The natural advantage of regions: linking sustainability,innovation, and regional development in Australia

The combined impacts of the financial crisis and climate change are driving the evolution of sustainable business and changing the way that governments plan for development. Markets are emerging for a range of environmentally orientated products and services as societies move (or lurch) towards reducing impacts and adapt to changing conditions. National governments are actively formulating policy and providing investment to develop green economies as one of the responses to the global financial crisis. Many of the political and economic drivers have been focused at the international and national scale, and while critical for setting the national framework for development, it often neglects the key role that regions and localities can play in ecological modernization. This paper explores two regional case studies in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, that are initiating shifts towards networks of sustainable businesses and communities and offers recommendations for further policy development. The focus of this paper is on the evolving regional sustainability market and its relationship to other social institutions including governments, communities and the individual. The unifying concept is the idea of the ‘natural advantage’, a model that integrates innovation and sustainability as a part of the regional development policy agenda.     

A method for sustainable product development based on a modular system of guiding questions

In this paper, we present a method for sustainable product development (MSPD) with the aim of integrating social and ecological aspects of sustainability with a strategic business perspective in product development. The method applies backcasting from basic principles for sustainability, which allows a strategic approach, and it includes a modular system of guiding questions that are derived by considering these principles and the product life cycle. Initial testing in Swedish companies indicates that the suggested MSPD promotes a ‘bird's eye’ perspective and encourages and aids development of products that support society's transformation towards sustainability. Furthermore, it is concluded that the modular system provides flexibility and user-friendliness.     

A supply chain management approach for investigating the role of tour operators on sustainable tourism: the case of TUI

Increasing awareness and demands in sustainable tourism require firms to implement sustainable Supply Chain Management policies (SCM). Tour operators can significantly influence and promote sustainable tourism development due to their central distribution role and capability to direct tourists to destinations and suppliers. Despite the emerging role of SCM and sustainability, the applicability of SCM practices in tourism is not studied yet. This paper adapts and illustrates the value of using SCM concepts within tour operators' business for integrating sustainability into tourism supply chains. After reviewing the literature in SC management and collaboration, a model for implementing sustainable SCM is proposed and its applicability is shown by analysing the case of TUI. The implications of the model and the case study are discussed.     

Sustainability experiments in Asia: innovations shaping alternative development pathways?

Global sustainability is increasingly influenced by processes of industrialisation and urbanization in non-OECD countries, especially in Asia. Growth models suggest that developing economies and regions will become first relatively more resource- and pollution-intensive, before converging on more resource-efficient and low-pollution production and consumption patterns expressed in developed countries. Alternative less resource- and pollution-intensive growth models for latecomer countries promise social and economic benefits in the short- and long-term. Drawing on insights from system innovation research on long-run change in socio-technical systems, we discuss the potential role of ‘sustainability experiments’ to generate innovations that will constitute new ‘greener’ growth models. We observe a great number of technology-based initiatives that we characterize as sustainability experiments in East and South Asian countries. These experiments emerge in the context of the growth of new socio-technical regimes in key sectors, including energy, transport, manufacturing, food and the built environment. We set out a conceptual framework for assessing the role of experiments, and for evaluating how they link with and become anchored into alternative more sustainable regimes. In this paper we argue that sustainability experiments represent a significant new source of innovation and capability-formation, linked to global knowledge and technology flows, which could reshape emergent socio-technical regimes and so contribute to alternative development pathways in latecomer countries. We conclude by summarizing the six papers published in this Special Issue.     

