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Abstract Regenerative eco-innovation , demanding radical and architectural change to restore, renew and revitalise the natural system, is arguably the most important type of eco-innovation to address the pressing challenges of sustainable development. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of the regulatory framework and wider contextual conditions in facilitating or hindering regenerative eco-innovations. This is especially relevant for the built environment, a sector that is highly regulated and where rates of innovation are typically slow. We combined a review of relevant archival material with an interview programme involving key stakeholders from the UK's built environment sector. We contribute to the literature by extending and elaborating our understanding of regenerative eco-innovation in two ways. First, we extend the literature on regulation and eco-innovation by exploring what constitutes high quality regulation in the context of regenerative development. Second, we elaborate on how regenerative eco-innovations are facilitated or hindered by wider contextual conditions. Our paper also has practical utility. More understanding of how effective regulation can support regenerative eco-innovations, and of how the wider contextual conditions facilitate or hinder regenerative eco-innovations, allows industry and government to respond better to the urgent global challenge of closing material cycles. Highlights • Explores the influence of regulation and wider contextual conditions on regenerative eco-innovation • Focuses on a case study of extracted materials in the UK built environment sector • Extends and elaborates our understanding of regenerative eco-innovation in two ways: • what constitutes high quality regulation in the context of regenerative development • how the regulatory roots of regenerative eco-innovation are affected by wider contextual conditions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Progressing towards sustainable development remains a key global challenge. And yet, the various interpretations of the concept of sustainable development and the questions it raises about economic growth make its implementation difficult. Higher education institutions may help to overcome these difficulties by developing new processes of change. However, to achieve this they need to integrate sustainable development in all their areas of activity. The aim of this paper was to develop new insights into organisational change processes in universities relating to sustainable development. Contributing to this aim, this paper reports on a case study of United Kingdom higher education drawing on findings and conclusions from a survey of their policy frameworks relating to sustainable development. The method comprised a critical policy analysis in order to identify, differentiate and categorise stakeholder interactions. The data generated comprised the range of higher education stakeholders and the network of interactions that they formed. Theoretical insights from social network analysis, stakeholder theory and the normative business model were used to find opportunities to address the difficulties in the implementation of sustainable development. Results suggested that the existing networks identified in the policy frameworks may not support the effective integration of sustainable development in higher education. Low-density of the national networks; the lack of a clear governance vocabulary for national policy frameworks; and the lack of explicit funding flows between organisations all pose problems for organisational change towards sustainable development in higher education. Highlights • The paper develops insights in organisational change at universities in sustainable development. • Critical policy analysis identifies, differentiates and categorises stakeholder interactions. • Social network analysis, stakeholder theory, Normative Business Model inform interpretation. • Density, governance and funding of policy networks could aid change at universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has recently received increasing attention among UK manufacturing firms, there is a concern as to whether SSCM practices are being implemented because they are profitable or only because of governance coercive pressure. Thus, the aims of this paper are twofold: first, determining the role of governance in the adoption of SSCM practices; second, investigating whether SSCM practices can be both environmentally beneficial and commercially viable. In light of these issues, this paper develops and empirically assesses an integrated model of governance pressures-SSCM practices-performance. Data was collected from 146 UK manufacturing managers, and analysed using the structural equation modelling method. Exogenous driving forces of governance were found to be precursors to the successful implementation of SSCM practices. The empirical results further suggest that while the implementation of sustainable supply chain management has a positive effect on environmental performance, it does not necessarily lead to improved economic performance, as only sustainable procurement was found to have a positive effect on economic performance. This paper contributes to the literature by highlighting the role of governance in SSCM adoption and performance gains in environmental protection while economic performance is partially compromised. The results also provide useful insights for both managers seeking to adopt sustainable practices and policy-makers seeking to further promote sustainable supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product-Service Systems (PSSs) constitute a family of service-based business models designed to satisfy our societal needs in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner. To date however PSS application has remained niche due to a variety of critical barriers. This paper explores how ‘demand pull’ national government policies could support PSS activity by addressing these barriers and cultivating market demand. Lessons are drawn from a case study of how regulatory , economic incentive , informative and procurement policies have supported Energy Service Company (ESCo) activity in the UK; a sub-set of the PSS family focused on energy service provision. Subsequently five policy recommendations are presented to support PSS activity: (1) balancing economic incentives and regulatory disincentives; (2) promoting indirect policy support; (3) redesigning existing market structures; (4) promoting locally-led PSS activity; and (5) creating stable policy frameworks. The paper warns however that national government policy cannot easily address all PSS barriers, such as customer preferences, international developments, technological progress and inherent business model weaknesses, pointing to the need