Browsing by Subject "biotalouden edistyminen"

Many countries and international organizations have identified the bioeconomy as one of the key factors in addressing many global challenges. The aim of this study is to increase our understanding of the societal aspects of the bioeconomy by exploring the bioeconomy perceptions of Finnish forestry students. The study examines students' assessments of how the development of the forest-based bioeconomy would affect different forest sector stakeholders and employment opportunities. In addition, students' views on the bioeconomy teaching in their own universities are discussed. The data for the study were collected in early 2019 using an online questionnaire. 89 students started responding to the survey, but 59 completed questionnaires. Data analyzes was performed by quantitative methods using the SPSS software. The statistical methods used in the study were analysis of variance, t-test and Fisher's exact test. According to the results, students' perceptions of the effects of development of the forest-based bioeconomy are positive for the researched topics. Students have a clear view that the development of the bioeconomy will bring more positive changes to the different stakeholders than negative ones. Students believe that the biggest winner of the forest-based bioeconomy’s progression will be industry and the business world. Master level, doctorate level, and students farther along in their studies seem to have a more trust in positive changes. The development of the bioeconomy was also believed to improve future employment opportunities and help in pursuing one's dream job. Most of the respondents have dealt with bioeconomy topics in their own universities relatively often. Nonetheless, dissatisfaction with the sufficiency of teaching is present and many students want to address bioeconomy more. Particularly those who have studied for longer seem to be in favor of more teaching. Previously, only a few studies have reviewed bioeconomy perceptions of future professionals. Those studies have approached the subject from different angles and have been made in other countries. According to the results of this study, students seem to have positive expectations of the development of the forest-based bioeconomy. The relatively low number of respondents should be considered when examining the results.