Assessment of eco-labelling criteria development from a strategic sustainability perspective

To turn current patterns of consumption and production in a sustainable direction, solid and understandable market information on the socio-ecological performance of products is needed. Eco-labelling programmes have an important role in this communication. The aim of this study is to investigate what gaps there may be in the current criteria development processes in relation to a strategic sustainability perspective and develop recommendations on how such presumptive gaps could be bridged. First a previously published generic framework for strategic sustainable development is described and applied for the assessment of two eco-labelling programmes. Data for the assessment is collected from literature and in semi-structured interviews and discussions with eco-labelling experts.The assessment revealed that the programmes lack both an operational definition of sustainability, and a statement of objectives to direct and drive the criteria development processes. Consequently they also lack guidelines for how product category criteria might gradually develop in any direction. The selected criteria mainly reflect the current reality based on a selection of negative impacts in ecosystems, but how this selection, or prioritization, is made is not clearly presented. Finally, there are no guidelines to ensure that the criteria developers represent a broad enough competence to embrace all essential sustainability aspects.In conclusion the results point at deficiencies in theory, process and practice of eco-labelling, which hampers cohesiveness, transparency and comprehension. And it hampers predictability, as producers get no support in foreseeing how coming revisions of criteria will develop. This represents a lost opportunity for strategic sustainable development. It is suggested that these problems could be avoided by informing the criteria development process by a framework for strategic sustainable development, based on backcasting from basic sustainability principles.     

Emerging design strategies in sustainable production and consumption of textiles and clothing

This study contributes to current knowledge of sustainability in textile and clothing production and consumption. When the textile and clothing industry aims to promote sustainability, the main change factors have been linked to eco-materials and ethical issues in production. At present, however, business models are mainly linked with a large volume of sales and production. Although industrial development has moved toward smaller environmental impact, production as well as consumption has increased to levels where the benefits of technological development are reduced. A change is thus needed to reach a systemic transformation, not only in production but also in consumption. The aim of this paper is to open up the discussion on opportunities for radical change in this industry. The paper presents ways to rethink and redesign business in the textile and clothing field by offering an overview on several design strategies that exist today in niche markets. Furthermore we evaluate how interested consumers are in these design strategies and discuss the opportunities these design approaches offer to sustainable development through new value creation.     

基于节能环保视域下的企业技术创新

以建设资源节约型企业为出发点,就企业如何在节能环保的视野下实施技术创新,分析企业实施技术创新的影响因素以及应采取的对策,从而实现企业的可持续发展,达到企业与社会的双赢。     

Shaping sustainable technology development in the coatings chain Defining boundaries,environmental problems and main players

To meet the requirements of sustainable technology development, innovation processes should go beyond optimization, retroffitting and redesign based on incremental innovation, to focus particularly on breakthrough innovations. The aim of current research looks forward to building insights in the field of environment, technology and innovation to design and test a methodology for medium-, long-term innovation planning of future technological options towards sustainability in the paint and coatings chain, and to draw conclusions under which conditions this methodology is feasible. This paper describes the conceptual and theoretical framework as well as the integrated chain, the main environmental problems and the main actors in the network under research.     

Strategy development in small and medium sized enterprises for sustainability and increased value creation

Sustainability strategies create many synergistic effects for SMEs working collaboratively, as well as systemic benefits for the commons. After setting forth the business case for sustainable SMEs, and considering SME sustainability advantages in contrast to MNEs, this paper discusses several different incentives for SMEs to optimize sustainability: (1) becoming valuable sustainable investment targets for larger firms; (2) creating highly competitive networks of sustainable SMEs in market spaces where large enterprises are less successful; (3) becoming highly efficient suppliers in global supply chains through sustainable practices.While several successful models of the sustainable SME are evolving, it may be that networks of SMEs will become essential for addressing the systemic problems that underlie industrial ecology, enterprise resilience, and global supply chain sustainability. SMEs represent the majority of all enterprises, and rapidly evolving communication technologies allow for various routes of network formation.     

Social construction of sustainability in water companies in the Dutch coastal zone

This article addresses the question, “How is the concept of sustainable development translated into the business practices of the Dutch drinking water sector?” Two companies along the Dutch coast developed their own versions of sustainability, based upon their particular context and influential stakeholders. Operating in the coastal zone means that they have to deal with vulnerable freshwater systems and this leads to more use of surface water instead of groundwater.     

