Search results for: sustainability innovation

Authors: Klara Strecker

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During times of globalization, socioeconomic systems have become connected across the world through global supply chains. As a result, consumption and production locations have increasingly become spatially decoupled. This decoupling leads to complex entanglements of systems and sustainability challenges across distances -entanglements which can be conceptualized as telecouplings. Through telecouplings, people and environments across the world have become closely connected, bringing challenges as well as opportunities. Some argue that telecoupling dynamics started taking shape during times of colonization when resources were first traded across the world. An example of such a telecoupling is that of the rose. Every third rose sold in Europe is grown in Kenya and enters the European market through the Dutch flower auction system. Many Kenyan farms are Dutch-owned, closely entangling Kenya and the Netherlands through the trade of roses. Furthermore, the globalization of the flower industry and the resulting shift of production away from the Netherlands and towards Kenya has led to significant changes in the Dutch horticulture sector. However, the sustainability effects of this rose telecoupling is limited neither to the horticulture sector nor to the Netherlands and Kenya. Alongside the flow of roses between these countries come complex financial, knowledge-based, and regulatory flows. The rose telecoupling also creates spillover effects to other countries, such as Ethiopia, and other industries, such as Kenyan tourism. Therefore, telecoupling dynamics create complex entanglements that cut across sectors, environments, communities, and countries, which makes effectively governing and managing telecouplings and their sustainability implications challenging. Indeed, sustainability can no longer be studied in spatial and temporal isolation. This paper aims to map the rose telecoupling’s complex environmental and social interactions to identify points of tension guiding sustainability-targeted interventions. Mapping these interactions will provide a more holistic understanding of the sustainability challenges involved in the Dutch-Kenyan rose trade. This interdisciplinary telecoupling approach reframes and integrates interdisciplinary knowledge about the rose trade between the Netherlands, Kenya, and beyond.

Keywords: Dutch-Kenyan rose trade, globalization, socio-ecological system, sustainability, telecoupling

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Authors: Şebnem Ertaş

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“Architecture” is one component of sustainable cultural tourism. The sustainability of architecture is possible through preservation and restoration activities. In Turkey, which has an important place in the world’s cultural heritage, several studies focused on the sustainability of the cultural heritage were done in terms of the principles of “preserve-use-sustain”. Within the scope of this study, a methodology will be proposed in order to obtain the development of different scenarios supporting sustainable tourism. Sille is an ancient village located on the Spice Road and Silk Road dating back to the Ottoman and Seljuk eras. However, in recent years it is protected as an archeological site. In the “Alternative Project Phase”, the streets and buildings which bring dynamism to trade are determined; among these, 10 major buildings in Hacı Ali Ağa Street are studied.

Keywords: cultural tourism, interior design, sustainability of architecture, Sille

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Authors: Benedict Okundaye, Patricia Tzortzopoulos, Yun Gao

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Scholars and international organisations have contended that developing nations lack the technical expertise, infrastructure, and ability to cope with or prepare for the neighbourhood’s sustainable development as Sustainable Development Goals, mainly targeting goal 11 unimpressive accomplishments. Both wealthy and impoverished communities are facing increasing issues due to rapid urbanisation and pandemics, particularly in Africa. The global neighbourhood challenges, especially in developing countries such as South Africa, include pollution poverty, energy poverty, digital poverty, environmental degradation, social exclusion, and socioeconomic inequalities. With the problematic international sustainability assessment tools lingering, few researchers have produced frameworks to engage the local contexts, but improvements are still required. This research anchors on developing a people-centred, flexible, and adaptable neighbourhood sustainability assessment framework that becomes a tool to assess the characteristics of neighbourhood sustainability in South Africa. The conceptual framework employs a variety of approaches, including broader dimensional factors, a closed-ended questionnaire, and statistical analysis to improve on and complement other existing frameworks.

Keywords: participation, development, inclusion, urbanism, cities, resilience

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Authors: Cansu Gülser, Tuğce Ercan

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The construction sector is a key driver of the global economy, contributing significantly to growth and employment through a diverse array of sub-sectors. However, it faces challenges due to its project-based nature, which often hampers long-term collaboration and broader incentives beyond individual projects. These limitations are frequently discussed in scientific literature as obstacles to innovation and industry-wide change. Traditional practices and unwritten rules further hinder the adoption of new processes within the construction industry. The disadvantages of the construction industry’s project-based structure in fostering innovation and long-term relationships include limited continuity, fragmented collaborations, and a focus on short-term goals, which collectively hinder the development of sustained partnerships, inhibit the sharing of knowledge and best practices, and reduce incentives for investing in innovative processes and technologies. This structure typically emphasizes specific projects, which restricts broader collaborations and incentives that extend beyond individual projects, thus impeding innovation and change. The temporal complexities inherent in project-based sectors like construction make it difficult to address societal challenges through collaborative efforts. Traditional management approaches are inadequate for scaling up innovations and adapting to significant changes. For systemic transformation in the construction sector, there is a need for more collaborative relationships and activities beyond traditional supply chains. This study delves into the concept of an innovation ecosystem within the construction sector, highlighting various research findings. It aims to explore key questions about the components that enhance innovation capacity, the relationship between a robust innovation ecosystem and this capacity, and the reasons why innovation is less prevalent and implemented in this sector compared to others. Additionally, it examines the main factors hindering innovation within companies and identifies strategies to improve these efforts, particularly in developing countries. The innovation ecosystem in the construction sector generates various outputs through interactions between business resources and external components. These outputs include innovative value creation, sustainable practices, robust collaborations, knowledge sharing, competitiveness, and advanced project management, all of which contribute significantly to company market performance and competitive advantage. This article offers insights and strategic recommendations for industry professionals, policymakers, and researchers interested in developing and sustaining innovation ecosystems in the construction sector. Future research should focus on broader samples for generalization, comparative sector analysis, and application-focused studies addressing real industry challenges. Additionally, studying the long-term impacts of innovation ecosystems, integrating advanced technologies like AI and machine learning into project management, and developing future application strategies and policies are also important.

