Download or read book Industriell Symbios i Norden written by Nordiska Ministerrådet and published by Nordic Council of Ministers. This book was released on 2007 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Operationalizing Industrial Ecology in the Waste Sector written by Graham Aid and published by Linköping University Electronic Press. This book was released on 2017-05-16 with total page 101 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The take-make-waste approach to resource management in human production and consumption systems is contributing to a variety of environmental and social problems worldwide. Additionally, as the world’s population and affluence increase, so do the negative impacts of poor resource management. Lifting the waste management (WM) sector into a new phase of development, which takes its lead from the ideals of Industrial Ecology and circular economy, is seen by many scholars and practitioners as one potential to assist in alleviating these impacts. While there are many studies on how more efficient inter-organizational resource management is (or could be) constructed, there are relatively few business development studies which have explored novel approaches (from roles to tactics) that WM organizations might operationalize toward more efficient resource management. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the development of knowledge and understanding of how the waste management sector can operationalize more effective and efficient resource management. In approaching this aim, two research questions guided the exploration of: 1) novel roles for WM and 2) support tactics for such roles. Grounded in the broader context of Industrial Ecology (IE) and Business Development, five studies were performed. Two studies, focused on the novel roles of inter-organizational resource management and high value secondary resource extraction, were performed through literature review and interviews, and market driver analysis respectively. In exploring support tactics, two design and proof of concept studies were carried out to investigate data analysis tools for inter-organizational resource management, and one long-term action research engagement project was coordinated to study hands-on inter-organizational collaboration tactics. The studies highlighted that the Swedish WM sector holds some key capacities for operationalizing (and in some cases, is already developing) the novel resource management roles identified: industrial symbiosis facilitator, eco-industrial park manager, holistic facility management, and high value resource extractor. However, depending on the portfolio of services to be performed in such roles, several capacities may need to be developed or strengthened. Main opportunities seen for these roles were – staying ahead of market developments, and aligning activities with organizational goals. The main general risk related to these roles was insufficient returns on investment. Looking forward, the main enablers identified were policy leadership for more balanced market mechanisms, increasing use of external knowledge, developing long term partnerships, lobbying, stockpiling resources, and carefully crafting new business models. The tools developed for strategically applying external information toward the identification of opportunities within new roles showed tactical potential. However, their implementation in broader development processes has yet to be fully validated. The hands-on exploration of change oriented collaboration, highlighted collective system framing and goal setting and face-to-face interaction as key activities for inter-organizational approaches within roles such as industrial symbiosis facilitator. Throughout the studies, several novel roles were investigated. Each of these roles will need to be individually evaluated by directing bodies of WM organizations, and evaluated from the organization’s vision and strategy. If certain roles are chosen to be explored in more detail, they will need to be developed within full business models - addressing issues such as income structure, internal processes and capacities to be developed, and key customers. Through applying IE and business development concepts and findings, WM organizations have possibilities to translate ambitious visions into novel offerings.

Download or read book Marine Plastics Innovative Solutions to Tackling Waste written by Siv Marina Flø Grimstad and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-07-31 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book reflects aims of the Blue Circular Economy (BCE) project, which focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) aiming to create value using circular economy concepts related to products and services within fishing gear recycling in the Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) area. Cluster establishment and operation were carried out in collaboration with academia, industry and government agencies following a triple-helix approach. Discarded fishing gear constitutes a large part of marine plastics. Preventing future discharge of fishing gear into the ocean is a vital step in combating plastic pollution. Circular economy is one of the tools in the European Green deal, targeting waste minimisation. Closing the loop for waste fishing nets by transferring them to a resource could be a solution for preventing discharge at sea: exploring this opportunity is at the core of this book.

Download or read book Low Carbon Circular Transition in the Nordics written by Sepponen, Susanna and published by Nordic Council of Ministers. This book was released on 2023-03-08 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Available online: https://pub.norden.org/temanord2023-504/ The Nordic region aims to be a forerunner in the transition to circular economy. This project aimed to find areas, industries, and sectors, and potential in them, important for the circular transition in the Nordics. The barriers for unleashing the potential were also studied.Four areas of industry and two cross-cutting drivers were selected for the study. The bioeconomy, the food and beverage sector, building and construction, and the mobility sector play a prominent role in the Nordic economies. They are also responsible for significant emissions and waste. The drivers – applying new circular business models and better exploiting data/digitalisation – can bring change that holds promise for significant benefits.The study’s results are summed up in a set of recommendations addressing how the barriers can be torn down and how positive impacts of circular transition can be supported.

