Single policy studies are the most common form of EU research. They are widely used to understand the role of the EU in a wide variety of sectors, together with its development over time, and often offer public policy prescriptions. The main aim of this chapter is to discuss the relevance of single policy studies in EU research and give examples of how such research can be carried out and designed

Urbanisation and climate change are urging cities to chart novel paths towards sustainable futures. Many cities are turning to the alluring ‘circular economy’ (CE) concept to guide this redirection. The CE concept re-imagines how flows of resources moving through economies might be ‘closed’. Here, we explore this new ‘circular city’ agenda by asking: How are cities adopting CE as a strategy?. We f

With an increasing population, a growing middle class and increased resource use, our current ways of living and doing business are unsustainable. Next to the implementation of innovative technology, sustainable development based on innovative business models, better understating of customer needs and behavioural change are crucial. This research aims at combining principles from both sustainable

In the face of growing sustainability challenges, pressure on businesses to decouple environmental impacts from growth is mounting. New sustainable business models can be a systemic driver for change in industry and the wider business innovation literature suggests that strategic design approaches can be at the heart of business model innovation. One such approach, service design, involves solving

The aim of this article is to explore how ecodesign dilemmas contribute to a firm's ecodesign evolution. The article achieves this through empirical research into a process of ecodesign decision-making in a single firm. The study spans a timeframe of nine years. The article describes how recognising and dealing with ecodesign dilemmas fuels cycles of learning, leading the firm towards business mod

While the terms Circular Economy and sustainability are increasingly gaining traction with academia, industry, and policymakers, the similarities and differences between both concepts remain ambiguous. The relationship between the concepts is not made explicit in literature, which is blurring their conceptual contours and constrains the efficacy of using the approaches in research and practice. Th

Purpose: To mitigate negative human-induced impact on the planet, consumption patterns need to be changed urgently. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how companies can drive sustainable consumption patterns. Design/methodology/approach: The paper discusses six illustrative cases of sustainable consumption initiatives by companies: their strategies, initiatives and impacts. Findings: A “b

This research paper shows how a firm pursues innovation activities for economic, social and environmental value creation in the context of time sensitivity. We make a conceptual link between lean startup thinking, triple bottom line value creation, and organizational capabilities. The case study firm uses a novel experimentation approach to pursue the goal of diverting all of its sold clothing fro

As smartphones are being replaced at an increasing rate, it becomes more and more important to find ways to reuse (parts of) existing phones. This research investigates the potential of selling refurbished smartphones using a quantitative study. An online survey was conducted questioning 250 respondents, in which the perceived consumer risks and benefits associated with refurbished phones were inv