Keywords: construction industry, innovation ecosystem, innovation ecosystem components, project management

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Authors: Jamilah Ahmad

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In 2023, Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) introduced the i-ESG framework to establish environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards to enhance organisations' ethical conduct and social responsibility. The role of education, particularly universities, is crucial in preparing future generations to understand the significance of ESG and confront sustainability challenges. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, utilizing semi-structured interviews with university leaders and students to investigate the implementation of University Social Responsibility (USR) in Malaysian universities and the impact of ESG on sustainable development in alignment with Malaysia's SDG Agenda 2030. The findings underscore the critical role of USR and ESG in fostering sustainable development, ensuring that graduates are well-equipped to address environmental and sustainability issues in Malaysia.

Keywords: USR, ESG, sustainability, higher education in Malaysia, Malaysia

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Authors: Rina Yadav, Meng-Ting Tsai

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In the present scenario, sustainable buildings are in high demand. The essential decision for building sustainability is made during the design and preconstruction stages. Main objective of this study is reduction of unfavorable environmental impacts, which is a major cause of global warming. Based on this problem, to diminish the environmental hazards, present research study is applied to provide a guideline to designer that will be useful for material selection stage of designing. This can be achieved by using local available materials such as wood, mud, bamboos instead of cement, steel, concrete by reducing carbon dioxide emission. Energy simulation will be analyzed by software to get the comparable result. It will be encouraging and motivational for designer while using ecofriendly material to achieve points in Leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) in green rating system.

Keywords: sustainability design, lead rating, LEED, building performance analyses

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Authors: Sarah Marie

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In today's dynamic financial landscape, cryptocurrencies represent a paradigm shift characterized by innovation and intense debate. This study probes into their transformative potential and the challenges they present, offering a balanced perspective that recognizes both their promise and pitfalls. Emulating the engaging style of a TED Talk, this research goes beyond academic analysis, serving as a critical bridge to reconcile the perspectives of cryptocurrency skeptics and enthusiasts, fostering a well-informed dialogue. The study employs a mixed-method approach, analyzing current trends, regulatory landscapes, and public perceptions in the cryptocurrency domain. It distinguishes genuine innovators in this field from ostentatious opportunists, echoing the sentiment that real innovation should be separated from mere showmanship. If one is unfamiliar with who is being referenced, they can likely spot them leaning against their Lamborghinis outside "Crypto" conventions, looking greasy. Major findings reveal a complex scenario dominated by regulatory uncertainties, market volatility, and security issues, emphasizing the need for a coherent regulatory framework that balances innovation with risk management and sustainable practices. The study underscores the importance of transparency and consumer protection in fostering responsible growth within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. In conclusion, the research advocates for education, innovation, and ethical governance in the realm of cryptocurrencies. It calls for collaborative efforts to navigate the intricacies of this evolving landscape and to realize its full potential in a responsible, inclusive, and forward-thinking manner.

Keywords: financial landscape, innovation, public perception, transparency

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Authors: Mohd Zuhair, Ram Babu Roy

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This paper presents an overview of the accessibility, design, and functioning of health insurance plans launched by state governments in India. In recent years, the governments of several states in India have come forward to provide health insurance coverage for the low-income group and rural population to reduce the out of pocket expenditure (OPE) on healthcare. Different health insurance schemes have different structures and offerings which differ in the different demographic factors. This study will portray a comparative analysis of the various health insurance schemes by analyzing different offerings and finance generation of the schemes. The comparative analysis will explain the lesson to be learned from these schemes and extend the existing knowledge of the health insurance in India. This would help in recognizing tension between various drivers and identifying issues pertaining to the sustainability of health insurance schemes in India.

Keywords: health insurance, out of pocket expenditure, universal healthcare, sustainability

