| 1. |
- Taye, Mesfin, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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E-waste in Gaborone, Botswana – assessing the generation, handling practices, and strategies for improvement
- 2013
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Ingår i: 28th International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- E-waste includes components with economic and environmental importance, thus the need for their sound end-of-life management. This study provides fundamentals regarding the amounts, flows, and handling practices of e-waste in Gaborone, Botswana. A number of relevant stakeholder organisations were interviewed and an in situ waste composition study was conducted. The concentration of e-waste arriving at the municipal landfill is less than 1 weight per cent, corresponding to about 1.9 kg/capita/year, far less compared to the estimated 8 weight per cent for European Union countries. However, obsolete electr(on)ics are in urban storages primarily due to a lack of tapping mechanisms. Among several inadequacies of the current handling practices is the absence of an e-waste management framework. Improvement routes discussed include public sensitisation and engagement, capacity building, and future exploitation of potentially suitable end-of-life treatment options including the novel phenomenon of enhanced landfill mining.
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| 2. |
- Taye, Mesfin, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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E-waste in Gaborone, Botswana – assessing the generation, handling practices, and strategies for improvement
- 2014
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Ingår i: The Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management. - 1088-1697. ; :4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- E-waste includes components with economic and environmental importance, thus the need for their sound end-of-life management. This study provides fundamentals regarding the amounts, flows, and handling practices of e-waste in Gaborone, Botswana. A number of relevant stakeholder organisations were interviewed and an in situ waste composition study was conducted. The concentration of e-waste arriving at the municipal landfill is less than 1 weight per cent, corresponding to about 1.9 kg/capita/year, far less compared to the estimated 8 weight per cent for European Union countries. However, obsolete electr(on)ics are in urban storages primarily due to a lack of tapping mechanisms. Among several inadequacies of the current handling practices is the absence of an e-waste management framework. Improvement routes discussed include public sensitisation and engagement, capacity building, and future exploitation of potentially suitable end-of-life treatment options including the novel phenomenon of enhanced landfill mining.
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| 3. |
- Aliahmad, Abdulhamid, et al.
(författare)
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Urine recycling - Diffusion barriers and upscaling potential; case studies from Sweden and Switzerland
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 414
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, we explored why urine recycling systems have failed to gain wide-scale expansion despite their high potential for food and fertilizer security. Additionally, we examined the future perception of urine recycling in Sweden and Switzerland, as these two countries are at the forefront of technological advancement. Along with identifying barriers, we also proposed pathways for overcoming those barriers and achieving the upscale. The analysis was conducted using the technological innovation (TIS) approach, which is technology-focused, i.e., revolves around emerging technologies. Additionally, the study provides a methodological contribution to the innovation systems research by employing the Delphi method in conjunction with urine recycling experts to enforce transparency and prevent bias in the analysis. For urine recycling to overcome its current challenges, actors must work collectively. There needs to be a combination of top-down and bottom-up efforts to achieve the upscaling pathways. Lobbying and knowledge provision are necessary to adjust the current regulatory framework in a manner that provides public and private incentives. For urine recycling to diffuse and break into the mainstream market, we must move beyond enthusiasts, innovators, and niche markets into the mass market (ordinary people); dedicated service providers can facilitate this process. Pilot projects have been found integral to urine recycling upscaling. Future work could conduct life cycle assessments on existing pilot projects to understand the environmental and economic performance of urine recycling systems when scaled up.