Download or read book OECD Urban Studies The Circular Economy in Ume Sweden written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 87 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report aims to support the city of Umeå in becoming the leader in the circular economy as stated in its strategic plan for 2016-2028. This is in line with the Swedish Government’s objective to strengthen society’s transition to a resource-efficient, circular and bio-based economy.

Download or read book Film and the Arts in Symbiosis written by Gary Edgerton and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 1988-03-08 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Film and the Arts in Symbiosis is an interesting collection of readable essays written by film scholars and teachers. Each essay is accompanied by a set of footnotes, a bibliography, and a filmography. The essays cover the relationship between film and painting, photography, graphic arts, literature, theater, classical and popular music, radio, television, video art, and the `new media'. . . . This is a unique and valuable anthology, providing well-written and well-edited essays that may well be used as course readings. RQ This unusual resource guide and handbook examines the key relationships and abundant interconnections between motion pictures and eleven other traditional or communication arts. For the first time, the work of scholars who have studied or taught in fields as diverse as broadcasting, art, music, photography, and popular culture is pulled together for ready access in one volume. Film and the Arts in Symbiosis, takes an exploratory, yet systematic look at the interdisciplinary nature of the film medium and both highlights and enthusiastically endorses that multi-faceted tradition.

Download or read book Utilisation of Excess Heat Towards a Circular Economy written by Sofia Päivärinne and published by Linköping University Electronic Press. This book was released on 2017-11-23 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In order to significantly lower the environmental impact from human activities, numerous efforts and approaches related to the transformation of human activities have developed during the last decades. Examples of such efforts are policies and strategies at different levels, some with a top-down approach focusing on extensive institutional changes, and some with a bottom-up approach focusing on industrial actors and industry-led activities. One essential aspect of these efforts concerns the energy used producing the products and services provided within our society. This includes, for example, improved efficiency of processes in order to minimise the amount of energy used, or optimisation of efficiency by using energy with the lowest possible exergy value. It can also be about re-use of energy, which is the focus of this thesis. Heat, which is the main by-product of all energy systems, can be utilised for heating purposes to lower the primary energy demand for heating. Increased utilisation of excess heat, however, requires collaboration between normally unrelated actors, those with a supply of and those demanding excess heat. In Sweden, which is a Northern European country with high demand for heat, the tradition of large energy-intensive manufacturing industries generating large amounts of excess heat, in combination with well-established district heating distribution systems, constitute good conditions for excess heat utilisation. Despite the fact that Sweden is among the world leaders in utilising excess heat, there is however, still a large unutilised potential. From this background, the objective of this thesis is to identify challenges behind excess heat utilisation for heating purposes, and to propose practical suggestions to facilitate expanded excess heat utilisation. The overall objective is analysed with a focus on drivers and barriers behind interorganisational collaborations on excess heat utilisation, important components of interorganisational business models and how the technical conditions regarding supply and demand could be facilitated by strategic municipal spatial planning processes. The research is largely based on interviews conducted with societal actors with different perspectives on excess heat utilisation; energy companies, industries generating high-grade excess heat, facilities generating low-grade excess heat, facilities demanding low-grade excess heat, experts of utilisation of low-grade excess heat, branch organisations, municipal spatial planners, energy- and climate advisors, and developers. Document studies have been conducted in order to collect case specific knowledge. The research questions are explored based on literature studies on the principles of industrial symbiosis, business model perspective and strategic planning. Further, they are examined in a Swedish context. It is concluded that the three perspectives complement each other by providing a system perspective on increased utilisation of excess heat as they seek to contribute both environmental and financial benefits at both a company and societal level. In order to facilitate further utilisation of excess heat it is important to focus on the organisational factors of humility, honesty, transparency, trust, fine-grained information transfer, joint problem solving, and shared visions of common goals, which are important conditions behind development of functional and long-term durable collaborations. Business models for collaboration could contribute to the creation of these organisationally important conditions. Such business models could also provide knowledge on how to create and capture joint values. For some collaborations involving actors lacking the technical knowledge related to the capturing and distribution of excess heat, a third-party providing services related to the technical knowledge required could be beneficial. Collaborations in which one of the actors consists of an energy company often entail the technical knowledge required. This implies that different collaborations involving different types of actors and under different prevailing financial, technical and organisational conditions require customised and flexible business solutions. Local authorities could, through their overall function, initiate interorganisational collaborations on excess heat within the framework of municipal spatial planning. The results do however show that the investigated planning processes could develop more extensive stakeholder participation to include further societal actors related to excess heat. More extensive stakeholder participation, have the potential to initiate new development of collaborations on excess heat between normally unrelated actors, both with and without involvements of third-party knowledge brokers. A broader participation is also expected to result in increased knowledge on how to plan to further facilitate the condition of excess heat utilisation.

