Nowadays, when designing structural aero-engine components, the engineering team does not only deal with aerodynamics and structural mechanics criteria. Rather, it needs to make more informed decisions based on the value and sustainability contribution of a design concept. This paper proposes a novel approach that combines qualitative sustainability assessment techniques, which are Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Sustainability Assessment (SSA), with Net Present Value (NPV) analysis to facilitate early stage decision-making in design. A case study, related to the development of a new high-temperature aero-engine component, illustrates how EIA and SSA identify sustainability hotspots for a new product technology, and how NPV is used to assess alternative solution strategies within the hotspot. Within the studied case, the milling process was identified as a sustainability hotspot, therefore two process options - Electro-Chemical Milling (ECM) and Mechanical Milling (MM) - where benchmarked by calculating their NPV in alternative future scenarios, featuring different market and regulatory assumptions. The approach and its constituting models have been preliminarily verified with designers and process owners in co-located industrial workshops.

Vehicles, infrastructure, fuel systems and other energy-driven systems that serve public transport are complex with many resource inputs and outputs, and involve many processes. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) helps analyzing those by quantifying environmental and economic effects, but will not in themselves provide a full systems perspective. Swedish authorities have set ambitious national goals, and many regions targets a 100% increase in public transport by 2020. The medium sized city of Karlskrona (36,000 inhabitants), that is included in this study together with Sundsvall and Jönköping, embraces those goals too. This study analyzes relevant differences between bus solutions, to investigate a change to more sustainable bus propulsion systems. The study zooms down to compare energy carriers (diesel, biodiesel, biogas, and electricity) in different powertrain combinations (combustion engines, electric hybrids, and pure electric). The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) where principles are defining a sustainable future is used to broaden from a cost and environmentally shortsighted perspective to a long-term sustainability perspective with systems thinking. The Strategic Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) is first used to give a quick full scope of sustainability challenges in each bus life cycle stage from extraction to end of life. Then LCA and LCC approaches are used to” dig deeper” into prioritized identified challenges. Initial study results suggest that electric drivetrains would be preferable in city buses within the coming decade - both from an economic and a sustainability perspective. It not only lowers emissions and energy usage, but also provides a platform for future promising energy carriers.

