trends, to make full use of biotechnology for sustainable economy, is official titled as bioeconomy around the world. The characteristics of bioeconomy and utilization of industrial biotechnology are presented in this article.

Correction to: How life cycle–based science and practice support the transition towards a sustainable economy

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-021-01930-0

Booming with Speed: High-Speed Rail and Regional Green Innovation

Exploiting China’s high-speed rail (HSR) as a quasi-natural experiment, we examine the relationship between the HSR connection and green innovation. The opening of HSR can promote green innovation by facilitating the flow of innovation factors. Using the multiperiod difference-in-differences (DID) model, we find that the regional green innovation performance significantly becomes better following the opening of HSR in the local city. Moreover, in examining the specific mechanisms at work, we find evidence that HSR stimulates green patents through increased labor mobility and research capital mobility. Further analyses show that the facilitating effect of HSR is heterogeneous among cities. Our paper sheds new light on the effects of HSR on social welfare in the case of sustainable economy.

Gravitation

Gravitation: Modes of Reading in the Anthropocene In this article, I suggest ‘gravitation’ as a new way of reading in and for the anthropocene, which is characterised by environmentally destructive ‘social acceleration’. This reading practice would imply two things: First, that representations of the natural environment take a primary position in relation to the characters in many genres, including those where nature so far has been read as a highly conventional construction. It also involves acknowledging that ultimately, characters are positioned by the physical environment in these genres, as characters, in one way or the other, can never exist unrelated to the environment that encompass and cut through them. These genres I suggest be called ‘gravitating genres’. Second, and in a similar fashion, I suggest the term ‘gravitating reading’ to denote reading of physical books, which in this context becomes a highly preferred medium. This term partly coincides with that of ‘deep reading’ suggested by Mangen, but in addition, it also recognizes the dependency of both the reader and the medium on the natural environment. Together, these two practices amount to, I suggest, nothing less than a mutually sustainable economy of reading.