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Authors: Helga Mayr

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In our ongoing effort to address urgent global challenges related to sustainability, higher education institutions play a central role in raising a generation of informed and empowered citizens committed to sustainable development. This paper presents the preliminary results of the so far realized evaluation of a compulsory module on education for sustainable development (ESD) offered to students in the bachelor's program in elementary education at the University College of Teacher Education Tyrol (PH Tirol), Austria. The module includes a lecture on sustainability and education as well as a project-based seminar that aims to foster a deep understanding of ESD and its application in pedagogical practice. The study examines various dimensions related to the module's impact on participating students, focusing on prevalent sustainability concepts, intentions, actions, general and sustainability-related self-efficacy, perceived competence related to ESD, and ESD-related self-efficacy. In addition, the research addresses assessment of the learning process. To obtain a comprehensive overview of the effectiveness of the module, a mixed methods approach was/is used in the evaluation. Quantitative data was/is collected through surveys and self-assessment instruments, while qualitative findings were/will be obtained through focus group interviews and reflective analysis. The PH Tirol is collaborating with another University College of Teacher Education (Styria) and a university of applied sciences in Switzerland (UAS of the Grisons) to broaden the scope of the analysis and allow for comparative findings. Preliminary results indicate that students have a relatively rudimentary understanding of sustainability. The extent to which completion of the module influences understanding of sustainability, awareness, intentions, and actions, as well as self-efficacy, is currently under investigation. The results will be available at the time of the conference and will be presented there. In terms of learning, the project-based seminar, which promotes hands-on engagement with ESD, was evaluated for its effectiveness in fostering key sustainability competencies as well as sustainability-related and ESD-related self-efficacy. The research not only provides insights into the effectiveness of the compulsory module ESD at the PH Tirol but also contributes to the broader discourse on integrating ESD into teacher education.

Keywords: education for sustainable development, teacher education, project-based learning, effectiveness measurements

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Authors: Tissa Ravinda Perera

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An open economic policy was introduced by Sri Lanka in 1977, before many other countries in Asia to align her economy to world economic trends and it was affected indigenous businesses since they had to compete with foreign products, processes, technology, innovations and businesses. The year 2010 was a milestone in Sri Lankan history to achieve the developmental goals when Foxbuisness rated Sri Lanka as the best performing global economy. However, Sri Lanka missed her chances of achieving development with the political and social chaos, consequent the regime change in 2015. This paper argues that to support the development of the country, Sri Lanka must develop an entrepreneurial culture. In this endeavor, creativity and innovation will play a pivotal role to achieve the desired level of development. In this study, it was used secondary data from various local and international sources to understand and explore the existing scenario of Sri Lankan economy, state of entrepreneurial culture and innovation, and challenges and competencies for the development of an entrepreneurial culture in Sri Lanka. The data was collected from secondary sources were depicted in tables in this paper in a meaningful manner. Based on the tables many findings were aroused and conclusions were made to support the argument in this paper. This paper revealed that the development of an entrepreneurial culture has to be associated with creativity and innovation to gain a competitive advantage over the development strategies of other countries. It is exposed that an entrepreneurial culture will help minorities, women and underprivileged societies to empower themselves. This product will help to confront and manage youth unrest which has created anarchy in the country from time to time. Throughout this paper, it was highlighted the past, present and future scenario of Sri Lankan economy along with modification to be done to it through the development of an entrepreneur culture in light of innovation and creativity to achieve the desired level of development.

Keywords: economy, industry, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial culture

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Authors: Elham Ahmadi, Roshaali Khaturia, Pardis Sahraei, Mohammad Niyayesh, Omid Fatahi Valilai

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Nowadays, Information Technology (IT) is changing the way traditional enterprise management concepts work. One of the most dominant IT achievements is the Blockchain Technology. This technology enables the distributed collaboration of stakeholders for their interactions while fulfilling the security and consensus rules among them. This paper has focused on the application of Blockchain technology to enhance one of traditional inventory management models. The Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) has been considered one of the most efficient mechanisms for vendor inventory planning by the suppliers. While VMI has brought competitive advantages for many industries, however its centralized mechanism limits the collaboration of a pool of suppliers and vendors simultaneously. This paper has studied the recent research for VMI application in industries and also has investigated the applications of Blockchain technology for decentralized collaboration of stakeholders. Focusing on sustainability issue for total supply chain consisting suppliers and vendors, it has proposed a Blockchain based VMI conceptual model. The different capabilities of this model for enabling the collaboration of stakeholders while maintaining the competitive advantages and sustainability issues have been discussed.

Keywords: vendor managed inventory, VMI, blockchain technology, supply chain planning, sustainability

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Authors: Shrikant Charhate, Gayatri Deshpande

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Permeable pavements have significant benefits like managing runoff, infiltration, and carrying traffic over conventional pavements in terms of sustainability and environmental impact. Some of the countries are using this technique, especially at locations where durability and other parameters are of importance in nature; however, sparse work has been done on this concept. In India, this is yet to be adopted. In this work, the progress in the characterization and development of Permeable Articulated Concrete Blocks (PACB) pavement design is described and discussed with reference to Indian conditions. The experimentation and in-depth analysis was carried out considering conditions like soil erosion, water logging, and dust which are significant challenges caused due to impermeability of pavement. Concrete blocks with size 16.5’’x 6.5’’x 7’’ consisting of arch shape (4’’) at beneath and ½” PVC holes for articulation were casted. These blocks were tested for flexural strength. The articulation process was done with nylon ropes forming series of concrete block system. The total spacing between the blocks was kept about 8 to 10% of total area. The hydraulic testing was carried out by placing the articulated blocks with the combination of layers of soil, geotextile, clean angular aggregate. This was done to see the percentage of seepage through the entire system. The experimental results showed that with the shape of concrete block the flexural strength achieved was beyond the permissible limit. Such blocks with the combination could be very useful innovation in Indian conditions and useful at various locations compared to the traditional blocks as an alternative for long term sustainability.

