As the final step in defining the system boundaries, development goals for sustainable regional structural change should be established. These goals play a central role throughout the subsequent stages of the assessment, as they provide the benchmark for the later sustainability evaluation. In Step 6 , the extent to which the investigated value creation system contributes to achieving these development goals is assessed.
The development goals should be formulated as concretely as possible and supported by a sound conceptual and scientific basis. It is recommended to use existing regional strategies, political decisions, guiding principles, or scientific findings as a foundation. The legitimacy of the goals can be strengthened by developing them jointly with relevant regional stakeholders or by aligning them with already agreed objectives, for example from regional steering committees or transformation processes. Throughout the assessment process, the development goals should be critically reviewed and adjusted if necessary. Preliminary discussions with overarching experts in Step 4 are particularly suitable for this purpose.
For each of the following sustainability dimensions and cross-cutting topics, three to five development goals should be formulated:
- Social sustainability
- Ecological sustainability
- Economic sustainability
- Regional structural change
- Governance
- Resilience
The goals should describe the desired future state of the regional value creation system and should clearly indicate the criteria by which the success of sustainable structural change can be assessed.
Application example: Social sustainability – Goal 1: By 2035, the regional bioeconomy should create at least 500 additional jobs subject to social security contributions. Particular emphasis should be placed on creating employment opportunities in rural areas, while aiming for a high proportion of permanent and collectively agreed employment relationships.
Summary of activities for completing Step 2:
- Delimitation of the bioeconomy region into a core region, immediate surroundings, and external zone
- Specification of the raw material base of the value creation system (optional)
- Delimitation of value creation stages (optional)
- Description of the processes within the value creation system (optional)
- Specification of markets and products within the value creation system (optional)
- Setting development goals for sustainable regional structural change