Download or read book The role of biogas in a more sustainable energy system in Sweden written by Sofia Dahlgren and published by Linköping University Electronic Press. This book was released on 2019-11-18 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are numerous problems in the world that need to be dealt with in order to achieve sustainable development. The energy system has significant negative impacts on many of these problems, and there is a need for a transition towards more sustainable energy. Sweden has already started this transition and is using large amounts of renewable energy. However, within the transport sector and the manufacturing sector in particular, large amounts of fossil fuels are still used. Biogas is one alternative that can help solve several sustainability problems and that could be part of a future more sustainable energy system. However, it is not certain what biogas is most suitable to be used for. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how biogas should be used in a future more sustainable energy system, by answering three research questions: 1) In what ways can biogas be used in a more sustainable energy system? 2) How can we assess whether biogas is suitable in a specific context? and 3) What determines whether it is easy or difficult for a user to start using biogas? These questions are explored in a Swedish context using four appended articles, which are based on two collaborative projects using a combination of workshops, literature reviews and interviews. Biogas can be used for heat, electricity or fuel in the manufacturing or transport sector. In Sweden, heat and electricity are mainly of interest for smaller production scales, while production on larger scales will likely be dominated by upgrading mostly to CBG but also to LBG. CBG can be used for less energy-intensive purposes, such as cars or buses, while the growing interest in LBG in Sweden may open up new market segments for biogas which are more energy-intensive, such as heavy trucks or shipping, or in geographical locations that are further away from the site of production. Several sustainability assessment methods exist that can be used to evaluate whether biogas is suitable in a specific context, such as multi-criteria assessments or scenario analyses. These methods can include a number of different aspects that are relevant to biogas use, such as GHG emissions, safety issues, and the vitality of the surrounding region. In order to introduce biogas, six main factors were identified that can make this easier or more difficult: technical maturity, tank volume, distance between the producer and the user, scale of energy use, policies and costs, and strategies of individual organizations. Overall, the rise in LBG production creates new opportunities for biogas use in both geographical and usage areas that did not previously use biogas. There is no simple answer to what biogas should be used for in the future – rather, this depends on the circumstances. It is also possible that the usage areas that are most suitable now for biogas might not be the most suitable areas in the future, depending on developments within, for example, the electricity system and hydrogen. However, CBG and LBG are likely to dominate biogas production in Sweden until then.

Download or read book Fishing gear recycling technologies and practices written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2023-11-07 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This document is a report on the technical aspects and current examples of fishing gear recycling as an option for end-of-life fishing gear waste management and pollution control. The report also discusses fishing gear recycling options in the context of circular economy and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principles. This report will be used for knowledge sharing, dissemination and capacity building purposes. It will assist with planning of GloLitter Partnerships pilot projects around cost–benefit analyses for end-of-life fishing gear port reception facilities, which can support fishing gear recycling. It will also assist with planning of GloLitter Partnerships phase II “pilot projects” to practically implement the proposed fishing gear recycling management systems and incentive schemes. The objectives the report are: summarize current fishing gear recycling technologies; share global case studies of fishing gear recycling initiatives; review the application of circular economy and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principles to fishing gear recycling; discuss trade-offs between available fishing gear recycling options, and recommend best practices for fishing gear recycling under differing socioeconomic and environmental contexts that progress circular economy and EPR principles.

Download or read book Human Machine Symbiosis written by Karamjit S. Gill and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is now a serious discussion taking place about the moment at which human beings will be surpassed and replaced by the machine. On the one hand we are designing machines which embed more and more human intelligence, but at the same time we are in danger of becoming more and more like machines. In these circumstances, we all need to consider: • What can we do? • What should we do? • What are the alternatives of doing it? This book is about the human-centred alternative of designing systems and technologies. This alternative is rooted in the European tradition of human-centredness which emphasises the symbiosis of human capabilities and machine capacity. The human-centred tra dition celebrates the diversity of human skill and ingenuity and provides an alternative to the 'mechanistic' paradigm of 'one best way', the 'sameness of science' and the 'dream of the exact language'. This alternative vision has its origin in the founding European human-centred movements of the 1970s. These include the British movement of Socially Useful Technology, the Scandinavian move ment of Democratic Participation, and the German movement of Humanisation of Work and Technology. The present volume brings together various strands of human-centred systems philosophy which span the conceptual richness and cultural diversity of the human-centred movements. The core ideas of human-centredness include human-machine symbiosis, the tacit dimension of knowl edge, the system as a tool rather than a machine, dialogue, partici pation, social shaping and usability.

