For the 25th conference, the organizers seek submissions on these opportunities and challenges as well as submissions that provide insights into the interface between innovations and society. Prospective participants are encouraged to propose papers, symposia or posters. We encourage, in particular, proposals from Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean and from students and young scholars.
Possible topics include:
- Opportunities for Biological Innovation and Bioeconomy Transformation
- Technology spillovers to agriculture from COVID-19 research
- New private sector start-up firms and innovations in information technology and biotechnology
- New technology regulations and policies that will stimulate private innovations
- Polices to Build a Sustainable and Resilient Bioeconomy
- Innovative types of funding for improving public research and innovation
- Improved regulations to make better use of technologies such as genetic engineering, gene editing and other tools to improve sustainable crop and livestock production and the conversion of biomass to biofuels, energy, plastics, and medicines
- Lessons from government incentives for carbon-neutrality, carbon sequestration, biosequestration, and movement towards the circular economy
- Impacts of Technology Innovations
- The expansion of biotech into directly consumable food crops
- The role of innovation in promoting food security
- Bioeconomy innovations to reduce pollution and GHG emissions in agriculture and industry
- The interplay of institutional and technical change
- The Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Economics and Policies of Goods, Supply Chains and Trade
- Pandemic effects on food prices, food security and hording
- Challenges for food distribution and local food markets
- Impacts on international trade and policies
- Risk Assessment and Regulation
- Concerns and conflicts between domestic regulations and international institutions, agencies, and agreements
- Discrepancies in the regulation of GMO corona virus vaccines and GMO plants
- Regulatory challenges for the commercialization of GM insects, animals and microbes
- Fostering Innovation to Strengthen Resilience in View of Increasing Uncertainty
- Trends in public, private and public-private research
- Digital agriculture and the challenges of access and benefits sharing
- International agreements and their implications
- Developing innovation ecosystems for
- Social Trust in the Bioeconomy
- Impacts and effects of the anti-vaccination and anti-GMO movements
- The effects of consumer knowledge and trust in science
- Influence of mainstream and social media on consumer perceptions of agriculture and food
- The impact of economic nationalism on the global innovation system
Proposal for organized sessions, papers and posters should be submitted via the conference web-site. The deadline for submission has been extended to January 15th, 2021. Submissions will be reviewed and information about acceptance circulated by January 30, 2021.
While it is impossible to know what the conditions will be like at the time of the conference, when it comes to the ability to meet in person, the organizers are currently planning to hold a hybrid conference, with in-person and online components.
