DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH ON BIOECONOMY INDUSTRIES IN LATVIA

Abstract

The knowledge-based bioeconomy has been prioritized through European Union (EU) research and innovation policies. In December 2017, the government approved the Latvian Bioeconomy Strategy 2030, which set the horizontal strategic goal of achieving �research excellence in traditional bioeconomy industries and efficient transfer of knowledge�. Therefore, the aim of the present research is to examine one of the submeasures �promoting research excellence and efficient knowledge transfer within traditional bioeconomy industries� for the implementation of the strategic goal of the Latvian Bioeconomy Strategy 2030 regarding �Knowledge and Innovations� in Latvia. The research found that the development of research on the bioeconomy depends on the overall situation in research and development (R&D) in the country. In 2021 in Latvia, total expenditure on scientific research was low, only 0.71% of GDP, of which 64% was EU funds and private funding. The national Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3) defines five main fields to be developed in Latvia, and one of them is a knowledgeintensive bioeconomy. In 2018, 1600 scientists worked in this field, which was 23% of the total number of scientists engaged in RIS3 fields. The amount of R&D funding attracted to the bioeconomy field in 2014-2018 was only EUR 27 mln. or 14% of total funding for RIS3 fields, which indicated the insufficient ability of bioeconomy scientists to attract funding and their lower labour productivity. Nine main research institutions employed 89% of the total personnel engaged in the bioeconomy field, who were the authors of 98% of WoS-indexed research papers published in 2014-2018. In the future, the most important research priorities for the bioeconomy field are going to be mitigation of negative climate change impacts, as well as food and energy security.