Keywords: connections, geotextile, permeable ACB, pavements, stone base

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Authors: Álvaro Turriago-Hoyos

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Most research tends to see innovation as an explanatory factor in achieving high levels of competitiveness and productivity. More recent studies have begun to analyze the determinants of innovation in the services sector as opposed to the much-discussed industrial sector of a country’s economy. This research paper focuses on the services sector in Colombia, one of Latin America’s fastest growing and biggest economies. Over the past decade, much of Colombia’s economic expansion has relied on commodity exports (mainly oil and coffee) whilst the industrial sector has performed relatively poorly. Such developments highlight the potential of the innovative role played by the services sector of the Colombian economy and its future growth prospects. This research paper analyzes the relationship between inputs, which at the same time are internal sources of innovation (such as R&D activities), and external sources that are improved by technology acquisition. The outputs are basically the four kinds of innovation that the OECD Oslo Manual recognizes: product, process, marketing and organizational innovations. The instrument used to measure this input-output relationship is based on Knowledge Production Function approaches. We run Probit models in order to identify the existing relationships between the above inputs and outputs, but also to identify spill-overs derived from interactions of the components of the value chain of the services firms analyzed: customers, suppliers, competitors, and complementary firms. Data are obtained from the Colombian National Administrative Department of Statistics for the period 2008 to 2013 published in the II and III Colombian National Innovation Survey. A short summary of the results obtained lead to conclude that firm size and a firm’s level of technological development turn out to be important discriminating factors for the description of the innovative process at the firm level. The model’s outcomes show a positive impact on the probability of introducing any kind of innovation both on R&D and Technology Acquisition investment. Also, cooperation agreements with customers, research institutes, competitors, and the suppliers are significant. Belonging to a particular industrial group is an important determinant but only to product and organizational innovation. It is possible to establish that Health Services, Education, Computer, Wholesale trade, and Financial Intermediation are the ISIC sectors, which report the highest number of frequencies of the considered set of firms. Those five sectors of the sixteen considered, in all cases, explained more than half of the total of all kinds of innovations. Product Innovation, which is followed by Marketing Innovation, gets the highest results. Displaying the same set of firms distinguishing by size, and belonging to high and low tech services sector shows that the larger the firms the larger a number of innovations, but also that always high-tech firms show a better innovation performance.

Keywords: Colombia, determinants of innovation, innovation, services sector

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Authors: Runlian Miao, Wei Xie, Hong Zhang

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In China, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is regarded as a strategically important region because itenjoys highest development in economic development, opening up, innovative capacity and andpopulation. Integrated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is increasingly emphasized by the government recently years. In 2014, it has ascended to one of the national great development strategies by Chinese central government. In 2015, Coordinated Development Planning Compendium for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region was approved. Such decisions signify Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region would lead innovation-driven economic development in China. As an essential factor to achieve national innovation-driven development and significant part of regional industry chain, the optimization of science and technology resources allocation will exert great influence to regional economic transformation and upgrading and innovation-driven development. However, unbalanced distribution, poor sharing of resources and existence of information isolated islands have contributed to different interior innovation capability, vitality and efficiency, which impeded innovation and growth of the whole region. Under such a background, to integrate and vitalize regional science and technology resources and then establish high-end, fast-responding and precise innovation service system basing on regional resources, would be of great significance for integrated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and even handling of unbalanced and insufficient development problem in China. This research uses the method of literature review and field investigation and applies related theories prevailing home and abroad, centering service path of science and technology resources for innovation. Based on the status quo and problems of regional development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, theoretically, the author proposed to combine regional economics and new economic geography to explore solution to problem of low resource allocation efficiency. Further, the author puts forward to applying digital map into resource management and building a platform for information co-building and sharing. At last, the author presents the thought to establish a specific service mode of ‘science and technology plus digital map plus intelligence research plus platform service’ and suggestion on co-building and sharing mechanism of 3 (Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei ) plus 11 (important cities in Hebei Province).

Keywords: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, science and technology resources, innovation service, digital platform

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Authors: Özlem Turan, Şule Turhan

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About 1 billion people in the world are suffering from hunger. Approximately 1.3 billion tons of produced food is wasted each year as well. While the waste of industrialized countries is 670 million tons per year, the waste per year in developing countries is estimated as 630 million tons. When evaluated in this respect, the importance of sustainability and food security can be seen clearly. Food safety is defined as taking the necessary measures and eliminating all risk arising from food. The goal of sustainable food security is, protection of consumer health, development of safe food and beverages trade nationally and internationally and to ensure reliable fair trade schemes. In this study, this study will focus on sustainable food systems and food security, by examining the food wastage and losses from environmental and economic point of views and the precautions that need to be taken will be discussed.

Keywords: food, food safety, food systems, sustainability

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Authors: JoãO Paulo Estevam De Souza, Rob Dekkers

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Particularly for the space sector the inclusion of sustainability in product development poses considerable challenges for practitioners. Outcomes of action research at two companies in this sector demonstrate how this contemporary theme could be included in methods for product and process development; this was supported by wider focus groups involving more companies. The working together with practitioners brought to the fore that holistic product life-cycle thinking needs further development, especially when firms are suppliers to original equipment manufacturers. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the social aspect of the triple-bottom-line causes remains elusive for companies; to this purpose, some pathways based on the action research and focus groups are proposed.

