Rural bioeconomies in Europe: Socio-ecological conflicts, marginalized people and practices.

Bioeconomy policies claim to contribute to socio-ecological transformations and decreasing rural-urban inequalities. Based on examples offour bioeconomies in rural Europe, we argue that contrary to these claims, such policies to date have not de-escalated existing social conflicts but instead have often further contributed to polarization tendencies. To live up th those proclaimed goals, bioeconomY research and policy need to deprioritize economic growth and turn to more comprehensive considerations ofsocio-ecological contexts and the integration ofthe local population and alternative practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]