Download or read book Resource Efficiency of Processing Plants written by Stefan Krämer and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-05-07 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph provides foundations, methods, guidelines and examples for monitoring and improving resource efficiency during the operation of processing plants and for improving their design. The measures taken to improve their energy and resource efficiency are strongly influenced by regulations and standards which are covered in Part I of this book. Without changing the actual processing equipment, the way how the processes are operated can have a strong influence on the resource efficiency of the plants and this potential can be exploited with much smaller investments than needed for the introduction of new process technologies. This aspect is the focus of Part II. In Part III we discuss physical changes of the process technology such as heat integration, synthesis and realization of optimal processes, and industrial symbiosis. The last part deals with the people that are needed to make these changes possible and discusses the path towards a resource efficiency culture. Written with industrial solutions in mind, this text will benefit practitioners as well as the academic community.

Download or read book Economics of Industrial Ecology written by Jeroen C. J. M. van den Bergh and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Studies that integrate scientific, technological, and economic dimensions of industrial ecology and material flows. The use of economic modeling techniques in industrial ecology research provides distinct advantages over the customary approach, which focuses on the physical description of material flows. The thirteen chapters of Economics of Industrial Ecology integrate the natural science and technological dimensions of industrial ecology with a rigorous economic approach and by doing so contribute to the advancement of this emerging field. Using a variety of modeling techniques (including econometric, partial and general equilibrium, and input-output models) and applying them to a wide range of materials, economic sectors, and countries, these studies analyze the driving forces behind material flows and structural changes in order to offer guidance for economically and socially feasible policy solutions. After a survey of concepts and relevant research that provides a useful background for the chapters that follow, the book presents historical analyses of structural change from statistical and decomposition approaches; a range of models that predict structural change on the national and regional scale under different policy scenarios; two models that can be used to analyze waste management and recycling operations; and, adopting the perspective of local scale, an analysis of the dynamics of eco-industrial parks in Denmark and the Netherlands. The book concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of an economic approach to industrial ecology.

Download or read book Handbook of the Circular Economy written by Miguel Brandão and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2020-12-25 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This crucial Handbook brings together the latest thinking on the circular economy, an area that has increasingly caught global attention. Contributors explore a broad range of themes such as recycling systems and new business models, as well as consolidating the many ways in which the topic has been dealt with in research, business and policy-making. The Handbook of the Circular Economy is not only relevant, but also essential for students, academics, and policy-makers trying to make sense of the plethora of ways in which the term has been applied and interpreted.

Download or read book Plastic Waste Markets written by David McKinnon and published by Nordic Council of Ministers. This book was released on 2018-05-29 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This project examines the market for recycled plastic, with a primary focus on post-consumer plastic waste because this is considered to be the more problematic. The market for plastic waste generated in manufacturing and production is relatively strong and well-functioning; As a consequence, the majority of plastic waste from manufacturing and production is recycled. Post-consumer waste is much less homogenous: it comes from a wide variety of sources, and contains a wide variety of plastics and tends to be difficult to collect, sort, and recycle. This project identifies barriers to further utilisation of recycled plastics, and analyses a collection of policy tools that could be used to support and expand that market.

Download or read book Tourism Destination Development written by Arvid Viken and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-02-24 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although blurred and heavily contested, the concept of ’tourist destination’ still deserves careful attention. Despite its unstable characteristics, ’destination’ is a central and meaningful term in play among all parties in the field of tourism, including tourists, tourism operators, and politicians, as well as students and tourism scholars. This anthology draws on different approaches and discourses of tourism destination development, while focusing on how they are shaped and reshaped and how they should be read and rehearsed. The book reveals dominant as well as alternative approaches to the field. The authors demonstrate how tourism destinations are commercial, but socially embedded; how they are both material and territorial, but at the same time socially constructed; how production of touristic brands and images are vital, but contested. Such tensions are unfolded through paradigmatic discussions and a series of case studies from the northern hemisphere. The chapters in the book investigate how destination development is catalysed through theming, how changing environments lead to reorientations, and how destinations are political. Altogether, the book provides experts and students with an up-to-date theoretical and empirical insight into tourist destinations.

