Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Bioeconomy Professionals

This paper reflects on the outcomes of a student-centered workshop held during the Indian Ecological Society International Conference, held at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, 12 - 15 November 2024.The students’ workshop was a follow-up on the topics developed in the Symposium on “Agriculture, Climate Changes, and Energy Transitions: Building Capacity to Maintain Yields of Innovative Agrifood Systems” held during the conference. Its major purpose was to encourage discussions among conference participants about specific research agendas and potential teaching plans. Students worked in groups of four to five to provide ideas for improving teaching and learning and ideas for future research. They consistently mentioned a need to grasp the practical application of their classroom studies. Most of the research ideas focused on conservation or enhancement of resources used in agriculture and many involved cross-disciplinary topics, such as the expansion of data analysis technologies to promote resilience for agricultural communities. The results parallel the principles outlined as key to a bioeconomy, outlined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.