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| 4. |
- Bank, Natasha, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability Profiled Incubators - Procceses For Recruiting And Supporting Tenants
- 2015
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since start-ups enterprises often have more room and flexibility for sustainability ideas in the early stages of business development incubators could be particularly important for introducing and developing sustainability thinking. Previous studies on incubators and the incubation processes in general are rather extensive in the literature. However, there are few studies particularly focusing on sustainability dimensions of incubators. In particular how incubators recruit and support start-ups in incorporating sustainability thinking into their core business idea or making their sustainability-oriented idea even more successful has received few research attention. With this gap identified in research and societal need for sustainability, research on green incubators is of timely interest. The latest report from the IPCC on climate change problem warns about the demand of sustainable business creation, which is critical to promote sustainable development. Entrepreneurship is at the heart of sustainable growth (Carayannis and Von Zedtwitz, 2005) and in that sense it is in the heart of sustainability development. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to investigate empirically the recruiting criteria of start-ups by three sustainability oriented incubators in Sweden, Finland and Germany in order to understand how they support sustainable entrepreneurship and eco-innovation.Following a literature review on “conventional” incubators, a sample incubator that works with sustainable start-ups in each country was chosen and studied by help of interviews with managers, stakeholders, tenants and managers at incubators in order to investigate deficits and potentials of the existing incubator support systems for sustainable entrepreneurship and eco innovation. The data used in the study comes from Green Tech Park (Sweden), LADEC (Finland) and Green Garage (Germany).From this study, our major implications are that, the studied incubators on average have an ambition to recruit and develop sustainability oriented start-ups, but a critical mass of such tenants is vital if any such ambitions are to become a reality. This critical mass of start-ups is very much influenced by the local context of the incubator, which generates both potential tenants and resources to support such firms in sustainability entrepreneurship and eco innovation. For incubator management, this suggests an active search for tenants interested in sustainable entrepreneurship and providing support focused on such activities.
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| 5. |
- Barrie, Jack, et al.
(författare)
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Building ecologies of circular intermediaries
- 2020
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Ingår i: Handbook of the circular economy. - Northampton : Edward Elgar Publishing. - 9781788972710 ; , s. 235-249
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The transition to a circular economy requires deep structural change of entire production-consumption systems. Such a systemic transition will inevitably be hampered by poor knowledge and resource transfer between various levels of society. It is therefore proposed in this chapter that a circular economy requires well-functioning ecosystems of intermediaries who can broker knowledge exchange and collaboration between different societal systems as well as geo-political scales. Sustainability intermediation has been recognised as being critical for lubricating the machinery of societal transitions, however, little is known with regards to the ecology of intermediaries required to achieve a global transition to a circular economy. In light of the challenges surrounding the effective governance of a circular economy transition, the questions this chapter seeks to explore is: how do we begin to nurture adequate ecologies of intermediaries that can facilitate the transition to a circular economy?
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| 6. |
- Dahlgren, Sofia, 1992-, et al.
(författare)
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Drivers for and barriers to biogas use in manufacturing, road transport and shipping : a demand-side perspective
- 2022
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Ingår i: Biofuels. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1759-7269 .- 1759-7277. ; 13:2, s. 177-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Contemporary environmental problems require a transition to renewable energy. Biogas is one alternative, which besides being renewable has many other benefits. For further expansion of biogas production, it seems necessary to develop new areas of biogas usage where biogas can replace fossil fuels. This article presents an analysis of the drivers for and barriers to increased biogas usage in three sectors where biogas usage is undeveloped in Sweden: manufacturing, road transport and shipping. Several of the identified drivers and barriers, such as unstable and short-term policies, lack of infrastructure, and contract requirements, have also been found in previous studies even though they may be slightly different depending on the context. A new driver observed in this study is that of intergenerational thinking in family-owned businesses. The study also reiterates the significant influence of policy in the form of subsidies, tax exemptions and regulations on the adoption and use of renewable energy in general and biogas specifically. The results suggest the need for future policymaking to be guided by long-term trajectories, which can be a relevant basis for adopters to make investments into biogas technologies.
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| 7. |
- Fenton, Paul, et al.