Dagens vägtransporter hjälper människor att berika sina liv genom möjlighet till snabba, flexibla och bekväma resor, samt förbättrad tillgång till varor och tjänster. Dock bidrar dagens vägtransporter till hållbarhets- problem och andra problem såsom klimatpåverkan, buller, barriärer i landskapet och olyckor med dödlig utgång. Det svenska samhället har under de senaste decennierna börjat uppmärksamma de stora hållbarhets- utmaningarna världen står inför. Regeringen har satt mål för växthusgasneutralitet år 2050 och en fossil- oberoende fordonsflotta 2030, samt andra mer närtida miljömål. Tyvärr pekar bl.a. indikatorer i miljömåls- portalen på att de flesta av dessa mål inte kommer att uppfyllas. Samtidigt kommer bebyggda områden att förtätas och vägtransporter förväntas öka. Vägtrafikens negativa påverkan på människors hälsa kommer därför att öka om ingen förändring görs, framförallt i stads- miljö. För att bidra till hållbar utveckling behöver utsläpp från lastbilar, bussar och personbilar minska. Regionala och kommunala organisationer kan bidra till omställningen till hållbarhet bl.a. genom ökade krav på lokaltrafikens fordon så att de blir mer energieffektiva, samt avger mindre luftföroreningar och buller. Bussar med elektrifierad drivlina, som laddas med förnyelsebar ny el, är i dagsläget ett lovande alternativ för en sådan förändring. Ett högt inköpspris för eldrivna fordon är i dagsläget ett hinder i upphandling för kollektivtrafik, men det kan komma att sjunka med ökade försäljnings- volymer och teknisk utveckling, framförallt beträffande batterier. Tidigare studier visar på fördelar för eldrift av bussar i storstadsmiljöer (Stockholm, Göteborg och Malmö). Denna studie syftar till att utreda hållbarhets- implikationer och lönsamheten i att använda bussar med någon form av eldrift i kollektivtrafiken i mellan- stora städer jämfört med dagens bussar som drivs med förbränningsmotorer. Med hjälp av Blekingetrafiken, Jönköpings Länstrafik, Västernorrlands kollektivtrafik- myndighet och Volvo Technology Corporation har författarna gjort fallstudier på utvalda stadsbusslinjer i Karlskrona, Jönköping och Sundsvall. Studien tillämpar metodik för strategisk hållbar utveckling som utvecklas i en internationell vetenskaplig samverkansprocess med Blekinge Tekniska Högskola som koordinerande nod. För att bl.a. undvika suboptimeringar ur ett helhets- perspektiv (förbättringar i en fas som kan ge fler och större problem i andra faser, samt hindra global hållbar utveckling) används strategisk livscykelanalys (SLCA) för att identifiera särskilda analysområden, livscykel- analys (LCA) för kvantifiering av emissioner, och livs- cykelkostnadsanalys (LCC) för beräkning av lönsamhet och konkurrenskraft. Beräkningar baseras på tidigare studier och dessa kom- pletteras och verifieras genom simulering av energi- användning för respektive linje. Författarna har valt att studera energibärare då dessa utgör största skillnaden mellan traditionella fossildrivna bussar och de som drivs med el i någon form. Studien utgår från diesel med 5 % FAME/RME och lokalt producerad förnybar ny el från källor som per år ger mer till nätet än vad som tas ut, exempelvis genom s.k. vindkraftsandelar. Eldrift förekommer i tre varianter varav två är hybrider. Primär drivkälla för elhybrid är förbränningsmotorn, vilket förväntas spara i snitt 33 % energi gentemot en dieseldriven buss. Laddhybrid drivs primärt av elmotor med batterier (laddas internt och externt) samt i andra hand av förbränningsmotor, men kan styras till att bli 100 % eldriven. För att utreda lämpligt biobränsle för dessa studeras lokalt framställd biogas ur hushållsavfall och biodiesel (RME) från lokalt odlad raps. Det senare har ur tillgänglighetssynpunkt valts som bränsle till elhybrid och laddhybrid i denna studie. Slutsatserna från studien är att bussar för stadstrafik i medelstora städer som primärt drivs av el (från lokala vindkraftsandelar) jämfört med dieseldrift är... ... tydligt bättre i alla livscykelfaser beträffande energi- effektivisering och emissioner bidragande till växt- huseffekt, försurning, övergödning, skapande av marknära ozon, och partiklar. Detta trots nyttjande av knappa material som Litium i batterier. Det finns också potential till radikal minskning av ljudnivån på bullriga platser. En elhybrid- eller laddhybrid- buss bör ur miljösynpunkt drivas med biogas. ... enligt ekonomisk nuvärdeskalkyl ekonomiskt kon- kurrenskraftiga när anskaffning av laddinfrastruktur (en extra snabbladdare), fordon, samt underhålls- kostnader (med 1 batteribyte), energianvändning (årlig prisökning med 6 %) inkluderas. Elhybrid är 7 %, laddhybrid 18 % och helt eldriven buss 24 % billigare än dieseldrift i Karlskrona (linje 1/7). Lokalt producerad förnybar ny el ger dessutom nya lokala och regionala arbetstillfällen, vilket kan värderas mer än det gjorts i denna studie. ... om något år ekonomiskt lönsamma för linjer vars sträckning kräver mer än 5 snabbladdningsstationer. Resultaten visar på vissa skillnader mellan de studerade städerna, som till största del beror på utnyttjandegraden av bussar, linjernas karaktär, samt stadens storlek och ventilationsfaktorn. Förbättringar ur miljösynpunkt jämfört med dieseldrift är ganska lika i de studerade städerna, men besparingspotentialen (i kronor) för elhybrid-, laddhybrid och el-drift är störst i Karlskrona.

Current patterns of production and consumption need to change and they need to do so radically. For this shift sustainability-oriented product-services are highly potential contributors. Product-services have been described as a market proposition that extends the functionality of a product beyond the traditional view by inclusion of additional services into the product-service system. From a producer perspective this opens up for a differentiation from competitors and thereby for strategic market opportunities. For the customer this means the possibility to be released from responsibilities linked to asset ownership, more differentiated options and increased function availability .For society at large it means the possibility to gain sustainability achievements. However, the market adoption of product-services or functional products brings with it significant challenges. The demand side is still hesitant to ownerless consumption and the supply side faces economical and company culture-related challenges. The challenges also include customer-related challenges and the development of product-services will require joint efforts of a number of actors along the value chain, actors that traditionally have been outside the buyer-seller relationship. Product-services need to be developed on a case-by-case basis and involve the users perspective from initial need phase until end-of-life in a collaborative process that is not practice today. This paper explores the strategic position of a procurer in this development. It aims at providing guidelines for procurement processes on how to successively and systematically utilize its potential as drivers for sustainability-oriented product-service solutions. Three procurement cases are studied for which a movement from a traditional product-oriented process to a functional-oriented process was the selection criteria. These cases were used to gain a deepened understanding of drivers and barriers for function-oriented procurement processes. A template for sustainable product development is used as a base for the development. The result from the cases is used to adapt the guidelines to current procurement processes and to meet the procurers where they are today.