for other complementary solutions. Furthermore, other governance actors beside national government could also implement PSS supporting policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Process simulation is combined with life cycle assessment and life cycle costing. • Instant coffee has >2 times higher impacts and costs than ground coffee. • Light roasts have lower impacts and costs due to lower losses and energy use. • The coffee industry emits 863–894 kt CO 2 eq./y, or 1.3% of total from UK food sector. • This could be reduced by 4.9% through process and packaging improvements. With around two billion cups consumed daily worldwide, the coffee industry faces pressures to improve its sustainability. Focusing on the UK as the fifth largest coffee consumer in Europe, this paper presents for the first time a life cycle environmental and economic sustainability assessment of coffee production at the product and sectoral levels. Both gate-to-gate and cradle-to-gate system boundaries are considered to identify opportunities for improvements in the manufacturing process and along the supply chain. Process design and simulation are combined with life cycle assessment and life cycle costing to evaluate the sustainability of the production of ground and instant coffee roasted to different levels. Based on the functional unit of 1 tonne of coffee produced, instant coffee has higher impacts and costs than ground coffee for both system boundaries because it requires double the amount of green coffee beans and 7–11 times more energy. For gate-to-gate, roasting and packaging are the main contributors to the impacts and costs; for cradle-to-gate, cultivation of coffee beans and packaging are the hotspots. Light roasts generally have lower impacts and costs due to lower material losses and energy requirements. At the sectoral level, the coffee industry emits 863–894 kt CO 2 eq. annually, contributing 1.3% to the GHG emissions from the UK food and drinks sector. Key opportunities for improvements include switching to lighter roast and pouch packaging, as well as using air recirculation roasters and silverskin as fuel. These results will be of interest to the coffee industry, policy makers and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative consumption is an emerging socio-economic model based on sharing, renting, gifting, bartering, swapping, lending and borrowing. Made possible through community interaction and, increasingly, use of network technologies, these alternative and more sustainable ways of consuming have attracted growing attention for their potential to prevent new purchases, intensify the use of idle assets and promote reuse of possessions that are no longer wanted. Nonetheless, the uptake of Product-Service Systems (PSSs) that enable collaborative consumption is still very limited. This paper investigates how consumers' values can influence the acceptance, adoption and diffusion of collaborative consumption. It reviews two theoretical frameworks used to understand pro-environmental behaviour, social psychological models of behaviour and social practice theory. Coming from contrasting disciplinary perspectives, these approaches conceptualise values differently. The paper evaluates the possibility of resolving these differences through a mixed methods study. It examines values empirically through a case study of Ecomodo, a UK-based online marketplace where people can lend and borrow each other's objects, spaces and skills, and present the results of a quantitative study which identified and measured value priorities among Ecomodo users through Schwartz's Portrait Value Questionnaire. It concludes with a discussion of the role of values in relation to the introduction and scaling up of PSSs that enable collaborative consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel multicriteria (MCDM) framework using AHP and q-ROLPBM operator is presented. • We incorporate stakeholders' degree of pessimistic and optimistic rate for all criteria. • Environmental and economic are the most crucial dimensions followed by social and technical ones. • e-fuel and e-biofuel are found to be the two top ranked production pathways. • Findings are valuable for policy/investment development for sustainable fuel production. It is widely believed that alternative low carbon fuels (ALCF) can be instrumental in achieving the transportation sector's decarbonization goal. Unlike conventional fossil-based fuels, ALCF can be produced through a combination of different chemical processes and feedstocks. The inherent complexity of the problem justifies the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to support decision-making in the presence of multiple criteria and data uncertainty. In this paper, we propose a novel stakeholder participation-based MCDM framework integrating experts' perspectives on ALCF production pathways using the analytics hierarchy process (AHP) and the q-rung orthopair linguistic partition Bonferroni mean (q-ROLPBM) operator. The key merit of our approach lies in treating criteria of different dimensions as heterogeneous indicators while considering the mutual influence between criteria within the same dimension. The proposed framework is applied to evaluate four ALCF production pathways against 13 criteria categorised under economic, environmental, technical, and social dimensions for the case of the United Kingdom (UK). Our analysis revealed the environmental and the economic dimensions to be the most important, followed by the social and technical evaluation dimensions. The e-fuel followed by the e-biofuel are found to be the two top-ranked production pathways that utilise the electrochemical reduction process and its combination with anaerobic digestion. These findings, along with our recommendations, provide decision-makers with guidelines on ALCF production pathway selection and formulate effective policies for investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) requires appropriate pedagogies that engage learners in transformative learning. These pedagogies include reflective and active learning, involving experiential, collaborative and learner-centred activities. This paper discusses student experiences and perceptions of an interdisciplinary social science ESD course at a UK university that incorporated reflective and active learning by using a 'flipped classroom' (FC) design and innovative assessments. FC creates time in class for reflective and active learning by moving content acquisition to pre-class study. Adoption of the flipped classroom in social sciences is rare and literature on use of FC for ESD is very scarce; hence this paper offers valuable insights into the design of a flipped social science ESD course, and participants' responses. Results of two surveys demonstrate very positive student perceptions of the course, and illustrate several benefits of