Researchers Fika: Opportunities and challenges with applying circularity in manufacturing and in public-private collaboration

Research profile seminar

At this Researchers Fika we invite you to listen to and discuss with Mélanie Despeisse, Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial and Materials Science, Chalmers University of Technology and Herman Stål, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Business Administration, University of Gothenburg, who both share an interest in achieving a circular economy.

Researchers Fika is an activity initiated by the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development, as part of strenthening the Research Network for Sustainable Development at Chalmers and the University of Gotheburg.

TALKS

Beyond zero: Applying eco-efficiency and circularity principles to achieve regenerative sustainability in manufacturing
Mélanie Despeisse, Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial and Materials Science, Chalmers University of Technology

With the recognition of the sustainability imperative, many manufacturers have formulated and enforced environmental strategies such as zero waste and zero emissions to minimise their negative impact on our planet. We need to envision and embrace new ways to operate within the planetary boundaries as a starting point by considering the possibility to generate environmental benefits while meeting present and future human needs. Principles for eco-efficiency and circular economy can lead to regenerative sustainability by going beyond ¿doing less bad¿¿i.e. eliminate or reduce negative impacts¿and shifting towards ¿doing more good¿ ¿i.e. create benefits or positive impacts.

What challenges do public and private actors collaborating to develop circular business models encounter and how can these challenges be addressed?
Herman Stål, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Business Administration, University of Gothenburg

Emerging research on collaborative circular business model (CBM) development has disregarded tensions that arise when business and society actors collaborate in such endeavors: for example, institutional and value creation tensions. In order to explain how these tensions affect public-private CBM development this study mobilizes institutional theory and develops a process model consisting of four phases that describe how partners¿ relative institutional positions bring about moves and countermoves which in turn shift value creation focus and dominance over time. We label this process as one of dialectical alignment, where collaborators learn to accept and understand their relative institutional differences and to work more effectively together regardless of them.

Register here

Program
-Welcome and introduction
-Speed talks
-Q&A with speakers
-Fika & networking
-The meeting ends

About Researchers Fika

Researchers Fika is an activity initiated by the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development, as part of strenthening the Research Network for Sustainable Development at Chalmers and the University of Gotheburg. At each fika you will get to listen to speed talks on a sustainability-oriented topic from researchers representing different disciplines followed by an opportunity to network and digitally share your favorite fika with the other participants in the meeting. If you are a member of the research network, welcome to submit your own proposal for a talk.