Green public procurement has emerged as a policy instrument with a significant potential to steer procurers' and producers' decisions in a sustainable direction. The purpose of this study is to assess the process for development of green public procurement criteria at a Swedish governmental expert body from a strategic sustainability perspective, i.e. to identify strengths and weaknesses from such a perspective as a basis for making this process more supportive of sustainable product and service innovation. A previously published framework for strategic sustainable development is used for the assessment. The assessment shows that the criteria development process is transparent, well-documented and that it encourages a high level of participation by the members of the working groups. However, the assessment also points to several weaknesses of the process. These include, e.g., a limited impact perspective and lack of a clear definition of sustainability objectives. The development process therefore results in criteria which mainly concern a selection of current environmental impacts outside the context of long-term objectives and consequently there are no strategies to prepare for future processes. The conclusion is that the current process may result in improvements as regards some known environmental problems, but to allow for a strategic approach that could more significantly promote innovative product-service system solutions in support of sustainable development, process changes are needed. Essential process changes are proposed in this paper.

Systematic leadership towards sustainability implies utilization of systems thinking for step-wise approaches to transformative changes towards sustainable societies. This ‘call-for-papers’ (CfPs) for a Special Volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production is focused upon what types of research are needed for us to make the necessary local, regional, national and global changes. This CfPs is for anyone who wishes to address these challenges seriously, that is, to utilize essential aspects of leadership to contribute strategically to the transition towards sustainable societies. To successfully address these challenges, people from different sectors and disciplines must work together in a coordinated and efficient way. We wish to explore the question: What support do such transformative endeavors require and how can science contribute?

The business case of sustainability has been argued for by many authors (Willard, 2005; McNall et al., 2011). There is a large degree of consensus regarding the potential business impact of sustainability. However, most companies either are not acting or are falling short on execution (MIT Sloan, 2009). Relatively few companies consider innovation for sustainability substantially rewarding. Suggested solution for this includes better access to frameworks for understanding sustainability and value creation and the business cases thereof (MIT Sloan, 2009). Furthermore, it is well-known that support for generation and selection of ideas and for formulating goals and strategies is especially essential to have during the early phases of the innovation process (Roozenburg & Eekels, 1995).

The usual absence of an operational definition of sustainability is still a major barrier to corporate strategic sustainable development (Holmberg & Robèrt, 2000). A sustainability definition that can guide assessment of the current situation and stimulate generation of ideas for upstream solutions and strategic guidelines that can aid prioritization of early smart actions are among the most promising leverage points. A framework including those features is being developed in an international consensus process since twenty years (see, e.g., Robèrt et al., 2012). Among other things, this framework for strategic sustainable development FSSD, clarifies the self-interest in sustainability work and thus supports more widespread and proactive sustainable innovation. 

In this study, the FSSD is used as the main basis for a new tool to be used in early phases of the innovation process for self-assessment of an organization’s current maturity and performance from an overall strategic sustainability point of view and for stimulating generation of ideas for business models design. We present a prototype version of such a tool and results from initial tests of this tool performed in four organizations. We study in particular whether the outlined tool is perceived by the organizations to be: (i) easy to comprehend, (ii) relevant, (iii) capable of differentiating the organizations in a comprehensive way, (iv) helpful for discovering insufficiencies that the organizations are not already aware of and (v) helpful for generation and selection of ideas for upstream solutions, business model innovation and for formulation of goals, and strategies. 

Product development is a particularly critical intervention point for the transformation of society towards sustainability. Current socio-ecological impacts over product life-cycles are evidence that current practices are insufficient. The aim of this thesis is to form a foundation for sustainable product development through the integration of a sustainability perspective into product development procedures and processes. Literature reviews and theoretical considerations as well as interviews, questionnaires, observations, testing and action research through case studies in various companies have indicated gaps in current methodology and have guided the development of a new general Method for Sustainable Product Development (MSPD). This method combines a framework for strategic sustainable development based on backcasting from basic sustainability principles with a standard concurrent engineering development model. A modular system of guiding questions, derived by considering the sustainability principles and the product life-cycle, is the key feature. Initial testing indicates that this MSPD works well for identification of sustainability problems as well as for generation of possible solutions. However, these tests also indicate that there is sometimes a desire for a quick overview of the sustainability performance of a specific product category. This is to guide early strategic decisions before the more comprehensive and detailed work with the MSPD is undertaken, or, alternatively, when an overview is sufficient to make decisions. In response, a Template for Sustainable Product Development (TSPD) approach is presented as a supplement to the MSPD. To generate products that support sustainable development of society it is necessary to combine sustainability assessments with improvements of technical product properties. An introductory procedure for such sustainability-driven design optimization is suggested based on a case study. For maximum efficiency of a company in finding viable pathways towards sustainability, it is also necessary to coordinate different methods and tools that are useful for sustainable product development and integrate them into the overall decision-making processes at different levels in companies. To find gaps in the sustainability integration in a company’s decision system, an assessment approach is suggested based on case studies. A general conclusion from this research is that the support needed for making sustainability-related decisions are not systematically integrated in companies today. However, this thesis also indicates that it is possible to create generic methods and tools that aid the integration of sustainability aspects in companies’ strategic decision-making and product development. These methods and tools can be used to guide the prioritization of investments and technical optimization on the increasingly sustainability-driven market, thus providing a foundation for competitive sustainable product development.