Keywords: aerospace, action research, product development, product life-cycle, sustainability, triple bottom-line

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Authors: Leanne Sanders, Leonie Hallo, Tiep Nguyen, Nicholas Chileshe.

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Purpose – Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) play an important role globally, yet the investigation of sustainability in this context is limited. The leader’s relationships with employees are a critical aspect of creating a positive and supportive organizational culture. Therefore, to bridge the knowledge gap, the aim of this paper is to extend the notion that the creation of trust is central to the sustainability of SMEs. Design: The study employs a case study observational research (CSOR) approach, and data were collected using first-hand observations and interviews. Findings: A model of leadership behaviour and a series of steps that leaders can take to leverage trust are presented. Leaders can have a positive impact even if the team is operating in a challenging context. Creating a positive environment brings sustainability to the team and perhaps the wider organization as well. Originality: This paper provides detailed information about the context in which developing trust can produce positive outcomes despite the prevailing overall toxic culture of an organization. The paper provides concrete advice for leaders to assist them in this highly important task.

Keywords: leadership, organizational culture, organizational sustainability, trust, positive culture

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Authors: Tai-Yi Yu, Tai-Kue Yu

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Using global climate change as its main theme, this study establishes a model for understanding the environmental behavior of college students. It examines their beliefs about the environment, sustainability, and social impact. Theories about values, beliefs, norms, and planned behaviors helped establish the path relations among various latent variables, which include the students’ values regarding sustainability, environmental concern, social impact, perceived risk, environmental attitude, and behavioral intention. Personality traits were used as moderator variables in order to analyze their role in influencing environmental behaviors. The components-based partial least square (PLS) method was adopted, and the measurements and structural models were analyzed using the SmartPLS software. The proposed model complies with various test standards, including individual item reliability, composite reliability, average variance extracted, goodness-of-fit, and cross-validated redundancy. When college students are taught the concept of environmental sustainability, sustainability becomes an environmental attitude for them, and they are more likely to uphold an ethic of sustainability. The more an individual perceives the risks of global climate change, the stronger her emotional connection to the issue becomes. This positively affects the environmental attitude of college student, pushes them to participate more proactively in improvement activities, and encourages them to display their behavioral intention to improve global climate change. When considering the interaction effect among four latent variables (values regarding sustainability, social impact, environmental concern, and perceived risk), this study found that personality traits have a moderate effect on environmental attitude.

Keywords: partial least square, personality traits, social impact, environmental concern, perceived risk

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Authors: Subarna Ferdous, Mitsuru Ikeda

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For the shrimp companies to remain relevant to its local and international consumers, they must offer new shrimp product and services. It must work actively not just to create value for the consumer, but to involve the consumer in co-creating value for shrimp product innovation in the market. In this theoretical work, we conceptualize the business concept of value co-creation in the context of shrimp products, and propose a framework of value co-creation for shrimp product innovation in shrimp industries. With guidance on value co-creation in in shrimp industry, and shrimp value chain actors mapped to the co-creation cycle, companies can use the framework to offer new shrimp product to consumer communities. Although customer co-creation is known approach in the world, it is not commonly used by the companies in Bangladesh. This paper makes an original contribution by conceptualizing co-creation and set the examples of best co-creation practices in food sector. The results of the study provide management with guidelines for successful co-creation projects with an innovation- and market-oriented approach. The framework also provides a basis for further research in this area.

Keywords: bangladesh, shrimp industry, value co-creation, shrimp product

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Authors: Jorge Urrutia-Mosquera, Luz Flórez-Calderón, Yasna Cortés

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We assessed the state of progress in terms of urban sustainability indicators and studied the impact of current land use conditions and the level of spatial accessibility to basic urban amenities on travel patterns and sustainable mobility in Santiago de Chile. We determined the spatial impact of urban facilities on sustainable travel patterns through the statistical analysis, data visualisation, and weighted regression models. The results show a need to diversify land use in more than 60% of the communes, although in 85% of the communes, accessibility to public spaces is guaranteed. The findings also suggest improving access to early education facilities, as only 26% of the communes meet the sustainability standard, negatively impacting travel in sustainable modes. It is also observed that the level of access to urban facilities generates spatial heterogeneity in the city, which negatively affects travel patterns in terms of time over 60 minutes and modes of travel in private vehicles. The results obtained allow us to identify opportunities for public policy intervention to promote and adopt sustainable mobility.

Keywords: land use, urban sustainability, travel patterns, spatial heterogeneity, GWR model, sustainable mobility

