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This study is a follow-up to previous research on the use of a transdisciplinary approach in the analysis of factors that influence bioeconomy development and interactions between them. It is very important to consider the significance of public opinion while performing transdisciplinary research. This study integrates public opinion in the bibliometric analysis method by using grey data from information available in the public information space: mass media and social networks. The network of factors influencing the development of bioeconomy, created with the help of social network analysis method, was compared with the one obtained from bibliometric analysis of SCOPUS database in order to find out the difference between scientific tendencies and the overall atmosphere in the information space. Although the structure of these networks varies, there is a common tendency in literature to identify the following factors as the key factors in the development of the bioeconomy: research and innovations; technology; energy and energy consumption.

In order to enforce the concepts of bioeconomy and the circular economy, the use of a bottom-up approach at the national level has been proposed: to start at the level of a small region, encourage its development, considering its specific capacities and resources, rather than applying generalized assumptions at a national or international level. Therefore, this study has been carried out with an aim to develop a methodology for the assessment of small rural areas in the context of the circular economy and bioeconomy, in order to advance the development of these regions in an effective way, using the existing bioresources comprehensively. The methodology is based on the identification of existing and potential bioeconomy flows (land and its use, bioresources, human resources, employment and business), the identification of the strengths of their interaction and compare these with the situation at the regional and national levels in order to identify the specific region’s current situation in the bioeconomy and identify more forward-looking directions for development. Several methods are integrated and interlinked in the methodology – indicator analysis, correlation and regression analysis, and heat map tables. The methodology is approbated on one case study – Aizkraukle region – a small rural region in Latvia. During the research recommendations for the development of the circular economy and bioeconomy for the case study have been elaborated.

Biomass is an essential pillar of the bioeconomy as it serves as its main resource. Biomass energy plays an important role in energy sector. According to long wave theory, a sharp breakthrough in biotechnology is due over the next few years. As the price for energy wood increases, wood as a resource will not be sustainable in energy sector. In the case of Latvia, the price of energy wood as a resource is predicted to increase from 0.04 EUR/kWh to 0.12 EUR/kWh per unit of energy.

Bioeconomy is a target that European Union has set to be achieved; however, despite the planning documents, strategies and the financial support already given to promote it, the development of bioeconomy is slow and has not shown any significant development in the recent years. In this research bioeconomy system that consists of seven factors: production, technology, climate change, infrastructure, bioresources, and pollution, is being evaluated. The selection of factors is based on literature review and opinions of the expert group. The main aim of the research is to understand which are the most influential factors within the bioeconomy system, particularly, which factors the highest attention should be paid to in the policy and strategy documents implementation on a national level. To evaluate the chosen bioeconomy system, a multi-criteria decision-making method TOPSIS was used. The TOPSIS method was performed by using transdisciplinary approach components, which emphasise the complexity of bioeconomy. The results have shown that the main three factors within bioeconomy system are bioresources, climate change and production. The least important factors are technologies and infrastructure.

Since the creation of the European Union’s (EU) Biodiversity Strategy, increased attention has been drawn to the spread of invasive non-native species, their impact on biodiversity, and the economic losses caused. Ensuring compliance with the regulation on the eradication of invasive species requires financial means, therefore a new vision on invasive plant management system is proposed. With a new system, invasive alien plant (IAP) control is ensured as well as a new source of lignocellulosic biomass for product production, that could result in financial gains is presented. This article provides current alien plant situation visualization by Sankey diagram showing invasiveness of alien species and establishment, after which invasive and potentially invasive species are directed further to pre-assessment. A total of 157 invasive plant species are evaluated by multi criteria decision analysis TOPSIS, the case on the national level (Latvia) is presented and a new concept for a IAP management system is provided. The research results and the new concept provide a contribution to policy makers, land owners affected by invasive species and municipalities.

At the scientific level it is being increasingly recognised that the concept of bioeconomy has transdisciplinary nature, but there is still no consensus on key factors that would accelerate the development of sustainable bioeconomy. Therefore, within the framework of this study, certain factors, their interactions and link strength with bioeconomy from a scientific perspective are identified. A bibliometric analysis method is used to achieve this aim in such a way that the keyword information on the published scientific literature in relation to the bioeconomy is translated into quantifiable data. This way the relevance of the bioeconomy factors and the strength of their direct and mutual interaction with the bioeconomy will be determined. From this study it can be concluded that the strongest links with bioeconomy are for biomass, bioenergy, biotechnology and innovations. No significant link was found for such factors as: behaviour, production, pollution and infrastructure. It becomes clear that, in the view of scientists, the decisive role in the development of the bioeconomy resulting from the use of bio resources in the higher value-added production is for technologies. These results are used to build a framework for a system dynamics model that can be used for modelling bioeconomy development scenarios in the future.