In the conceptual design of aircraft jet engine components, not only the product architecture and dimensions are set but the associate manufacturing processes are also defined. From a design decision point of view it is critical to identify and characterize the consequences of alternative solutions. This paper reports on a case, where a milling process needed to be selected in an early design phase of a jet engine component. An Electro-Chemical Milling process was considered but its impact on sustainability needed clarification. An approach that combined a simplified Environmental Impact Assessment with a Strategic Sustainability Assessment was used. The main finding and contribution from the work is a method that helps to clarify consequences of sustainability-related issues by combining the two analysis tools with a risk analysis implementation. The results reveal that once the consequences can be clarified, increased attention and understanding are gained.

Next generation jet engine technologies are typically driven by performance, value and environmental challenges, and appropriate technologies are developed in international research programs. One on-going engine component technology project at an aerospace component manufacturer aims to develop an engine with less fuel consumption. A likely consequence is higher pressure in the core engine, which leads to higher temperature. One way to handle the higher temperature is using a more advanced Ti-alloy for the product component, which will render a different sustainability profile. One weakness in current decision situations is the inability to clarify and understand the “value” and “sustainability” implications compared to e.g. performance features of concepts. Both “value” and “sustainability” include a rich set of features important for successful introduction of new products and product-service solutions to the market. The purpose with this research is to provide decision support for companies in early development phases for assessment of value and sustainability consequences over product-service system lifecycles. A workshop was held with the aerospace component manufacturer and a value chain partner focusing on material handling, to: i) get a better understanding of activities, flows and ownership related to the studied materials at the two companies, ii) to understand the companies’ perspective at new suggested scenarios with regard to these materials, and iii) define relevant scenarios to look into more in depth from asustainability and value perspective. Three different scenarios were developed with differences in ownership, responsibilities and value streams. It is therefore essential to be able to quickly assess and optimize consequences of such alternative scenarios. Based on the workshop experiences and scenarios, a modeling and simulation approach to assess sustainability and value consequences for the scenarios is proposed. The sustainability consequences are based on a sustainability life cycle assessment and a risk assessment. Key features of the proposed tool include: consideration of the time dimension, societal sustainability consequences, risk assessment, company value assessment, and cost/revenue perspectives.

This article aims to present identified key elements for successful implementation of a strategic sus- tainability perspective in the early phases of the product innovation process. In-depth interview studies were conducted in six companies within the same corporate group. These, together with a review of literature, previous research and company documents, were a foundation for evaluating if and how a strategic sustainability perspective has been successfully implemented on a day-to-day basis in the product innovation processes of the studied companies. The results are divided into strengths and challenges of the companies with regard to implementing a strategic sustainability perspective in the product innovation process. From this research, eight key elements for successful implementation of a strategic sustainability perspective have been identified. These elements are divided into four categories: organization, internal processes, roles, and tools. It is posited that incorporating these key elements into product innovation processes will encourage a company to have a strategic sustainability perspective, which will support the company’s long-term success.

The interrelated challenges of systematic degradation of ecosystems, social inequalities, financial instability and resource constraints are redefining the overall conditions for business in the twenty-first century. Addressing these challenges both demands and brings great opportunity for innovation. An important but sometimes neglected aspect of innovation is the design or redesign of business models. This has been identified as a greater source of lasting competitive advantage than new products and services per se. The majority of managers among those who say that their company´s sustainability activities have added to profits also say that these activities have led to business model changes. However, integrating business model design and sustainable innovation practices is a relatively underexplored area of research. The aim of this work is to develop an approach to business model design that supports the realization of sustainability-driven strategies. In this thesis, it is argued that a major barrier to sustainable innovation is the usual unawareness of an operational definition of sustainability and of guidelines for how an organization can support sustainable development while strengthening its own competitiveness. Therefore, a Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD), which includes such an operational definition of sustainability and such strategic guidelines, is used as an overarching methodology for this work. Specific research methods include literature reviews, data collection, data and document analysis, explorative workshops and action research, mainly with partners in the district heating sector. To be able to design a business model that supports a sustainability-driven strategy, it is necessary to have, or to be able to develop, such a strategy. The literature review revealed that there is currently no business model design tool that in itself includes support for developing sustainability-driven strategies. However, as regards business model design as such, a tool known as the Business Model Canvas (BMC) is frequently referenced and by many seen as a kind of de-facto standard support tool for business model design. A combination of the FSSD (bringing the sustainability perspective) and the BMC (bringing the generic building blocks of business models) is therefore explored. Depending on the context it is necessary to also combine this with other methods and tools; in this work specifically with methods and tools for energy systems modeling and simulation. Both as a way to develop a combined approach and as a way to start validating it, a prototype of a handbook for sustainable innovation in the district heating sector was developed and tested iteratively. The use of early versions of this handbook preliminary indicates that the combined approach helps organizations to, e.g., self-assess their maturity in terms of strategic sustainability work, clarify strengths and weaknesses of current business models from a strategic sustainability perspective and generate of new solutions, including mutually supportive actions and business models within their wider value network.

