Christian Hoffmann has done his doctor in Forest Economics at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences at the BOKU, Vienna during his training as a scientific assistant at the Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Economics (2002 to 2006). Since 2006, he is employed as a Senior Researcher at the Eurac Research Institute for Regional Development. There he takes responsibility for extending the network of the institute and for acquiring and coordinating of regional and European funded projects. Empowered with his long-term experiences, he leads the research group on rural resources. The scope of that group is to uncover the great potential to use the material and immaterial resources of rural areas sustainably. This requires creating innovative business models to strengthen local value chains and to enhance the resilience of bio- and circular economy. In addition, the research group also deals with pathways to attain balanced living conditions in line with the UN sustainable development goals. And finally, he is also a steering committee member in Science for Carpathians (S4C) and a deputy of the IUFRO sub-group on forest based value chains.