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Authors: Volker Wannack

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Regional, national, and international strategies focusing on hydrogen (H₂) and blockchain are driving significant advancements in hydrogen and blockchain technology worldwide. These strategies lay the foundation for the groundbreaking "Blockchain Based Hydrogen Market (BBH₂)" project. The primary goal of this project is to develop a functional Blockchain Minimum Viable Product (B-MVP) for the hydrogen market. The B-MVP will leverage blockchain as an enabling technology with a common database and platform, facilitating secure and automated transactions through smart contracts. This innovation will revolutionize logistics, trading, and transactions within the hydrogen market. The B-MVP has transformative potential across various sectors. It benefits renewable energy producers, surplus energy-based hydrogen producers, hydrogen transport and distribution grid operators, and hydrogen consumers. By implementing standardized, automated, and tamper-proof processes, the B-MVP enhances cost efficiency and enables transparent and traceable transactions. Its key objective is to establish the verifiable integrity of climate-friendly "green" hydrogen by tracing its supply chain from renewable energy producers to end users. This emphasis on transparency and accountability promotes economic, ecological, and social sustainability while fostering a secure and transparent market environment. A notable feature of the B-MVP is its cross-border operability, eliminating the need for country-specific data storage and expanding its global applicability. This flexibility not only broadens its reach but also creates opportunities for long-term job creation through the establishment of a dedicated blockchain operating company. By attracting skilled workers and supporting their training, the B-MVP strengthens the workforce in the growing hydrogen sector. Moreover, it drives the emergence of innovative business models that attract additional company establishments and startups and contributes to long-term job creation. For instance, data evaluation can be utilized to develop customized tariffs and provide demand-oriented network capacities to producers and network operators, benefitting redistributors and end customers with tamper-proof pricing options. The B-MVP not only brings technological and economic advancements but also enhances the visibility of national and international standard-setting efforts. Regions implementing the B-MVP become pioneers in climate-friendly, sustainable, and forward-thinking practices, generating interest beyond their geographic boundaries. Additionally, the B-MVP serves as a catalyst for research and development, facilitating knowledge transfer between universities and companies. This collaborative environment fosters scientific progress, aligns with strategic innovation management, and cultivates an innovation culture within the hydrogen market. Through the integration of blockchain and hydrogen technologies, the B-MVP promotes holistic innovation and contributes to a sustainable future in the hydrogen industry. The implementation process involves evaluating and mapping suitable blockchain technology and architecture, developing and implementing the blockchain, smart contracts, and depositing certificates of origin. It also includes creating interfaces to existing systems such as nomination, portfolio management, trading, and billing systems, testing the scalability of the B-MVP to other markets and user groups, developing data formats for process-relevant data exchange, and conducting field studies to validate the B-MVP. BBH₂ is part of the "Technology Offensive Hydrogen" funding call within the research funding of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection in the 7th Energy Research Programme of the Federal Government.

Keywords: hydrogen, blockchain, sustainability, innovation, structural change

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Authors: Claudia Trillo

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Regional innovation eco-ecosystems are composed of a variety of interconnected urban innovation eco-systems, mutually reinforcing each other and making the whole territorial system successful. Combining principles drawn from the new economic growth theory and from the socio-constructivist approach to the economic growth, with the new geography of innovation emerging from the networked nature of innovation districts, this paper explores the spatial configuration of urban innovation districts, with the aim of unveiling replicable spatial patterns and transferable portfolios of urban policies. While some authors suggest that cities should be considered ideal natural clusters, supporting cross-fertilization and innovation thanks to the physical setting they provide to the construction of collective knowledge, still a considerable distance persists between regional development strategies and urban policies. Moreover, while public and private policies supporting entrepreneurship normally consider innovation as the cornerstone of any action aimed at uplifting the competitiveness and economic success of a certain area, a growing body of literature suggests that innovation is non-neutral, hence, it should be constantly assessed against equity and social inclusion. This paper draws from a robust qualitative empirical dataset gathered through 4-years research conducted in Boston to provide readers with an evidence-based set of recommendations drawn from the lessons learned through the investigation of the chosen innovation districts in the Boston area. The evaluative framework used for assessing the overall performance of the chosen case studies stems from the Habitat III Sustainable Development Goals rationale. The concept of inclusive growth has been considered essential to assess the social innovation domain in each of the chosen cases. The key success factors for the development of the Boston innovation ecosystem can be generalized as follows: 1) a quadruple helix model embedded in the physical structure of the two cities (Boston and Cambridge), in which anchor Higher Education (HE) institutions continuously nurture the Entrepreneurial Environment. 2) an entrepreneurial approach emerging from the local governments, eliciting risk-taking and bottom-up civic participation in tackling key issues in the city. 3) a networking structure of some intermediary actors supporting entrepreneurial collaboration, cross-fertilization and co-creation, which collaborate at multiple-scales thus enabling positive spillovers from the stronger to the weaker contexts. 4) awareness of the socio-economic value of the built environment as enabler of cognitive networks allowing activation of the collective intelligence. 5) creation of civic-led spaces enabling grassroot collaboration and cooperation. Evidence shows that there is not a single magic recipe for the successful implementation of place-based and social innovation-driven strategies. On the contrary, the variety of place-grounded combinations of micro and macro initiatives, embedded in the social and spatial fine grain of places and encompassing a diversity of actors, can create the conditions enabling places to thrive and local economic activities to grow in a sustainable way.

