SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION 2012

Sustainable Innovation 2011: Key Lessons

Martin Charter, Director, The Centre for Sustainable Design @ UCA

1. Managing the transition to low carbon and resource efficient economies and societies will involve significant challenges
2. Measuring sustainable/eco-innovation at a macro level is at an early stage
3. Need to more clearly identify market opportunities for sustainable products/services/technologies
4. Much of sustainable/eco-innovation has been supply side dominated (‘technology push’ rather than ‘demand-side’ pull)
5. How do we stimulate more demand-side pull?
6. Need to think more holistically about where the opportunities for sustainable/eco-innovation are in the ‘value chain’
7. Need to build networks amongst stakeholders to enable sustainable/eco-innovation
8. Niche players can create change but the realities of the market can be quite bloody
9. Importance of visionary leadership
10. Encouraging customers to drive sustainable/eco-innovation
11. There are organisational challenges associated with driving sustainable/eco-innovation – some may not be comfortable with it!
12. It is about managing change and breaking through middle management’s ‘layer of granite’
13. Need to provide incentives to enable sustainable/eco-innovation within the organisation and throughout the value or supply chain
14. Embedding appropriate and customised processes and tools within the organisation is key to implementation of sustainable/eco-innovation
15. Need for demonstrable bottom-up sustainable/eco-innovation e.g. cases, physical examples and personal stories

© Martin Charter 2011 mcharter@ucreative.ac.uk

Contact

For more information on Sustainable Innovation 12 please contact:

Martin Charter
Director
The Centre for Sustainable Design
University for the Creative Arts
Farnham Campus
Farnham
Surrey
GU9 7DS
UK
Tel: + 44 (0) 1252 892772
Fax: + 44 (0) 1252 892747
Email: mcharter@ucreative.ac.uk

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