Business transitions a path to sustainability : : the CapSEM model / / edited by Annik Magerholm Fet.

• HerausgeberIn: Fet, Annik Magerholm.
• Place / Publishing House: Cham : : Springer International Publishing :, Imprint: Springer,, 2023.
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Edition: First edition 2023.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xxxii, 261 pages) :; illustrations

This open access book represents a journey documenting the development of tools and methodologies over 3 decades and asks where the future lies. It further develops seminal work carried out under the auspices of the Capacity building in Sustainability and Environmental Management (CapSEM) project co-funded by the EU Erasmus programme from 2016-2019 as well as research projects such as IGLO-MP2020, SUSPRO, and SISVI. It gathers existing paradigms of environmental management within the relevant frameworks which have driven the way in which this discipline has developed. It seeks to both challenge and support the way in which business sectors have approached this previously, with a more holistic and overarching model being provided, moving through four very distinct levels. It therefore provides not only a different approach, but a different way of thinking. Systems thinking is characterized by four levels: Process, Product Value Chain, Organisational and Systemic which combines Material Flow Analysis (MFA), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Industrial Ecology (IE) principles. In its practical application, Corporate Social Responsibility, for example, thus becomes an integral part of a much wider business strategy and impacts on all business activity, not added value for its own sake, but a valuable component in a wider toolbox as a fundamental part of any business strategy and plan, changing, flexing and developing over the years. The book is divided into 4 parts: moving from context and background, to the theoretical model or toolbox, onto its practical application in case studies and culminates in looking at the future and potential developments. It represents the multi-disciplined collaboration at NTNU and beyond, exemplifying its use in a wealth of business sectors and a range of stakeholders from construction to textiles to wind power as outlined in the European Circular Action Plan.

Table of Contents

Part I Sustainability: challenges and opportunities -- ch 1: Business Challenges in the Transition to Sustainability -- ch 2: The CapSEM Model -- ch 3: Sustainable Development Goals and CapSEM -- Part II The Toolbox: Methodologies and Theories -- ch 4: Input-output Analysis and Cleaner Production -- ch 5: Looking Beyond the Factory Gates -- ch 6: Communicating Product Life Cycle Performance through Labels and Declarations -- ch 7 : Environmental Management Systems -- ch 8: Analytical frameworks, indicators and performance evaluation -- ch 9: Reporting Schemes -- ch 10: Business Models for Sustainability -- ch 11: Closing the loop: Industrial Ecology, Circular Economy and Material Flow Analysis -- ch 12: Systems Engineering. Introduction, Methods and Tools -- Part III From Theory to Practice: Case Studies -- ch 13: Introduction to the Case Studies -- ch 14: From Waste to Value – a story about Life Cycle Management in the Furniture Industry (Case study 1) -- ch 15: The Role of Public Sector Buyers: Influencing Systemic Change in the Construction Sector (Case Study 2) -- ch 16: CapSEM Applied to the Construction Sector (Case Study 3) -- ch 17: Material Flow Analysis: Mapping Plastics within the Fishing Sector in Norway (Case Study 4) -- ch 18: Environmental Management at Fiskerstrand Verft AS: a 30 year Journey (Case Study 5) -- ch 19: A Transportation Planning Decision Support System (Case Study 6) -- ch 20: First Steps towards Sustainable Waste Management (Case Study 7) -- Part IV The Road Ahead -- ch 21: Transition to Sustainability -- ch 22: Helping business contribute to a sustainability transition: Archetypes of business models for sustainability -- ch 23: Building Decision Support Systems for Sustainable Transformation -- ch 24: The Way Forward?