Monthly Archives: July 2015

Nudge and experimentation – appreciatively critical analysis of experiences

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Experimentation and nudges are two topical buzzwords in Finland at the moment. Because of this, it seems appropriate to share some recent work that examines these concepts in an appreciatively critical way.

Nudging – a tool for sustainable behaviour? is a report for the Swedish EPA by Oksana Mont and Matthias Lehner from IIIEE Lund and Eva Heiskanen from the Consumer Society Research Centre. It examines the usefulness of nudges in established welfare states like Sweden (and Finland). The report is also available in Swedish. These  slides offer a short synopsis.

On the topic of experimentation, this article examines some recent experiences of experimentation in Finland – again from a appreciatively critical perspective. It shows that experiments are always performative. In order to serve as “proof of principle” and encourage people to persist in climate action, local low-carbon experiments cannot afford to fail.

Heiskanen, E, Jalas, M & Rinkinen J (2015) The local community as a low-carbon lab: Promises and perils. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 14: 149-164.

Kuluttajatutkimuskeskus mukana tutkimassa tekstiilijätteen kierrätyksen tehostamista

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Suomen tekstiilivirtoja, tekstiilijätteen käsittelyn ympäristövaikutuksia sekä keinoja kierrätyksen edistämiseksi selvitettiin Ympäristöministeriön rahoittamassa, Suomen ympäristökeskuksen, Kuluttajatutkimuskeskuksen, Hämeen ammattikorkeakoulun sekä UFF:n yhteistyönä toteutetussa TEXJÄTE-tutkimushankkeessa. Raportin mukaan tarvitaan erilliskeräyksen ulottamista myös tekstiilijätteeseen, lajittelun tehostamista sekä kysyntää kierrätysmateriaalista valmistetulle tekstiilille. Kysynnän kasvua voitaisiin tukea esimerkiksi julkisten hankintojen avulla. Kuluttajille järjestelmän tulisi olla helppo ja selkeä ja kuluttajien on saatava tietää, miten tekstiilit ja tekstiilijätteet hyödynnetään ja miten tulot käytetään.

Julkaisu: Dahlbo, Helena; Aalto, Kristiina; Salmenperä, Hanna; Eskelinen, Hanna; Pennanen, Jaana; Sippola, Kirsi; Huopalainen, Minja (2015) Tekstiilien uudelleenkäytön ja tekstiilijätteen kierrätyksen tehostaminen Suomessa. Suomen ympäristö 4 | 2015. Verkossa: www.syke.fi/hankkeet/texjate.

Crowdfunding in sustainable innovation

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The take up of innovative services and products has contributed to creative thinking also in terms of new sources of financing. Innovation processes are characterised by constant development, and it is beneficial if models of financing can be aligned to that. Crowdfunding, i.e. collecting finance from publics, has emerged as a new alternative also in the field of sustainable innovation.

This CASI project policy brief looks how crowdfunding relates to EU innovation funding activities (Tregner-Mlinaric, Repo & Matschoss 2015). It introduces crowdfunding as an activity, discusses it in sustainable innovation and argues that the European Commission should enhance its approach to consider crowdfunding as an alternative source of finance for innovation.

You may access the policy brief on crowdfunding and sustainable innovation through this link.

The project “Public Participation in Developing a Common Framework for Assessment and Management of Sustainable Innovation” (CASI) is proposed as a response to one of the Grand Challenges set out in the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union, namely “Climate action, environment resource efficiency and raw materials”.

It represents an EU-wide cross-sectoral partnership on innovation-related challenges and considers not only the impacts of social and technological innovation, but also the types of actors involved and their inherent interests. It thus effectively integrates the perspectives of civil society, SMEs, industry, policy stakeholders, and leading academics.

This collaboration investigates the scope of sustainable innovation as a societal phenomenon and enables the elaboration of an assessment framework of sustainable innovation practices, whose application can be successfully integrated into public policy developments.

Growth and resource efficiency

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The use of natural resources has significant impacts on European economy as well as quality of life of its citizens while also having long-term effects on the global scale. The uptake of innovations and technologies put increasing pressure on the use of resources.

This set of over 20 national level policy briefs addresses the main objectives of the 2020 strategy by putting an emphasis on the Resource-efficient Europe Flagship initiative. Its focus is to help decouple economic growth from the use of resources, support the shift towards a low carbon economy, increase the use of renewable energy sources, modernize our transport sector and promote energy efficiency. Recommendations are drawn for each country.

You may access the set of national level policy briefs through this link.

The project “Public Participation in Developing a Common Framework for Assessment and Management of Sustainable Innovation” (CASI) is proposed as a response to one of the Grand Challenges set out in the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union, namely “Climate action, environment resource efficiency and raw materials”.

It represents an EU-wide cross-sectoral partnership on innovation-related challenges and considers not only the impacts of social and technological innovation, but also the types of actors involved and their inherent interests. It thus effectively integrates the perspectives of civil society, SMEs, industry, policy stakeholders, and leading academics.

This collaboration investigates the scope of sustainable innovation as a societal phenomenon and enables the elaboration of an assessment framework of sustainable innovation practices, whose application can be successfully integrated into public policy developments.