The transition to a sustainable bioeconomy is widely promoted as a strategic response to global crises such as climate change and biodiversity loss. However, the implementation of bioeconomy strategies varies across regions, shaped by diverse institutional arrangements, actor networks, and territorial dynamics. This article explores two contrasting bioeconomy transition processes in different subnational contexts—Noord-Brabant (The Netherlands) and Northern Minas Gerais (Brazil)—in order to examine how bioeconomy transitions unfold. Using the multi-level perspective framework, complemented by grassroots innovation theory, we show that the Dutch case is characterized by a centralized, state-coordinated strategy embedded in an industrial regime, while the Brazilian case illustrates a decentralized, bottom-up trajectory grounded in traditional knowledge, sociobiodiversity, and community-led governance. We discuss complementarities and learning opportunities between the two approaches and argue that integrating grassroots and institutional capacities is crucial to unlocking the transformative potential of the bioeconomy in diverse contexts. These differences expose both the limitations of techno-centric approaches and the transformative potential of biodiversity-centered, inclusive strategies. The results point to the value of cross-country learning, where the integration of advanced technological solutions and biorefinery applications to expand sociobiodiversity-based value chains could foster a more inclusive and sustainable global bioeconomy.
Santos et al. (Thu,) studied this question.