sustainability Article Social Acceptance of Forest-Based Bioeconomy—Swedish Consumers’ Perspectives on a Low Carbon Transition Emil Nagy * , Carolina Berg Rustas and Cecilia Mark-Herbert   Citation: Nagy, E.; Berg Rustas, C.; Mark-Herbert, C. Social Acceptance of Forest-Based Bioeconomy— Swedish Consumers’ Perspectives on a Low Carbon Transition. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7628. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147628 Academic Editor: Luis Jesús Belmonte-Ureña Received: 18 May 2021 Accepted: 5 July 2021 Published: 8 July 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; carolinabergrustas@gmail.com (C.B.R.); cecilia.mark-herbert@slu.se (C.M.-H.) * Correspondence: emil.nagy@slu.se; Tel.: +46-70-385-6934 Abstract: The concept of the bioeconomy is associated with sustainable development changes and involves transitions in both production and consumption within systems. Many of these transitions relate to using renewable resources, like forest biomass, to meet basic needs, such as food, energy and housing. However, consumers must become aware of the forest-based bioeconomy so that they can contribute to the transition. This study aims to contribute to an understanding of this matter that may lead to social acceptance of the forest-based bioeconomy and, in particular, to Swedish consumer awareness of the concept and of a particular product (wooden multi-story buildings) representing the forest-based bioeconomy. The results show consumer awareness of forest sequestration capacity but less awareness of the connection to the forest-based bioeconomy and the role of wooden multi-story buildings. The results indicate a slow transition that is hindered by path dependence and limited comprehension among consumers of the effects of their choices for a forest-based bioeconomy. This study provides valuable insights for future studies of how consumer awareness and social acceptance of the forest-based bioeconomy are interconnected. Keywords: consumers; citizens; forest-based bioeconomy; low carbon transition; perceptions; wooden multi-story buildings 1. Introduction During recent decades, there has been a rapid acceleration in global greenhouse gas emissions [1]. Scientists, societies and politicians around the world agree that human activities are contributing to global warming and that actions need to be taken. One example of such action is the Paris Agreement, ratified in November 2016 [2], which stresses the importance of low carbon solutions [3]. To fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement, substantial low carbon transitions have to take place [4]. Low carbon transitions are seen as substantial changes in the systems that serve society, so that these systems have less impact on the climate. Such systems include transportation, energy, agriculture and housing. Low carbon transitions in these systems would mean increasing energy efficiency and/or using fewer resources or renewable resources [5]. The feasibility of low carbon transitions can be studied by applying socio-technical transition (STT) theory. It can be used to assess the socio-political feasibility, social acceptance and legitimacy of various low carbon options by analysing the interpretations, strategies and resources of different social groups [5] (p. 580). 1.1. Bioeconomy and Forest-Based Bioeconomy Socio-technical transition theory provides information about how different actors influence the implementation of technical change, in this case specific low carbon options. One example of a low carbon transition that has not previously been studied using STT theory is the bioeconomy, or bio-based economy. The bioeconomy is described as: Sustainability 2021, 13, 7628. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147628 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability