Is There a Smart Sustainability Transition in Manufacturing? Tracking Externalities in Machine Tools over Three Decades

Only one third of studies on the Industry 4.0–sustainability link have been conducted in manufacturing, despite its centrality to “ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns” (UN Sustainable Development Goal nr. 12). The European Ecodesign Directive singled out machine tools as key to the sustainability transition, not least due to their high energy usage and their increasingly becoming enmeshed in cyber-physical production systems. This paper aims to find out whether the digital transformation underway in machine tools is sustainable as well as to identify its central technological pathways. Externalities in machine tools are tracked over three decades (1990–2018) by means of a multi-method setting: (1) mapping the Technological Innovation System (TIS) of machine tools; (2) co-occurrence analysis of transnational patent families, in order to reduce geographical and market distortions (Questel’s FAMPAT); and (3) analysis of the incidence of digital and sustainable technologies in machine tools patent applications (WIPO PATENTSCOPE). A smart sustainability transition is currently not hampered by a lack of smart technologies but rather by the sluggish introduction of sustainable machine tools. Cyber-physical and robot machine tools have been found to be central pathways to a smart sustainability transition. Implications for harnessing externalities reach beyond the machine tools industry.

Public Perceptions on the Procedural Values and Proposed Outcomes of the Finnish Climate Change Act Amendment

This article examines the public perceptions on the drafting process of Finnish Climate Act amendment, which is a legislation on the climate policy that aims to mitigate climate change and secure adaptive capacity. In this paper we present results of a thematic analysis, which reveals citizens' perceptions of the procedural values, with respect to transparency, participation, and acceptance, and the objectives of the amendment, such as the climate neutrality target for 2035. The research data consisted of 2,458 answers to a citizen survey on the Finnish Climate Change Act amendment. Our results reveal that the opinions of citizens ranged from highlighting the urgency of political action to climate denials, with varying perceptions on process and proposed outcomes. While over half of citizens felt positively about the 2035 climate neutrality target created in the Climate Change Amendment Act, only a third believed that there was appropriate opportunity for public participation in the amendment process. Based on these findings, we suggest that participatory and transparent processes in legislative drafting are prerequisites for the sustainability transition and the implementation of international climate mitigation targets.

Empowering Collections-Based Organizations to Participate in Agenda 2030: The “Our Collections Matter Toolkit”

Collections-based organizations (CBOs) can play a crucial role in addressing sustainable development (SD), but their aspiration to become more sustainable, as seen in policies and guidelines, is confronted with several challenges in practice. To facilitate a sustainability transition, this process of change needs to be managed and adequate tools adopted and implemented. Many tools exist to support this transition; however, a scarcity of centralized resources available to CBOs might negatively affect the integration of sustainability practices in their work. With the aim to address this gap, ICCROM launched the project “Our Collections Matter” (OCM) and developed an online toolkit (OCMT) to centralize resources and help CBOs align their work to the UN Agenda 2030. Recently, a workshop was organized with professionals in the field to discuss shared challenges and aspirations and to test the OCMT. This study reflects on how such centralization of resources can contribute to overcoming existing challenges and support the sustainability aspirations of CBOs, fostering change in the field. To do that, the workshop outcomes are analyzed and discussed from a change management perspective, looking at the impact that the OCM project and its activities can have on fostering change, and the role that ICCROM can play in facilitating the sustainability transition of the field.

Recent Progress and Approaches on Transition Metal Chalcogenides for Hydrogen Production

Development of efficient and affordable photocatalysts is of great significance for energy production and environmental sustainability. Transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) with particle sizes in the 1–100 nm have been used for various applications such as photocatalysis, photovoltaic, and energy storage due to their quantum confinement effect, optoelectronic behavior, and their stability. In particular, TMCs and their heterostructures have great potential as an emerging inexpensive and sustainable alternative to metal-based catalysts for hydrogen evolution. Herein, the methods used for the fabrication of TMCs, characterization techniques employed, and the different methods of solar hydrogen production by using different TMCs as photocatalyst are reviewed. This review provides a summary of TMC photocatalysts for hydrogen production.

Promoting Environmental Citizenship Through Local Socio-Cultural Traditions in Science Education

This article asks how the site-specific parameters of pro-environmental behaviour can be seen in educational doctrines and in the practices of science education, and what impact they have on the development of environmental citizenship. Environmental citizenship as an agent of change is key to sustainability transition. Our viewpoint is that a contextual resource doctrine provides a framework of people’s environmental values, meaning both the capacity to fulfil the requirements of the doctrine and the ability to critically reflect it by rational-scientific arguments. Thus, place-specificity and sense of place should be highlighted in citizenship science education. In order to explain the multi-scalar nature of learning requirements, we apply the idea of ‘trans-contextualisation’ in science education. In the article we use examples which are derived from university students’ favourite places reflecting sense of place as well as three cases, which start from the near secondary school students’ environment and discuss local environmental issues. In this study we used qualitative and quantitative research methods. The results show that by promoting contextually sensitive environmental citizenship through Socio-scientific Issues (SSI) in science education, we could accelerate the transition to sustainable future. If cultural traditions, anecdotal and local knowledge are not incorporated in the expert scientific knowledge, sustainability transition is constantly in danger for remaining an isolated activity in the shadow of resource realism.

Approaching Sustainability Transition in Supply Chains as a Wicked Problem: Systematic Literature Review in Light of the Evolved Double Diamond Design Process Model

Transition from the status quo to more sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices is a highly complex and non-linear process with multiple drivers, but also obstacles, on the way. The impending strict regulatory framework, particularly in terms of the environmental dimensions of sustainability development (SD), is single-handedly opening the door to rapid and potentially disruptive change. The research literature on SSCM has increased exponentially over the last decade to meet the mounting demand for information on how to tackle often conflicting sustainability-related requirements while satisfying all internal and external stakeholders. Due to the continuously evolving and wicked nature of SSCM, a limited number of scholars have approached the issue with design thinking problem solving methodologies (DTPSMs). The results of a systematic literature review (SLR) were mirrored with the Evolved Double Diamond (EDD) design process model to formulate a design thinking overview and trace potential research gaps of selected frameworks and models regarding the sustainability transition (ST) of supply chains (SCs). The research results demonstrate that modelling the ST in SC as a wicked problem can contribute to the creation of more structured and novel SSCM models and frameworks, which take into deeper consideration the evolving nature of the issue and improve facilitation practices of stakeholder engagement.

An appraisal of Australia's approach to promoting urban sustainability

PurposeMuch rhetoric exists on the urgency of transitioning from current practices to a more sustainable society. However, because this imperative is guided by strong ideological overtones, weaknesses and failures in the transition effort attract inadequate scrutiny. This paper reviews Australia's progress with sustainability in an urban domain and identifies key issues hindering the sustainability transition effort.Design/methodology/approachResearch on urban sustainability is ubiquitous but this weight of publications tends to emphasize technical, operational or prescriptive themes. This research uses an interpretivist philosophical lens and inductive reasoning to manually analyse pertinent literature sourced from the Scopus and Web of Science data-bases. Specifically, this study assembles outcome and evaluative assessments pertaining to Australia's urban sustainability efforts to identify both the progress achieved and residual structural impediments.FindingsEmergent findings illustrate that Australia's urban sustainability goals, as expressed by the Paris Accord, have not been met. Obstruction can be attributed to over-ambitious objectives combined with weak federal leadership, under-resourced local government, over-reliance on superficial rating systems and an ineffective regulatory regime. Elite “green branding” by image conscious corporations are insufficient to offset the general disinterest of the unincentivized majority of building owners and developers.Originality/valueThis paper cogently summarizes Australia's urban sustainability status, along with complexity of the challenges it faces to meet targets set.