可持续发展评价指标(体系)及其确定方法的探讨

通过对目前已有的可持续发展指标体系的研究,指出现有指标体系忽略了可持续性内涵、环境的限制作用、社会公平性及经济增长的影响作用等主要内容．提出采用离差法来计算可持续发展评价指标．建议采用限制型指标、发展型指标、协调型指标来评价系统的可持续性;标准值或参考值采用反映系统不可持续性状态的底线值以及反映整个人类状况的全球、区域或国家现时平均值．同时还提出了不可持续性标准值、不可持续状态、远离不可持续状态、迈进可持续发展过程等概念．强调单项指标的重要性,指出单项指标离差度对系统可持续性的指示作用．     

Eco-design implemented through a product-based environmental management system

Lucent Technologies (Lucent) has undergone considerable change in business strategy with the outsourcing of manufacturing activities. In order to control the significant environmental aspects of hardware products, Lucent's wireless business unit, Mobility Solutions, determined it would concentrate on the design of products: focusing on eco-design enables product sustainability to be improved, with each product generation providing a ‘start of pipe’ (front end) solution with attendant efficiencies.Mobility Solutions pioneered a product-based environmental management system (PBEMS) to formally address the impacts of wireless hardware products on the environment throughout the entire product lifecycle, regardless of where products are developed. This management system looks beyond the environmental impacts of manufacturing to include conceptual design, development, use by the customer, and final product disposal.The success of this approach can be attributed to the integration of eco-design with traditional hardware product realization processes. Through the PBEMS, business and environmental processes are simultaneously utilized to manage significant product aspects and to incorporate sustainability principles during product design. Many innovative eco-design tools are applied during the product realization process to identify areas for improvement of future products, and to verify that each generation of existing products is more sustainable than its predecessor. These eco-design tools include eco-roadmapping, design for environment guidelines and checklists, and lifecycle assessments.The Mobility Solutions PBEMS conforms to the requirements of the ISO 14001 international standard and has achieved third-party certification. By implementing environmentally responsible characteristics through eco-design programs, employees, customers, and the world community benefit from a consistent approach to the environmental management of wireless hardware products. Mobility Solutions continues to reap the value of sustainable product design that is both good for the environment and makes sound business sense.     

Regional sustainability contrasts in Brazil as indicated by the Compass of Sustainability – CompasSus

The current need for assessing sustainable processes and states is a driving assumption for this article, having as objective to present preliminary results of a new assessment approach, the Compass of Sustainability (CompasSus), applied to administrative regions of Brazil. Its methodological approach is based on a combination of existing assessment methodologies, such as the Human Development Index and the Ecological Footprint. CompasSus is elaborated under the perspective of rather complementary operational concepts of sustainable development, namely weak and strong sustainability, which are often seen as competing ones. In spite of the advances on the perspective of sustainable development perceived in international agreements for conservation of nature, as well as in the implementation of national policies aiming at sustainability, there still exists an operational ambiguity of the concept of sustainability. Thus, its fuzzy theoretical consolidation for clear definition of objectives and lines of action still leads to different assumptions for diverse stakeholders and authors. Looking at the Brazilian case, conservation strategies are needed to protect the world's largest tropical rainforest against a predatory business – as-usual frontier expansion. As for addressing trade-offs between environmental conservation and regional development demands the CompasSus introduces a combined hemispheric assessment of sustainability. In 2006, the state in which the sustainability index had the best performance was DF (Distrito Federal). This, the seat of the capital city, presents an economy based on the public and the service sectors, both very little carbon and energy intensive. Furthermore, the high income per capita, and good social indicators associated with the small relevance of the agrarian sector grants it the best sustainability index, which is determined by performances in two components representing strong and weak sustainability. In the other extreme is São Paulo (SP) where a high population density and major impacts on waterways have implied a worse performance in weak sustainability index, whereas the high consumption of energy together with high carbon emissions have also determined a low performance in strong sustainability index.     

The role of business in sustainable consumption

This paper explores the role of the business community in promoting sustainable consumption. While businesses play an important role in shaping social trends, including the growth of material consumption, allegations that individual corporations wield excessive power may have been overstated. Most of the time corporations are simply playing by the rules and culture of the market.Businesses have mostly assumed that their contribution to sustainability lies in improving eco-efficiency—staying within the current business framework. But sustainable consumption will require wider change, including shifts in the incentives that shape the actions of businesses and others, and a change in the culture that underlies market expectations. Firms, governments, the media and civil society may need to enter a dialogue together to develop a new story about the nature of prosperity and the role of the business community in promoting it. The initiative is most likely to come from civil society.     

