While the concept of Responsible Innovation is increasingly common among researchers and policy makers, it is still unknown what it means in a business context. This study aims to identify which aspects of Responsible Innovation are conceptually similar and dissimilar from social- and sustainable innovation. Our conceptual analysis is based on literature reviews of responsible-, social-, and sustainable innovation. The insights obtained are used for conceptualising Responsible Innovation in a business context. The main conclusion is that Responsible Innovation differs from social- and sustainable innovation as it: (1) also considers possible detrimental implications of innovation, (2) includes a mechanism for responding to uncertainties associated with innovation and (3) achieves a democratic governance of the innovation. However, achieving the latter will not be realistic in a business context. The results of this study are relevant for researchers, managers and policy makers who are interested in responsible innovation in the business context.
Environmental or ‘green' education is an important driving force behind the ‘greening' of society as it plays a critical role in raising environmental awareness and preparing students for green jobs. None of the existing environmental attitudes and behavior measures is focused on the evaluation of green education, especially in relation to consumption. To date, no longitudinal studies of children and students' attitudes towards consumption influenced by education exist. Also, little has been done to explore the socio-cultural context in which attitudes toward consumption are being formed and to explain the cross-cultural differences in environmental attitudes. This pilot study is designed to take the first step towards developing methods complementing existing quantitative measurements with qualitative strategies, such as consumption diaries, focus groups, and concept mapping. While this research is just a first attempt to tackle children's knowledge and attitudes consumption, preliminary results of the research on which this chapter is based and enthusiasm of the research participants encourage the author to stress the importance of consumption studies as part of green education for educational program developers. As a chapter of this volume, the author hopes that this study will add to the anthropological depository of research on the cultural variants in the perception of the environment in children. This chapter draws upon the consumption diaries collected from the upper-elementary school children in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, between September 2009 and May 2010. Consumption diaries are chronological documents recording purchase, use, and waste of materials, which can be used both as analytical tools and the means to stimulate environmental awareness. The four main methodological steps involved in this research were as follows. Children were asked to complete the consumption diary, paying specific attention to use and waste materials. Consequently, focus group meetings were held with parents and their children to discuss the diaries. Finally, interviews with the children were conducted in order to generate statements that supplement those generated by focus groups for carrying out the concept mapping analysis. The concept mapping analysis was then conducted to organize the order and analyze the ideas expressed in the focus group and interview sessions. This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge/CRC Press in "Environmental Anthropology Today" on 8/5/11 available online: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203806906 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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While the technical application domain seems to be to most established field for AI applications, the field is at the very beginning to identify and implement responsible and fair AI applications. Technical, non-user facing services indirectly model user behavior as a consequence of which unexpected issues of privacy, fairness and lack of autonomy may emerge. There is a need for design methods that take the potential impact of AI systems into account.
Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of energy consumption and 36% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the EU, and the largest energy consumer in Europe (https://ec.europa.eu/energy). Recent research shows that more than 2/3 of all CO2 is emitted during the building process whereas less than 1/3 is emitted during use. Cement is the source of about 8% of the world's CO2 emissions and innovation to create a distributive change in building practices is urgently needed, according to Chatham House report (Lehne et al 2018). Therefore new sustainable materials must be developed to replace concrete and fossil based building materials. Lightweight biobased biocomposites are good candidates for claddings and many other non-bearing building structures. Biocarbon, also commonly known as Biochar, is a high-carbon, fine-grained solid that is produced through pyrolysis processes and currently mainly used for energy. Recently biocarbon has also gained attention for its potential value with in industrial applications such as composites (Giorcellia et al, 2018; Piri et.al, 2018). Addition of biocarbon in the biocomposites is likely to increase the UV-resistance and fire resistance of the materials and decrease hydrophilic nature of composites. Using biocarbon in polymer composites is also interesting because of its relatively low specific weight that will result to lighter composite materials. In this Building Light project the SMEs Torrgas and NPSP will collaborate with and Avans/CoE BBE in a feasibility study on the use of biocarbon in a NPSP biocomposite. The physicochemical properties and moisture absorption of the composites with biocarbon filler will be compared to the biocomposite obtained with the currently used calcium carbonate filler. These novel biocarbon-biocomposites are anticipated to have higher stability and lighter weight, hence resulting to a new, exciting building materials that will create new business opportunities for both of the SME partners.
Het doel van het project is om inzicht te krijgen in praktische en commerciële haalbaarheid rondom de Aquabooster van het bedrijf Wabbi dat eigendom is van studentondernemer Faik Durmus. Het onderzoek waaruit de Aquabooster is ontstaan is gedaan door studenten van de opleiding Biologie en Medisch Laboratoriumonderzoek aan de Saxion Hogeschool. Daarmee borduurt dit project voort op praktijkgericht onderzoek vanuit een kennisinstelling. De Aquabooster is het enige product van het bedrijf Wabbi. De Aquabooster reinigt herbruikbare flessen (zoals de Dopper®) van consumenten met als doel de levensduur te verlengen en de afvalberg te verlagen. Hiermee hoopt Wabbi bij te dragen aan SDG12: ‘Responsible consumption and production’. De belangrijkste projectactiviteiten om het doel te realiseren omvatten: a. Het bouwen van meerdere prototypes; b. Validatie van de prototypes in relevante fieldlabs teneinde feedback uit de markt te krijgen; c. Onderzoek naar Intellectueel Eigendom; d. Schrijven van een businessplan. Deze activiteiten moeten er toe leiden dat er een beeld ontstaat over de potentie van Wabbi met haar Aquabooster. Het project duurt 9 maanden en het budget bedraagt conform begroting €40.000. De projectpartners zijn: Wabbi, Het Saxion Centrum voor Ondernemerschap (penvoerder), de lectoraten Mechatronica en Industrial Design en een partner ten aanzien van het onderzoek naar Intellectueel Eigendom (wordt nog gezocht). Aanvullend worden studenten ingezet om feedback uit de markt te krijgen en deelsystemen te ontwikkelen.
Climate change and the depletion of resources in the world are widely recognized as the greatest societal challenges. The building sector is responsible for 40% of the raw material consumption globally. The emissions related to construction materials are anticipated to double by 2050, if no new technologies are adopted (EC, 2021). Based on the environmental cost indicator, isolation has the second largest (after concrete) impact to the environment. In Mythic - Myterials for THermal Insulation in Construction goal is to develop (in co-creation with the work field) the best available mycelium biocomposite, which can be used as a circular, biodegradable insulation material for construction in the building sector. In recent research projects partners concluded that Mycelium biocomposites have a high potential to replace traditional fossil-based isolation materials, but further research on the thermal insulation and moisture absorption is needed to convince the construction market. In the project various partners will cooperate, both from the production side of mycelium composites, as well as from the application side. Some partners originate from previous projects, but others contacted Centre of Expertise for the Biobased Economy (CoEBBE) to build further on the existing network. There are several SME’s from the Netherlands, but also from abroad (Nylausn from Iceland, Mogu Srl from Italy and Corstyrene form France), as well as Branche organizations and knowledge institutes. Avans works together with HZ in CoEBBE and for the microbiological knowledge we cooperate with the University of Utrecht. For the market research CoEBBE cooperates with the lectorate New Marketing within Avans, focussing on sustainability via biomimicry. Mycelium composites and natural products for the building industry is the theme that binds all partners.