Keywords: innovation-driven sustainable Eco-systems , place-based sustainable urban development, sustainable innovation districts, social innovation, urban policie

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Authors: Sarah M. Schoellhammer, Stephen Gibb

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Bureaucracy, in particular, its core element, a formal and stable hierarchy of authority, is proving less and less appropriate under the conditions of today’s knowledge economy. Centralization and formalization were consistently found to hinder innovation, undermining cross-functional collaboration, personal responsibility, and flexibility. With its focus on systematical planning, controlling and monitoring the development of new or improved solutions for customers, even innovation management as a discipline is to a significant extent based on a mechanistic understanding of organizations. The most important drivers of innovation, human creativity, and initiative, however, can be more hindered than supported by central elements of classic innovation management, such as predefined innovation strategies, rigid stage gate processes, and decisions made in management gate meetings. Heterarchy, as an alternative network form of organization, is essentially characterized by its dynamic influence structures, whereby the biggest influence is allocated by the collective to the persons perceived the most competent in a certain issue. Theoretical arguments that the non-hierarchical concept better supports innovation than bureaucracy have been supported by empirical research. These prior studies either focus on the structure and general functioning of non-hierarchical organizations or on their innovativeness, that means innovation as an outcome. Complementing classic innovation management approaches, this work aims to shed light on how innovations are initiated and realized in heterarchies in order to identify alternative solutions practiced under conditions of the post-bureaucratic organization. Through an initial individual case study, which is part of a multiple-case project, the innovation practices of an innovative and highly heterarchical medium-sized company in the German fire engineering industry are investigated. In a pragmatic mixed methods approach media resonance, company documents, and workspace architecture are analyzed, in addition to qualitative interviews with the CEO and employees of the case company, as well as a quantitative survey aiming to characterize the company along five scaled dimensions of a heterarchy spectrum. The analysis reveals some similarities and striking differences to approaches suggested by classic innovation management. The studied heterarchy has no predefined innovation strategy guiding new product and service development. Instead, strategic direction is provided by the CEO, described as visionary and creative. Procedures for innovation are hardly formalized, with new product ideas being evaluated on the basis of gut feeling and flexible, rather general criteria. Employees still being hesitant to take responsibility and make decisions, hierarchical influence is still prominent. Described as open-minded and collaborative, culture and leadership were found largely congruent with definitions of innovation culture. Overall, innovation efforts at the case company tend to be coordinated more through cultural than through formal organizational mechanisms. To better enable innovation in mainstream organizations, responsible practitioners are recommended not to limit changes to reducing the central elements of the bureaucratic organization, formalization, and centralization. The freedoms this entails need to be sustained through cultural coordination mechanisms, with personal initiative and responsibility by employees as well as common innovation-supportive norms and values. These allow to integrate diverse competencies, opinions, and activities and, thus, to guide innovation efforts.

Keywords: bureaucracy, heterarchy, innovation management, values

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Authors: Lissette Alejandra Lara, Mario Gomez, Jose Carlos Rodriguez

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ransnational corporations (TNCs) as units in which it is possible technology and knowledge transfer across borders and the potential for generating innovation and contributing in economic development both in home and host countries have been widely acknowledged in the foreign direct investment (FDI) literature. Particularly, the accelerated expansion of emerging countries TNCs in the last decades has guided an uprising research stream that measure the presence of reverse technology transfer, defined as the extent to which emerging countries’ TNCs use outward FDI in a host country through certain mechanisms to absorb and transfer knowledge thus improving its technological capabilities in the home country. The objective of this paper is to test empirically the presence of reverse technology transfer and its impact on the innovation capabilities in Mexican transnational corporations (MXTNCs) as a part of the emerging countries TNCs that have successfully entered to industrialized markets. Using a panel dataset of 22 MXTNCs over the period 1994-2015, the results of the econometric model demonstrate that the amount of Mexican outward FDI and the research and development (R&D) expenditure in host developed countries had a positive impact on the innovation capabilities at the firm and industry level. There is also evidence that management of acquired brands and the organizational structure of Mexican subsidiaries improved these capabilities. Implications for internationalization strategies of emerging countries corporations and future research guidelines are discussed.

Keywords: emerging countries, foreign direct investment, innovation capabilities, Mexican transnational corporations, reverse technology transfer

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Authors: Dmitry K. Shaytan, Georgy D. Laptev

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In our research we aimed to test a managerial approach for the fuzzy front end (FFE) of innovation by creating controlled experiment/ business case in a breakthrough innovation development. The experiment was in the sport industry and covered all aspects of the customer discovery stage from ideation to prototyping followed by patent application. In the paper we describe and analyze mile stones, tasks, management challenges, decisions made to create the break through innovation, evaluate overall managerial efficiency that was at the considered FFE stage. We set managerial outcome of the FFE stage as a valid product concept in hand. In our paper we introduce hypothetical construct “Q-factor” that helps us in the experiment to distinguish quality of FFE outcomes. The experiment simulated for entrepreneur the FFE of innovation and put on his shoulders responsibility for the outcome of valid product concept. While developing managerial approach to reach the outcome there was a decision to look on product concept from the cognitive psychology and cognitive science point of view. This view helped us to develop the profile of a person whose projection (mental representation) of a new product could optimize for a manager or entrepreneur FFE activities. In the experiment this profile was tested to develop breakthrough innovation for swimmers. Following the managerial approach the product concept was created to help swimmers to feel/sense water. The working prototype was developed to estimate the product concept validity and value added effect for customers. Based on feedback from coachers and swimmers there were strong positive effect that gave high value for customers, and for the experiment – the valid product concept being developed by proposed managerial approach for the FFE. In conclusions there is a suggestion of managerial approach that was derived from experiment.

