-1679476342.png){kind=logo}
Abstract
Faced with current challenges in society, many companies will need to develop more sustainable products in order to continue operations in the long term. Therefore, ways of identifying important sustainability considerations already in the early stages of material or product development are of importance. The article is based on action research in a material development project. The article provides a description of activities that were performed in the project in order to guide the material development process to enable more sustainable final products, reflections on the lessons learned from this project, and suggestions to similar projects in the form of an overall process based on team learning with the aim of guiding material development towards more sustainable products. The suggested process emphasises the material or product development team’s need to understand which surrounding world and future-oriented considerations will have significant impacts on the specific product’s sustainability performance.
Keywords
References
- 1. (1986). ‘Reinforcing organizational defensive routines: an unintended human resources activity’. Human Resource Management. 25, 4, 541-555 Google Scholar
- 2. (1989). ‘Participatory action research and action science compared: a commentary’. American Behavioral Scientist. 32, 5, 612-623 Google Scholar
- 3. (2008). Sustainability Indicators Measuring the Immeasurable?. London, UK:Earthscan Google Scholar
- 4. (2007). ‘A method for sustainable product development based on a modular system of guiding questions’. Journal of Cleaner Production. 15, 1, 1-11 Google Scholar
- 5. (2012). ‘Guiding development of wood-based materials for more sustainable products’. Chemical and Biological Engineering. Göteborg, Sweden:Chalmers University of Technology Google Scholar
- 6. (2010a). ‘The ageing society: an example of consequences for biomass use’, MFA-ConAccount Meeting ‘MFA for Sustainable Future’. Tokyo, Japan Google Scholar
- 7. (2010b). ‘Environmental challenges when developing renewable materials to replace non-renewable materials – guidance from LCA studies’. Tokyo:EcoBalance ‘Towards & Beyond 2020’ Google Scholar
- 8. (2013). ‘Changing from petroleum to wood based materials: critical review of how product sustainability characteristics can be assessed and compared’. Journal of Cleaner Production. 39, 372-385 Google Scholar
- 9. (2010). ‘Grasping the dynamic complexity of team learning: an integrative model for effective team learning in organisations’. Educational Research Review. 5, 111-133 Google Scholar
- 10. (2009). ‘Product development and learning in project teams: the challenges are the benefits’. Journal of Product Innovation Management. 26, 2, 123-138 Google Scholar
- 11. , I.R.L.C.D. (2009). ILCD Handbook: Analysis of existing Environmental Impact Assessment methodologies for use in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Background document, System Google Scholar
- 12. (1999). A Critical Review of Operational Valuation/Weighting Methods for Life Cycle Assessment. Stockholm, Sweden, AFR-report (AFN, Ed.): Swedish Environmental Protection Agency Google Scholar
- 13. (2009). ‘Recent developments in life cycle assessment’. Journal of Environmental Management. 91, 1, 1-21 Google Scholar
- 14. (1997). Assessing Sustainable Development: Principles in Practice. Winnipeg, Canada:International Institute for Sustainable Development Google Scholar
- 15. (2004). The Idea Book, Interesting Books. Stockholm Google Scholar
- 16. (1998). ‘Backcasting: a natural step when making sustainable development operational for companies’. Greener Management International. 23, 30-51 Google Scholar
- 17. (2000). ‘Backcasting – a framework for strategic planning’. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology. 7, 4, 291-308 Google Scholar
- 18. (2011). ‘Knowledge sharing and strategic fit in integrated product development projects: an empirical study’. International Journal of Production Economics. 132, 2, 186-196 Google Scholar
- 19. (2002). Environmental Management – Integrating Environmental Aspects into Product Design and Development. Geneva, Switzerland:International Organization for Standardization Google Scholar
- 20. (2006). ‘EcoDesign: what’s happening? An overview of the subject area of EcoDesign and of the papers in this special issue’. Journal of Cleaner Production. 14, 15–16, 1291-1298 Google Scholar
- 21. (2007). ‘Investigation into company specific design structure to rise design awareness’. Nordic Design Research Conference ‘Design Inquiries’. Stockholm, Sweden Google Scholar
- 22. (2012). The Green Engineer as an Enabler of Life-Cycle Management in Manufacturing: Models and Practices. Göteborg:Department of Energy and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology Google Scholar
- 23. (2006). Strategic Planning Towards Sustainability – An Approach Applied on a Company Level. Göteborg:Chalmers University of Technology Google Scholar
- 24. (2008). ‘Introducing templates for sustainable product development: a case study of televisions at the Matsushita Electric Group’. Journal of Industrial Ecology. 12, 4, 600-623 Google Scholar
- 25. (2004). ‘Life cycle assessment Part 2: current impact assessment practice’. Environment International. 30, 5, 721-739 Google Scholar
- 26. (2004). ‘Life cycle assessment Part 1: framework, goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, and applications’. Environment International. 30, 5, 701-720 Google Scholar
- 27. (1997). ‘Sustainable product development: opportunities for developing countries’. Industry and Environment. 20, 1–2, 14-18 Google Scholar
- 28. (1998).
What is Participatory Action Research?.
(accessed 20 March 2013) , Action Research International, Paper 2 [online] http://www.aral.com.au/ari/p-ywadsworth98.html Google Scholar - 29. (2002). Analytical Tools for Environmental Design and Management in a Systems Perspective. Dordrecht, The Netherlands:Kluwer Academic Publishers Google Scholar
