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Research background
Construction industry has high economic significance, and it affects the quality of life in
terms of housing, workspace, utilities and transport infrastructure, but it also has
environmental and social consequences (Burgan & Sansom, 2006; Sev, 2009). Construction
industry, together with the building material industries which supply it, has numerous
environmental, social and economic impacts (Sev 2009), and causes irreversible
transformations in the natural environment by exploiting natural resources and adding to
the accumulation of pollutants in the atmosphere (Spence & Mulligan 1995). Globally,
almost half of all materials extracted from the earth are annually transformed into
construction materials and products, and construction and demolition generate enormous
amounts waste (European Commission, 2008). In addition to big volumes, construction
industry is especially significant due to its long lifecycles, as buildings are supposed to last
for decades (Sev, 2009). Thus, there is concern about how to improve construction practices
in order to minimize the harmful effects on the natural environment (Cole, 1999; Ding,
2005). As different environmental building assessment methods are implemented to
ascertaining building sustainability (Ding, 2005), companies are applying life cycle analysis
(LCA) to measure the environmental impacts of construction and developed ways of
recycling (Ortiz et al., 2009). Wood and wood-based materials can provide a more
sustainable option in many applications in the construction industry, and wooden constructs
also act as a carbon sink as long as the building exists.
The European Commission (2012) has submitted a strategy and action plan for sustainable
bioeconomy in Europe to promote bioeconomy transition across industry sectors. The term
‘Bioeconomy’ means an economy using biological resources from the land and sea, as well
as waste, including food wastes, as inputs into industry and energy production; it also covers
the use of bio-based processes to green industries (European Commission, 2012).
Bioeconomy can be seen as a societal strategy to reach environmental, social and economic
sustainability, but it requires creation of new networks and co-operation (Luoma et al.,
2011).
Bioeconomy transition is a large-scale systemic change and it requires collaborative
endeavor in which a critical mass of organizations alter their behavior (Senge et al., 2008).
Bioeconomy transition expands the boundaries of relevant knowledge across industry fields,
transforming market structures, business models and competitive relations. Innovation
networks thrive in conditions where industry expertise is diverse and the knowledge base is
comprehensive (Powell et al. 1996).
Open innovation
Organizations are increasingly applying knowledge from outside their boundaries and
engaging in innovation-related collaboration (Poot et al., 2009). The open innovation
paradigm accelerates internal innovation, and expands the markets for external use of
innovation, by allowing the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge
(Chesbrough et al., 2006). In a fully open innovation model, internal and external
innovations are perceived as equally important, and the roles of internal and external
sources of knowledge are balanced (van de Vrande et al., 2010).
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