(författare)
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The role of local government in governance and diffusion of Mobility-as-a-Service : exploring the views of MaaS stakeholders in Stockholm
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. - : Routledge. - 0964-0568 .- 1360-0559. ; 63:14, s. 2554-2576
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cities around the world constitute an emerging market for Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). For local governments, MaaS may offer opportunities to reduce ownership and use of private cars for passenger transport, thereby easing pressures on urban space, the local environment and global climate. By drawing on literature related to socio-technical transitions and the diffusion of environmental innovations, this article analyses survey results of MaaS stakeholders in the City of Stockholm, where several initiatives to facilitate development of MaaS are underway. The results illustrate what stakeholders do and consider important, which kinds of barriers, opportunities and challenges are perceived, and what type of expectations stakeholders share about the role of the City administration in the development of MaaS in Stockholm. In sum, results indicate an important, yet delicate role for local governments in facilitating MaaS, whilst suggesting the need for regional or national regulatory solutions in the longer-term, to ensure legitimacy and transparency.
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| 8. |
- Johansson Mignon, Ingrid, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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A typology of intermediary organizations and their impact on sustainability transition policies
- 2018
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Ingår i: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. - : Elsevier BV. - 2210-4224 .- 2210-4232. ; 29, s. 100-113
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainability transitions encompass changes in existing socio-technological systems. In this context, scholars have emphasized the roles that intermediaries can play for sustainability transition. However, in the literature, the organizations or actors considered to act as intermediaries are very diverse and the concept of intermediary is used interchangeably between contexts. There is a risk that policy makers face difficulties understanding differences among intermediaries and consequently use some intermediaries for unfitting purposes. In this article, we propose to identify the similarities and differences among intermediaries, which are relevant for policy design for sustainability transitions. We base our comparison on three main characteristics: intermediaries' source of funding, their scope of action and the target recipients of their services. Our analysis indicates that these differences have an impact on intermediaries' short-term or long-term orientation, actor-level or system-level focus, and demand-side or supply-side target. We end the article by discussing the implications for policy design.
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| 9. |
- Kanda, Wisdom, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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A function of innovation systems approach for analysing the roles of intermediaries in eco-innovation
- 2015
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This article draws from two bodies of literature, innovation intermediaries and technological innovation systems, to develop an approach for analysing the functions of intermediaries in eco-innovation. The link between the functions of innovation intermediaries and the functions of technological innovation systems has seldom been explicitly established in the scientific discourse and thus this article contributes to theoretical development in both literatures. To the technological innovation systems literature, this article addresses the lack of attention to the functions of innovation intermediaries who are a critical part in the formation of networks and also contribute to a number of innovation system functions. To the innovation intermediary literature, the functional approach advocates for a synthesis and consensus building in the literature regarding intermediary functions in view of the several redundancies and ambiguities on the subject matter. Empirical operationalization of the analytical approach including methodological choices from case studies in Region Scania, Sweden and North Rhine Westphalia, Germany are also discussed. The results of our analysis show that the functions of the innovation intermediaries are particularly relevant for the overall goals of an innovation system as compared to the configuration of intermediary actors. Particular challenges with a functional approach in this context include the difficulties of establishing a causal relation between the support functions of intermediaries and eco-innovation outcomes in firms.
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| 10. |
- Kanda, Wisdom, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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A technological innovation systems approach to analyse the roles of intermediaries in eco-innovation
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 227, s. 1136-1148
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The literature on intermediaries faces challenges regarding how to conceptualise and empirically demonstrate the system-level impact of intermediaries. Thus, researchers and policy analysts may experience difficulties in grasping the potential contributions of intermediaries beyond individual projects and firms to aggregate levels of an innovation system. This article combines innovation intermediary and technological innovation systems literature to develop fundamentals of an approach for analysing how organisations acting as intermediaries support firms in eco-innovation and potentially contribute to technological innovation system functions. The operationalisation of the analytical approach is illustrated using case studies on a total of eight support organisations acting as intermediaries in the region of Scania, Sweden and North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. For researchers and policy analysts, the analytical approach presented in this article offers the opportunity for a step-by-step, comprehensive and transparent analysis of different types of intermediaries, their roles, and potential contributions to innovation system functions.
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