Professor Dame Anne Glover CBE FRSE (University of Aberdeen and former EU Chief Scientific Officer) stresses the importance of human resources in the Scottisch (and European) circular/bioeconomy in an interview preluding the EFIB-conference which will take place in Glasgow from the 18th until the 20th of Octobre.
According to Mrs. Glover the Scottish and in general the European bio-economy is very strong in R&D, but somehow needs to communicate its strengths more to citizens and politicians. ‘Demonstrate the value of what you do through case studies and make it real for citizens and politicians alike. The impact of our research in the EU is enormous but we lag behind others in translating this into the corresponding benefit for citizens and the economy.’
More engaging
Another challenge according to Mrs. Glover is engaging young people in science and innovation. ‘I think young people are inspired by aspects of science, engineering, technology and innovation. However, when making choices, they are not always drawn to careers in these areas as they are not clear what those careers will look like and what sort of life it might offer them. As a community, we could all do a lot more to engage with them and demonstrating what a life in science and innovation is like and how rewarding it can be. We still need to pay attention to gender balance as well to ensure we have the greatest creative potential in our teams.’
