Project

The transition to a sustainable bioeconomy aims to coherently combine environmental objectives with economic development. A key challenge here lies not so much in a lack of scientific or technological solutions. Rather, shortcomings are evident in the transfer of scientific findings and technological developments into concrete international application, market and governance contexts. Numerous bioeconomic innovations have reached a high level of technical maturity but fail due to the lack of systematic integration into new regional, institutional and economic contexts. As a result, significant potential for substituting fossil resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions remains untapped.

In an international context, this transfer poses particular challenges. It requires robust background knowledge regarding regional resource availability, stakeholder structures, innovation policy priorities and institutional frameworks. In the innovation systems of South and Southeast Asia, growing opportunities for cooperation are currently emerging for German stakeholders from the scientific and business communities. Countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines are specifically supporting the bioeconomic transition through public research and development activities, as well as by increasingly opening up their innovation systems to the international arena.

However, in order to harness this momentum for international research and innovation cooperation, a strategic understanding of regional contexts is required. A lack of, or only fragmented, knowledge regarding local resource flows, policy objectives and institutional responsibilities hinders the transfer of research findings into practical applications and increases the risks associated with cooperation. Against this backdrop, there is a critical need for systematically compiled background knowledge that highlights international bioeconomy potential and provides a sound basis for decisions on knowledge transfer and cooperation.

The "Quo Vadis Biobased Asia" (BBA) project addresses this challenge by providing an integrated knowledge and transfer infrastructure. The aim is to make evidence-based guidance accessible to German stakeholders in order to support the preparation and positioning of R&D collaborations in the ASEAN region. To this end, the project analyses regional resource flows, describes the policy framework for innovation and identifies relevant stakeholders. On this basis, options for action are intended to become more transparent and comparable, without prejudging operational decisions.

The project combines document and literature analysis with the systematic evaluation of primary and secondary data, as well as qualitative surveys. Funding landscapes are described and synthesised on the basis of national programmes and targeted expert interviews. Biomass potential is assessed taking into account region-specific factors and international statistics. Workshops and surveys of local experts serve to contextualise and validate the data set. The sub-study on production organisms in Thailand is supported by local technical expertise and consolidated in a policy brief.

The project outcomes include:

• Country profiles for Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines
• A digital web map of resources and stakeholders in Thailand
• Policy briefs and academic publications

All outcomes are designed to be reusable and compatible with other systems, and are aimed at stakeholders from the worlds of politics, academia and business. They will be disseminated via the platform www.biobasedasia.com, as well as through specialist events and other communication channels.

The project is being implemented on a division-of-labour basis. The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Leipzig is responsible for overall coordination, analysing the policy framework for innovation, investigating research infrastructures in Thailand, and managing general scientific communication. The German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ) is responsible for identifying and assessing biomass potential in the target countries, as well as for detailed cartographic mapping for Thailand.

King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) in Bangkok is involved as a local partner. KMITL supports the project through scientific expertise, institutional integration and access to regional networks in Thailand.

January 2026−December 2028

Quo Vadis Biobased Asia (BBA) is part of the "Bioeconomy for Public Value" project family within the Innovation Acceptance Unit at Fraunhofer ISI. Within this project family, BBA is positioned as a strategic and analytical initiative that provides guidance on international bioeconomy contexts. On this basis, BBA supports the assessment of acceptance, transfer and governance issues in technology-related follow-up projects, thereby making an integrative contribution to the strategic development of the project family.

The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) as part of the "Modern Asian Studies" funding program and is managed by the Project Management Agency at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR-PT).

BBA operates within the field of modern Asian studies and analyses bioeconomic development dynamics in South and Southeast Asia. Its focus is on providing an overview of resources, stakeholder landscapes and innovation policy frameworks in the ASEAN region to support international research and innovation cooperation.

www.biobasedasia.com (This website is still under construction)