Exploring regional transitions to the bioeconomy using a socio-economic indicator: the case of Italy

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the need to analyze and measure the performance of sustainable transitions at a regional level. This work presents the results of an application of the socio-economic indicator for the bioeconomy (SEIB) to evaluate the socio-economic performance of the bioeconomy at a regional level, providing evidence for the Italian case. Two versions of the SEIB were applied: the first included all sectors of the bioeconomy while the second considered only manufacturing and bio-energy sectors, excluding all primary sectors. The indicator was further analyzed from spatial and longitudinal perspectives. The results showed that four regions (i.e. Trentino A.A. and Veneto in the north and Toscana and Umbria in central Italy) emerged among the five highest performing regions based on both versions of the indicator. Overall, the results underlined that the northern regions performed best when overall sectors were considered, while the central regions performed best when only manufacturing and bio-energy sectors were considered. What emerged most clearly, however, is that regions in southern Italy lagged far behind the national average, particularly when primary sectors were excluded from the analysis.