Download or read book Lessons From The Arctic written by Emily Tsui and published by Mosaic Press. This book was released on 2020-08-06 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lessons from the Arctic: The Role of Regional Government in International Affairs is a collection of articles written by twenty-six leading and emerging scholars from across the circumpolar region. Each author assesses and explores the processes of regional governance in the Arctic from an interdisciplinary perspective. The topics include Indigenous internationalism, paradiplomacy, federalism, global institution-building, and more.

Download or read book Sustainability Solutions written by Axel Lindfors and published by Linköping University Electronic Press. This book was released on 2020-04-08 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sustainable development is one of the most influential visions guiding future societies. Encompassed within its vision are various domains where improvements are desirable such as, social equity, environmental degradation, climate change. In the work towards sustainable development firms, government authorities and individuals face various practical challenges tied to these sustainability domains. When facing these challenges, they may implement sustainability solutions, that is, solutions that are framed in the context of contributing to sustainable development. This thesis deals with a particular sub-set of such sustainability solutions, namely integrative and multi-functional solutions. These solutions are characterized by the ability to provide different functions through value creation within several different sustainability domains and require organisations, or units of organisations, to further integrate material, energy and informational flows in order to implement the solution. Integrative and multi-functional solutions may play an important part in the transition towards sustainable societies since the integration of material, energy and informational flows may bring with it synergistic benefits. Furthermore, the contribution of these solutions to several different sustainability domains reduces the risk of problem shifting, and it may be more cost-efficient to have one multi-functional sustainability solution than to have one for each sustainability- related challenge. However, if integration and multi-functionality are desirable characteristics of future socio-technological systems, we need ways to systematically assess them and facilitate their implementation. When it comes to the assessment, there is a need to find an assessment methodology that can handle capturing the synergistic benefits and multiple functions of such solutions. Furthermore, the methodology also has to conform to the value pluralism inherent to sustainable development. Dealing with this value pluralism when trying to assess which solution, among many, to implement can be challenging as comparative judgements have to handle potentially conflicting value orientations, goals, empirics and ontologies. As for the facilitation of their implementation, integrative and multi-functional solutions tend to be more difficult—or at least different—to implement than traditional single-minded solutions since they require traditionally separate organisations to cooperate Therefore, this thesis aims to contribute to understanding the process of implementing integrative and multi-functional solutions. Specifically the thesis explores how to select indicators for assessment, how assessments may aid decision-makers to deal with the value pluralism of sustainable development when making comparative judgements and how to strengthen the internal capacity of groups of actors to engage in collective action. Regarding the selection of indicators, the thesis suggests two different pathways. Either one may base indicator selections on stakeholder discussions, where stakeholders come to a consensus around which indicators are important to assess, or one may base indicators on operationalising pre-defined sustainability objectives: namely, sorting, contextualising and reformulating pre-defined sustainability objectives so that they fit the purpose of the assessment. A mix of both pathways is also possible, in other words, using both stakeholder discussions and the operationalisation of pre-defined sustainability objectives to motivate and justify the selection of indicators. As for how assessments may aid decision-makers, the thesis advocates for a discursive approach based on the primacy of decision support tools over decision-making tools. Meaning that the tools should support informed decisions but not make them for the decisionmaker. Here, contributions are made in the form of motivations for the discursive, qualitative approach to decision-making and exemplify how decision support tools may be designed, and a method is presented and developed that enables this kind of informed comparative judgements. This method builds on multicriteria decision analysis methodology but makes a few key contributions to the selection of indicators (mentioned previously) and to how to compare different alternatives and judge which of the alternatives is the preferred. Finally, contributions are made to the practice of facilitating integrative and multi-functional solutions through showing how the theory of institutional capacity building can be used to guide design, development and evaluation of interventions aimed at facilitating such solutions. Institutional capacity building represents the ability of groups of actors to engage in collective action, something that seems to be often needed to implement integrative and multi-functional solutions. Historically, this theory has been used to study how different events influenced the capacity of actors to engage in collective action. However, in research performed within the bounds of this thesis, the theory is expanded for use in a proactive manner, thereby contributing with insights and inspiration to others that may seek to facilitate the implementation process of integrative and multi-functional solutions.