Increasing awareness in business and society regarding socio-ecological impacts related to society's use of materials is a driver of new materials management practices. The aim of this study is to gain insight into what considerations come into focus and what types of solutions are revealed when companies apply a strategic sustainability perspective to materials management. Through literature reviews and semi-structured interviews we found that the companies studied have assessed material choices and related management actions, not only regarding their potential to reduce a selection of current socio-ecological impacts, but also regarding their potential to link to future actions to move towards the full scope of socio-ecological sustainability. Through this approach, these companies have found several ways through which materials with characteristics that are commonly considered problematic can be managed sustainably by making strategic use of some of these “problematic” characteristics and other characteristics of the materials. For example, a material associated with problems at end of life, could be managed in closed loops facilitated by the persistence of the material. Based on the findings, we conclude that by not applying a strategic sustainability perspective to materials management, organizations risk phasing out materials perceived to be unsustainable which, managed differently, could be helpful for sustainable development.

Sustainable development most prominently entered the global political arena in 1987 in a report from the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland report. In response to the concept of sustainable development, a vast array of ideas, concepts, methods and tools to aid organizations and governments in addressing the socio-ecological problems has been developed. Though helpful in many contexts, the multitude of such support also risks creating confusion, not the least since there is no generally endorsed overriding and operational definition of sustainability. Thus, there is a growing need for such a definition and for an understanding of how these ideas, concepts, methods and tools relate to sustainability and to each other. A framework for strategic sustainable development (FSSD) has been developed over the last 20 years to create such a unifying structure. The aim of this research is to contribute specifically to the social sustainability definition of this framework. The research follows the Design Research Methodology. First, the social dimension of the FSSD as it stands currently was examined and described as was the general field of social sustainability. Then, a new approach to the social side of the FSSD was created. The studies revealed that the field of social sustainability, in general, is vastly under-theorized and under-developed, and that a clear framework is important and desired. They also laid out in which ways specifically the structure of the FSSD could be used to further develop the social dimension of strategic planning and innovation, and that currently this aspect of the FSSD is relatively under-developed. This assessment was followed by a first attempt at a clearer definition of social sustainability. Based on these explorations, this research suggests five principles as a hypothesis to be used as a definition of social sustainability, the key-terms of which being ’integrity’, ‘influence’, ‘competence’, ‘impartiality’ and ‘meaning’. For validity purposes the results were cross-checked with other approaches and theories. The validity check shows that similar key-terms have been found by other researchers. In conclusion, this research contributes with a hypothesis for a clearer definition of social sustainability, which is general enough to be applied irrespective of spatial and temporal constraints, but concrete enough to guide decision-making. This is a contribution to systems science in the sustainability field and it is a step to creating an enhanced support for strategic planning and innovation for sustainability. Further testing and refinement of this theoretical foundation, and bringing it into practical use, will be the subject of the continued studies.

Various sets of skills for dealing with sustainability and the complexity of the modern world have been put forward by different actors in the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). In connection with these skills, pedagogical methods such as lifelong learning, social learning, problem-based learning, dialogue education, and empowerment for ESD have been discussed. This paper looks at how these theories and methods can be put into practice by examining a real-world example of a sustainability master’s program at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) in Sweden. In 2004, BTH launched the international transdisciplinary master’s program Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability, which aims to develop leaders who will be able to address the ever-increasing sustainability challenge. The program combines a robust scientific framework for planning and decision making toward sustainability, with the leadership skills needed to energize large-scale societal change. In 2009, the Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (EESD) observatory awarded BTH the ranking of No. 1 in Sweden and third in Europe for demonstrating success in EESD. This paper describes the specific pedagogical approaches and design elements that were implemented to train and develop the skills and expertise surrounding leadership for sustainable development. It further presents and analyzes survey data taken from program alumni reflecting on the success of the program. The results of the survey clearly show that while there is room for improvement, overall the program design is extremely successful in equipping its graduates with the skills necessary to address the sustainability challenge. Finally, the authors offer reflections on the lessons learned after six years of continual improvements.

Market competition and a desire to gain advantages on globalized market, drives companies towards innovation efforts. Project overload is an unpleasant phenomenon, which is happening for employees inside those organizations trying to make the most efficient use of their resources to be innovative. But what are the impacts of project overload on organization’s innovation capabilities? Advanced engineering teams (AE) inside a major heavy equipment manufacturer are suffering from project overload in their quest for innovation. In this paper, Agent-based modeling (ABM) is used to examine the current reality of the company context, and of the AE team, where the opportunities and challenges for reducing the risk of project overload and moving towards innovation were identified. Project overload is more likely to stifle innovation and creativity inside teams. On the other hand, motivation on proper challenging goals are more likely to help individual to alleviate the negative aspects of low level of project overload

Since the 1980’s, additive manufacturing (AM) has gradually advanced from rapid prototyping applications towards fabricating end consumer products. Many small companies may prefer accessing AM technologies through service providers offering production services as result-oriented Industrial Product-Service System (IPSS) rather than investing in their own production line. This study investigated potential benefits of IPSS using system dynamics modeling to study resource demands between two situations: one where an IPSS approach is used and one that is the traditional ownership of production equipment. This study concluded that AM service providers with demand-varying customers could increase service performance and maximize use of production equipment.

