Eco-innovation

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Eco-innovation is the development of products and processes that contribute to

eco-innovation diffusion
.

Concept

The idea of eco-innovation is fairly recent.[1] One of the first appearances in the literature was in a 1996 book by Claude Fussler and Peter James.[2] In a subsequent article in 1997, Peter James defined eco-innovation as "new products and processes which provide customer and business value but significantly decrease environmental impacts".[3] Klaus Rennings[4] employs the term eco-innovation to describe three kinds of changes related to sustainable development: technological, social and institutional innovation.

Eco-innovation is sometimes called "environmental innovation", and is often linked with

Ecovation
is the process by which business adopts ecological innovation to create products which have a generative nature and are recyclable.

As a technological term

The most common usage of the term "eco-innovation" is to refer to

innovative products and processes that reduce environmental impacts, whether the main motivation for their development or deployment is environmental or not.[5] This is often used in conjunction with eco-efficiency and eco-design. Leaders in many industries have been developing innovative technologies in order to work towards sustainability
. However, these are not always practical, or enforced by policy and legislation.

As a social process

Another position held (for example, by the organisation Eco Innovation) is that this definition should be complemented: eco-innovations should also bring greater social and cultural acceptance. In this view, this "social pillar" added to James's[3] definition is necessary because it determines learning and the effectiveness of eco-innovations. This approach gives eco-innovations a social component, a status that is more than a new type of commodity, or a new sector, even though environmental technology and eco-innovation are associated with the emergence of new economic activities or even branches (e.g., waste treatment, recycling, etc.). This approach considers eco-innovation in terms of usage rather than merely in terms of product. The social pillar associated with eco-innovation introduces a governance component that makes eco-innovation a more integrated tool for sustainable development.

Examples

Diffusion

Literature in the field of eco-innovations often focuses on policy, regulations, technology, market and firm specific factors rather than

intention-behavior gap between high levels of public support for eco-innovations and frequent non-engagement or even local hostility towards specific project proposals.[8] Social psychology and economic behavior models could and should be used to overcome these challenges.[9][10] According to theory on the diffusion of innovation[11] different adopters of innovation can be in different stages of acceptance. Research on eco-innovations in the construction sector reveals that for eco-innovations to gain acceptance among B2B actors, in addition to having a reduced environmental footprint, they need to demonstrate improved efficiency, create new market opportunities, and help to change the mindset from the traditional mass production to that of creating value.[12] Hence, for such innovations to diffuse in a larger market they need to address industry-specific problems, and not simply act as a substitute for an existing technology.[12]

See also

References

  1. S2CID 142928354
    .
  2. ^ Fussler, C. & P. James, 1996; Driving Eco-Innovation: A Breakthrough Discipline for Innovation and Sustainability, Pitman Publishing: London, 364 p.
  3. ^ a b James, P., 1997; 'The Sustainability Circle: a new tool for product development and design', Journal of Sustainable Product Design 2: 52:57, http://www.cfsd.org.uk/journal
  4. doi:10.1016/S0921-8009(99)00112-3
    .
  5. ^ Carrillo-Hermosilla, J., del Rio, P. & Könnölä, T., 2009; Eco-Innovation: When Sustainability and Competitiveness Shake Hands, Palgrave Mcmillan: Hampshire, 256 p.
  6. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.01.083
    .
  7. S2CID 24787410
    .
  8. ^ Devine-Wright, Patrick, ed. (2011). Renewable energy and the public: from NIMBY to participation. Taylor & Francis.
  9. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2013.04.006
    .
  10. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2016.04.063
    .
  11. OCLC 439992230.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  12. ^
    S2CID 250572350
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eco-innovation&oldid=1217018108"