On November the 8th the Horizon Europe REFOLUTION project kicked off its webinar series with a deep dive into the topic of social acceptance of biofuels. Moderated by Silje Fosse Håkonsen and organized in collaboration with ETIP Bioenergy and Bio4Fuels Centre, the webinar aimed at shedding light on social awareness as a key to achieving social acceptance on the topic of biofuels.

The event featured presentations by Nina Wessberg, Principal Scientist at VTT, and Remina Aleksieva, Analyst at the Center for the Study of Democracy. Nina Wessberg shared insights into the Responsible Research and Innovation approach developed in the context of the Refolution project. Remina Aleksieva presented the results of citizen panels conducted in Bulgaria, Italy, Sweden, and Austria.

The two studies highlighted how important and significant social acceptance is, as the consequences of biofuel production and adoption also involve and affect citizens and communities. For this reason, both studies focus on the need to inform and raise awareness on these issues through transparent communication that goes beyond the greenwashing aspect to which we are often exposed.

In particular, the CDS research presented by Remina showed that the level of trust in bioenergy as a sustainable solution increased moderately after the session in which the topic of bioenergy and its developments was explained by experts to citizens who were not prepared on the subject and with different background. The RRI explained by Nina is based on research and development methodologies that integrate environmental and societal considerations, specifically considering the effects and impacts of biofuels on the whole of society.

Presentations and slides below

Bio4Fuels Centre – 𝑆𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡

Nina Wessberg – 𝑆𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡

Remina Aleksieva – 𝑆𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦: 𝐾𝑒𝑦 𝐿𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎, 𝐼𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑦, 𝑆𝑤𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