To reach Swedish national climate change reduction targets, organizations collaborate for a sustainable development to improve energy efficiency, reducing pollution and noise in public bus transport. This follow-up study continues to strengthen the previous study by deepen the economic comparisons of two electric buses with different driving range and different type of chargers. The study aims to emphasize on sensitivity analysis for the total cost of ownership (TCO) to reduce uncertainty by identifying which factors of interest that most likely cause the estimated cost values for the electric bus. The result shows that the percentage change of line distance (km/year), operational years, and investment cost would be the most influential and significant factors on TCO.

European national, regional, and local authorities have started to take action to make public bus transport services more effective and less polluting. Some see the possibility to move beyond a narrow focus on efficiency or carbon dioxide reductions towards an integrated sustainability perspective. This paper uses this perspective to build and test a new assessment approach that should enhance decisions on bus transport powertrains and energy carriers for Swedish medium-sized cities. The study suggests that a superiority of electric powertrains is revealed if a traditional economic analysis is integrated with a strategic sustainability perspective.

Sustainable management of materials and products requires continuous evaluation of numerous complex social, ecological, and economic factors. A number of tools and methods are emerging to support this. One of the most rigorous is life-cycle assessment (LCA). But LCAs often lack a sustainability perspective and bring about difficult trade-offs between specificity and depth, on the one hand, and comprehension and applicability, on the other. This article applies a framework for strategic sustainable development (often referred to as The Natural Step (TNS) framework) based on backcasting from basic principles for sustainability. The aim is to foster a new general approach to the management of materials and products, here termed “strategic life-cycle management.” This includes informing the overall analysis with aspects that are relevant to a basic perspective on (1)sustainability, and (2) strategy to arrive at sustainability. The resulting overview is expected to help avoid costly assessments of flows and practices that are not critical from a sustainability and/or strategic perspective and to help identify strategic gaps in knowledge or potential problems that need further assessment. Early experience indicates that the approach can complement some existing tools and concepts by informing them from a sustainability perspective—for example, current product development and LCA tools.

Product-Service Systems (PSS) have been justified by a desire to find sustainable solutions that go beyond contemporary approaches. The characteristics of PSS of-ferings are to link goods and services in development and to provide systemic per-formance-based solutions to the customers. This paper investigates how estab-lished strategic product development tools for socio-ecological sustainability could be adapted for PSS development. An approach is suggested for how to apply these tools in early PSS development phases.

It is a fantastic experience to understand basic principles for worthy goals together-across disciplinary, professional, and ideological boundaries-and to realize that we need each other in order to attain those goals. Conversely, it is sobering that so few of our leaders know how to build full sustainability into their decision making, and to shape their analyses, debates, action programs, stakeholder alliances, economies, and summit meetings accordingly. That deficiency is reflected in the questions put to scientists, who are often caught in the middle of conflicting policy proposals. On such occasions, empirical facts may be presented out of context and applied as arguments for alternative solutions: for or against the rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, for or against nuclear power, etc. This results in attempts to deal with one issue at a time, often creating a new sustainability problem while "solving" another. Strategic planning toward sustainability is not something that you simply pick up as you go along, if only you are sufficiently engaged in public debate, have a certain field of expertise, or remain faithful to a certain ideology. What is needed today are decision makers who are open to learning the crucial competence of strategic planning and the language that goes with it-a language that makes multi-sectoral collaboration possible at the scale required for success. Only then can leaders make their leadership relevant, cooperate effectively across discipline and sector boundaries; and only then can they ask the relevant questions of scientists and other experts. This is not incompatible with a strong economy or with competitiveness. It is just the opposite: We are now experiencing increasing costs and lost opportunities due to lack of competence in strategic sustainable development. Such competence is not incompatible with the freedom to embrace different values and ideologies, or with the creative tensions that may arise from the confrontation of such values and ideologies with each other. On the contrary, the potential value of creative tensions increases when they are not rooted in lack of knowledge and misunderstandings.