Increasing the rate of sustainable change: a call for a redefinition of the concept and the model for its implementation

Mankind is committed to taking sustainable pathways in search of a state of sustainability. Thirty years after the “Limits to Growth” published by the Club of Rome the world is still far from the equilibrium of sustainable development (SD). Technology is postponing the depletion of natural resources but is not solving the problem itself, either because the technology is itself not sustainable or because the application of it is being mismanaged. This article attempts to analyze the wide gap between the strategies drawn up and the effectiveness of the actions taken in implementing sustainability. The paper addresses the issue of whether or not mankind can make the right choices and has the right infrastructure of pathways to do so. In short, an answer is sought to the question, “What are the prerequisites for the fastest rate of sustainable change?” This question is tackled by the four authors. They start from critical arguments concerning the effectiveness of sustainable change, explain the terminology used in the article and identify the main factors for increasing the rate of sustainable change, which are then discussed in detail in each part of the text (EG). Then, each from a different starting point, they comment on self-organization (US), sustainable innovation and cultural regions (HK), global cooperation and regional resources (MB) and sustainable research by universities (EG). The individual contributions, when taken together, form a discussion of the crucial factors or prerequisites for sustainable change. It is concluded that only cooperation between regions and regional stakeholders can give sustainable change the driving force needed to overcome global (political) friction and ensure that it moves forward in equilibrium and at a constant rate. Specific measures are put forward to maximize awareness within and among regions.     

Indicators of sustainable production: framework and methodology

This paper presents a new tool for promoting business sustainability — indicators of sustainable production. It first introduces the concept of sustainable production as defined by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts Lowell. Indicators of sustainable production are discussed next, including their dimensions and desirable qualities. Based on the Lowell Center Indicator Framework, the authors suggest a new methodology of core and supplemental indicators for raising companies' awareness and measuring their progress toward sustainable production systems. Twenty-two core indicators are proposed and a detailed guidance for their application is included. An eight-step model provides a context for indicator implementation. The paper concludes with a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology as well as recommendations for testing the indicators.     

The role of science-policy interface in sustainable urban water transitions: Lessons from Rotterdam

This paper investigates the role of the science-policy interface in leveraging transitions to sustainable urban water management. The paper presents a case study of the Dutch city of Rotterdam, which is increasingly regarded as a global leader in adaptive and resilient urban water management. The analysis reveals that Rotterdam’s transition has occurred incrementally over the past 15 years, driven by policy entrepreneurs: largely municipal policy makers and policy practitioners. Strategic use of the science-policy interface (SPI) has facilitated the development of innovative solutions to achieve policy goals and created the enabling conditions necessary for transformative change. The Rotterdam case suggests that an effective SPI requires: (1) compelling water narrative; (2) cross-sectoral collaboration; (3) co-production of knowledge; (4) experiential evidence-based learning; (5) strategic use of trusted scientists; (6) fostering networks; and (7) generating business from science-based innovation. Rotterdam’s strategic approach to knowledge and innovation coupled with a new narrative around water sets it apart from many other cities and adds a new dimension to debates regarding enabling factors for advancing sustainable practices. These findings will be of interest to those engaged in urban water management policy and practice, environmental governance, and debates over transitions more broadly.     

Education for sustainability as a transformative learning process: a pedagogical experiment in EcoDesign doctoral education

The paper presents details about a doctoral-level EcoDesign course, as an education for sustainable development experience, in relation to pedagogic theory. The aim was to promote transformative learning in order to facilitate more productive use of environmental knowledge in product and business development. The course included interdisciplinary dialogue founded in real world experiences presented by lecturers from business, government and NGOs, as well as study visits and group work on the drafting of journal papers. The key pedagogical objective was to widen the perspective to embrace more humanly engaging concerns and to enhance the student's overall understanding about relations between sustainable development priorities and product design practices.