Keywords: concept development, concept testing, customer discovery, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial management, idea generation, idea screening, startup management

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Authors: Xu Du, Aparna S. Varde

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In this research, we propose to conduct diagnostic and predictive analysis about the key factors and consequences of urban population relocation. To achieve this goal, urban simulation models extract the urban development trends as land use change patterns from a variety of data sources. The results are treated as part of urban big data with other information such as population change and economic conditions. Multiple data mining methods are deployed on this data to analyze nonlinear relationships between parameters. The result determines the driving force of population relocation with respect to urban sprawl and urban sustainability and their related parameters. Experiments so far reveal that data mining methods discover useful knowledge from the multicity urban data. This work sets the stage for developing a comprehensive urban simulation model for catering to specific questions by targeted users. It contributes towards achieving sustainability as a whole.

Keywords: data mining, environmental modeling, sustainability, urban planning

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Authors: Bishal Baniya

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This paper proposes the sustainability related policy areas for decarbonisation and value addition at an organizational level. General and public sector organizations around the world are usually significant in terms of consuming resources and producing waste – powered through their massive procurement capacity. However, these organizations also possess huge potential to cut resource use and emission as many of these organizations controls supply chain of goods/services. They can therefore be a trend setter and can easily lead other major economic sectors such as manufacturing, construction and mining, transportation, etc. in pursuit towards paradigm shift for sustainability. Whilst the environmental and social awareness has improved in recent years and they have identified policy areas to improve the organizational environmental performance, value addition to the core business of the organization hasn’t been understood and interpreted correctly. This paper therefore investigates ways to align sustainability policy measures in a way that it creates better value proposition relative to benchmark by accounting both eco and social efficiency. Preliminary analysis shows co-benefits other than resource and cost savings fosters the business cases for organizations and this can be achieved by better aligning the policy measures and engaging stakeholders.

Keywords: policy measures, environmental performance, value proposition, organisational level

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Authors: Jane Osei, Kerry Brown, Mehran Nejati

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Numerous studies have established that solar energy is the second most prevalent form of alternative renewable energy globally, particularly in regions with abundant sunlight. The adoption and ongoing sustainability of solar technology are pivotal for the transition to renewable energy sources. However, the literature indicates that some countries, especially in the developing world, may impede this transition. Despite various policy initiatives aimed at supporting the adoption of solar technology, the long-term effectiveness of these policies remains uncertain. This study investigates the current policy drivers influencing the success or failure of solar energy technology adoption and sustainability. It employs a qualitative review approach to compare strategies for implementing the net-metering policy incentive in both developing and developed countries, identifying successful and unsuccessful strategies and drawing conclusions on the lessons learned. The study's findings reveal that the effective implementation of net metering depends on regional variations in solar radiation and differing levels of electricity demand across regions. Further, the study found that the implementation of net metering has faced challenges in some countries due to regulatory barriers and bottlenecks that hinder private sector involvement and business sustainability. Economic stability also significantly impacts net metering implementation. This study concludes that governments should strive to balance benefit-sharing to attract more private-sector investment in solar technology while ensuring the viability of government energy regulatory bodies.

Keywords: solar energy technology, adoption, sustainability, net-metering

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Authors: Piriya Pholphirul, Pungpond Rukumnuaykit

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Contrary to studies of other migrant-receiving countries, most of which are developed countries, this paper examines impacts of immigrant workers on innovative capacities in Thailand, which is not only a representative of a receiving country that is a developing country but also a country where the majority of its immigrant workers are unskilled. Analysis of firm-level survey data in Thailand finds that employing unskilled and cheap labor from neighboring countries, namely, Myanmar, the Lao PDR, and Cambodia, is like adopting a kind of “labor-saving technology” which actually impedes firms’ R&D investment. Contrary to developed countries in which immigrants are found to boost innovation and promote sustainable growth, in Thailand, even though employing unskilled immigrant workers helps firms maintain their cost competitiveness in the short run, its negative impacts on R&D investment tend to hamper improvements in productivity and thus diminish global competitiveness in the long run. Employing skilled or educated migrants, on the other hand, complements technological progress and encourages firms to innovate more quickly. In addition, the paper finds that providing government incentives and promoting access to financing have become effective tools in facilitating Thai firms’ investment in innovation.

Keywords: immigration, innovation, developing country, Thailand

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Authors: Sudheer Gupta

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Approximately 4 billion citizens of the world live on the equivalent of less than $8 a day. This segment constitutes a $5 trillion global market that remains under-served. Multinational corporations have historically tended to focus their innovation efforts on the upper segments of the economic pyramid. The academic literature has also been dominated by theories and frameworks of innovation that are valid when applied to the developed markets and consumer segments, but fail to adequately account for the challenges and realities of new product and service creation for the poor. Theories of entrepreneurship developed in the context of developed markets similarly ignore the challenges and realities of operating in developing economies that can be characterized by missing institutions, missing markets, information and infrastructural challenges, and resource constraints. Social entrepreneurs working in such contexts develop solutions differently. In this talk, we summarize lessons learnt from a long-term research project that involves data collection from a broad range of social entrepreneurs in developing countries working towards solutions to alleviate poverty, and grounded theory-building efforts. We aim to develop a better understanding of consumers, producers, and other stakeholder involvement, thus laying the foundation to build a robust theory of innovation and entrepreneurship for the poor.

Keywords: poverty alleviation, social enterprise, social innovation, development

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