Recently, an approach for global sustainability, the planetary-boundary approach (PBA), has been proposed, which combines the concept of tipping points with global-scale sustainability indicators. The PBA could represent a significant step forward in monitoring and managing known and suspected global sustainability criteria. However, as the authors of the PBA describe, the approach faces numerous and fundamental challenges that must be addressed, including successful identification of key global sustainability metrics and their tipping points, as well as the coordination of systemic individual and institutional actions that are required to address the sustainability challenges highlighted. We apply a previously published framework for systematic and strategic development toward a robust basic definition of sustainability, i.e., the framework for strategic sustainable development (FSSD), to improve and inform the PBA. The FSSD includes basic principles for sustainability, and logical guidelines for how to approach their fulfillment. It is aimed at preventing unsustainable behavior at both the micro, e.g., individual firm, and macro, i.e., global, levels, even when specific global sustainability symptoms and metrics are not yet well understood or even known. Whereas the PBA seeks to estimate how far the biosphere can be driven away from a "normal" or "natural" state before tipping points are reached, because of ongoing violations of basic sustainability principles, the FSSD allows for individual planners to move systematically toward sustainability before all impacts from not doing so, or their respective tipping points, are known. Critical weaknesses in the PBA can, thus, be overcome by a combined approach, significantly increasing both the applicability and efficacy of the PBA, as well as informing strategies developed in line with the FSSD, e.g., by providing a "global warning system" to help prioritize strategic actions highlighted by the FSSD. Thus, although ongoing monitoring of known and suspected global sustainability metrics and their possible tipping points is a critical part of the evolving sustainability landscape, effective and timely utilization of planetary-boundary information on multiple scales requires coupling to a strategic approach that makes the underlying sustainability principles explicit and includes strategic guidelines to approach them. Outside of such a rigorous and systems-based context, the PBA, even given its global scale, risks leading individual organizations or planners to (i) focus on "shares" of, e.g., pollution within the PBs and negotiations to get as high proportion of such as possible, and/or (ii) awaiting data on PBs when such do not yet exist before they act, and/or (iii) find it difficult to manage uncertainties of the data once such have arrived. If global sustainability problems are to be solved, it is important that each actor recognizes the benefits, not the least self-benefits, of designing and executing strategies toward a principled and scientifically robust definition of sustainability. This claim is not only based on theoretical reasoning. A growing number of sectors, businesses, and municipalities/cities around the world are already doing it, i.e., not estimating "allowed" shares of, say fossil CO2 emissions, but gradually moving away from unsustainable use of fossil fuels and other unsustainable practices altogether.

Today"s society is faced with a multitude of compounding and inter-related socio-ecological challenges. In order to adequately navigate this 'sustainability challenge" and to capture the innovation opportunities that come with it, we need professionals from all sectors of society who can help plan, act, and lead strategically towards sustainability. Sustainability handbook first outlines a structured approach to planning within this complex challenge, which is known as the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. It provides the readers with fundamental social and ecological knowledge from which a scientifically-derived definition of sustainability has been established. From there, the book shares examples of how this Framework can be applied in a variety of situations, sectors, and scales and points to the self-benefit for companies, municipalities and other organizations of working strategically for sustainability. The readers are left with a solid understanding of how to define sustainability, how to plan and act towards it, and how to select from the vast array of sustainability-related concepts, methods and tools in the field today. Sustainability handbook combines the academic and practical experience from a collection of authors. The content has been used, tested and refined over many iterations, and now serves as a primary resource for academic courses and programmes around the world. Any student or practitioner looking for more clarity on how to strategically plan and act towards sustainability in a structured, scientific, and collaborative manner will find value inside. Because of the generic nature of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, it can be useful for any discipline, from engineering, to product-service innovation, to business management, to urban and regional planning, and beyond.

There is an intersection of challenges where society’s social and ecological problems coincide with the industrial firm’s challenge to maintain profitability in a globalizing world. Products connect these challenges. The development of these products together with services (product-service systems) therefore provides a critical intervention point to address these challenges. This includes e.g. defining what the products and services are, how they will deliver value to users, and the business models that enable them to be realized, as well as how these can contribute to sustainable development of society. The overarching goal of this research is to contribute to sustainable development of society by better understanding how a strategic sustainable development perspective based on backcasting from basic principles for a sustainable society can be brought into and guide product-service system innovation. Interviews with industry professionals, workshops with both manufacturing companies and within student projects, and industrial cases studies, together with a review of literature and theoretical considerations, provide the methodological basis for this work. This thesis contributes to clarifying theoretical and practical possibilities and limitations for a strategic sustainable development perspective to guide product-service system innovation and provides a basis for the integration of these concepts. The findings indicate that the co-innovation of products and services in product-service systems can contribute to sustainable development of society both by supporting reduced material and energy use and by supporting improved life cycle management of materials. Further, a strategic sustainable development perspective can contribute to the refinement of existing tools and methods in product-service system innovation by providing an operational definition of sustainability articulated in the form of first-order principles that describe the boundary conditions for a sustainable society, and by providing guidelines for how to approach a vision of success inside those boundaries in a strategic way. In order to identify solutions that meet society’s pressing challenges, new solution spaces may need to be identified, and this can be enabled by a shift from product development with service as “add-ons” to their co-innovation in product-service systems. An initial approach for how this could be enabled through bringing together set-based approaches to design product-service systems with a strategic sustainable development perspective is presented.

The introduction of sustainability-related requirements into new product development has been a popular topic since the 1990s, and one of the very roots of the topic – scarcity of resources – indicates that market forces will require improved ways of dealing with sustainability for product developing companies. The question remains, however, of the importance of considering sustainability aspects in product design, and if important - how to do it? This paper assumes importance and works to answer the question of how to do it by presenting an approach, currently under development, to include sustainabilty aspects in a generic design process by defining a sustainable design space inpsired by the early steps of a set-based concurrent engineering (SBCE) approach, and then describing how each stage of the generic design process can be aligned in order to arrive at more sustainable products.

Many current sustainability considerations in industry constrain design space by emphasizing reduced material and energy flows across product life cycles. However, there are also opportunities for sustainability awareness to extend design space and drive innovation. Product-service systems (PSS) in particular can be a vehicle through which sustainability-driven innovation occurs. A framework for strategic sustainable development, including a backcasting approach, provides the basis for understanding sustainability in this work and provides insight into how incremental and radical approaches could be aligned within product innovation. This work explores how sustainability considerations can be better integrated into existing product innovation working environments, with an emphasis on opportunities that occur as sustainability knowledge leads to innovation through a product-service system approach. It is demonstrated and ideas are discussed around how sustainability can be used to drive innovation processes through product-service systems that companies rely upon, while also supporting global society’s movement toward sustainability.

In Sweden, district heating (DH) is quite well developed and is already mainly based on non-fossil fuels. Increased use of DH is therefore considered as a way of phasing out fossil energy for heating purposes. Furthermore, increased use of DH provides an increased basis for combined heat and power production (CHP). Considering that coal condensing is the marginal production of electricity in Europe, increased use of bio-fueled CHP leads to even greater reductions of global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. However, in a sustainable society, where there is no longer a systematic increase of CO₂ (and no other sustainability problems), the benefits of DH are less obvious. The aim of this work is to explore the impact of DH and CHP in the development towards such a society. A local energy system is studied for five different time periods from 2010 to 2060 with different marginal technologies for electricity production. Results show that when the local energy utility co-operate with a local industry plant and invests in a new CHP plant for waste incineration the global CO₂ emissions for the whole studied time period will be reduced with about 48 000 tonnes, which corresponds to over 100 % of the emissions from today’s system for the same time period. When considering that bio fuel is a scarce resource, and that the amount of CO₂ emission linked to waste probably will be lower in sustainable society, the global CO₂ emissions will be about 250% lower compared to the system of today. The studied DH related cooperation and introduction of CHP will reduce the system cost for the whole studied energy system with 2 500 MSEK for the studied period. In general, the results indicate that the modeled measures will not have any major advantages over other heating technologies in a sustainable society but that it can play a vital role for the development towards such a society.

The Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) Karlskrona, Sweden, will begin a new Master’s programme focusing on sustainable development in September 2004. The programme is intended to contribute to a growing international network of sustainability practitioners, including early and mid-career professionals, resource managers, executives and political decision-makers. As with many programmes of this type, this one will require coverage of numerous complex economic, social and ecological issues. In so doing, it will cover a number of interrelated disciplines concepts and tools (e.g. environmental science, system dynamics, public policy, business strategies, corporate social responsibility, dematerialization and ‘green technologies’). Various sectors of the sustainability arena will also be studied including agriculture, transportation, health, energy and product development. To deal with the high complexity inherent in sustainable development, we intend to test the enhanced learning capabilities of three unique and interrelated aspects of this Master’s programme including: (1) a structured comprehension of sustainable development, using “Backcasting from Basic Socio-Ecological Principles of Sustainability”; (2) free creativity within basic constraints established by the structured comprehension and (3) a learning process that ‘walks the talk’ with respect to free creativity within basic constraints. Recognizing that “society within the biosphere” is inherently a complex system, the programme will revolve around a generic, structured model for planning and decisionmaking in any complex system. The model is adaptable to any system at any scale – e.g. an organization, a football game, and in this case, “society in the biosphere”. The programme distinguishes five essential system levels including: (i) the system; (ii) success; (iii) strategy; (iv) actions and (v) tools. Second, a structured comprehension, anchored to basic principles at the success level – the ‘trunk and branches of sustainability’ – allows for and promotes free creativity on actions in a particular context – the ‘leaves’. Third, the students will be exposed to a learning process of creative use of actions and tools that the model allows for in any organization – sharing the basic trunk and branches and practicing free creativity amongst the leaves. The programme’s learning process will facilitate a systematic approach to analysis of all kinds of current sectors and problem areas through envisioning of solutions and finding strategic paths of actions and tools towards sustainable outcomes within those sectors. It will culminate in a thesis, following the same general structure, during the last-half of the programme.