the FC design. Over 90% of respondents agreed that in-class active learning exercises made the classes more engaging and the material more memorable than usual, offering useful opportunities to put information/learning into practice, with most students expressing strong agreement. In-class mini-lectures were nevertheless also appreciated, as were reflective practices. A large majority of the students considered the workload reasonable. Findings also reveal the importance of incentivising pre-class preparation using graded assessments such as quizzes, which additionally helped students understand/remember content, and gave confidence about contributing in class. It is clear that the active and reflective learning that FC facilitates engages students in ESD. The paper concludes by offering recommendations for successfully implementing this approach. • Discusses an interdisciplinary ESD course that uses a 'flipped classroom' design. • >90% of students said in-class active learning exercises made classes more engaging. • Reflective practices and in-class mini-lectures were also appreciated. • Incentivising pre-class preparation using graded assessments is important. • Flipped class facilitates active and reflective learning that engages students in ESD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK Government has set out ambitious plans for all new domestic and commercial buildings to be zero carbon rated by 2016 and 2020 respectively. These are some of the most progressive environmental targets for the built environment in the western world. However, there are also other sustainability issues that need to be addressed by the UK construction industry, particularly negative impacts from the generation of waste. Currently, 100 million tonnes of construction waste, including 13 million tonnes of unused materials, is generated each year, with only 20% currently capable of being recycled. The majority of this waste ends up in landfill, contributing to further pollution of the biosphere. The literature suggests that these negative impacts result from a variety of causes, including ineffective leadership, ingrained cultures, outdated technologies and poor logistics. There are a number of innovative projects within the UK, particularly at a local level, that pose the question as to whether bottom up approaches may be more successful than top down policies, as set by national and local government. This paper presents a case study demonstrating the former approach within the construction industry. Research and consultancy has been undertaken collaboratively between industry, academia and professional practice in the production of 15 individually designed sustainable dwellings in the North East of England. This project has employed Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a new collaborative working platform, aligned to the Modern Method of Construction (MMC). By situating this inquiry within an authentic case study it has highlighted ineffective strategies, policies and leadership, which have prevented full exploitation of the potential of BIM and MMC towards sustainable production. This inquiry supports the integration of the Framework for Sustainable Strategic Development (FSSD) into construction procurement, as a method for implementing bottom up leadership in a value driven project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Sustainable consumption demands the ability to understand the patterns of resource consumption associated with changing lifestyles. This paper explores changes in resource consumption patterns in the UK between 1968 and 2000. Using an environmental input–output model, the paper tracks the fossil resource requirements attributable to 8 high-level functional purposes and finds that overall fossil resource consumption increased 35% over the 32 year period. The four functional purposes most closely related to the provision of basic material needs showed little change over the period. The bulk of the increase in fossil resource requirements was attributable to two specific functional purposes: 1) recreation and entertainment; 2) commuting and business travel. The authors discuss the relevance of these findings for the continuing debate over the question whether rising consumption is being driven by expanding social aspirations (luxury) or whether it is the result of structural lock-in. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cities have become important drivers in promoting strategies for sustainable development. The primary objective of this article is to analyze the differences between public transportation in Newcastle upon Tyne, the city considered the most sustainable in the United Kingdom, and Florianópolis, a city with great potential for sustainable policies located in southern Brazil. This comparison may provide models, ideas and actions for the development of Florianópolis as a model of sustainability in South America. Therefore, a comparative analysis is provided: to observe changes, build models, and verify similarities and differences, while seeking to discover which behaviors govern political and social phenomena in the area of urban sustainability. This paper provides a comparative description of social and economic indicators: gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, inflation, employment, as well as the historical population evolution of the two cities. This work contrasts the sustainable transport model used by Newcastle and the reality of the transport needs of Florianópolis. This article is the first in a series to analyze the indicators for sustainable cities, focusing mainly on the reality of the South American city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies face challenges and need support when applying specific knowledge to their innovation processes, such as design for sustainability. The providers of innovation support in innovation systems are intermediaries. While the literature on intermediaries focuses on various roles and approaches, the way in which intermediaries function in specific fields such as design for sustainability remains underexplored. This paper investigates how intermediaries provide innovation support in the design for sustainability field today, with a focus on the services and support they offer, the approaches and drivers that shape them, as well as the challenges of the intermediation process, particularly concerning sustainability and design. To do this, 14 intermediaries from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Turkey were investigated through case studies. The role of design in support processes, especially during implementation, the importance and types of collaborations among various actors of innovation systems, and the emergence of a new type of intermediary that promises radical innovation in sustainability are among the findings. In addition, based on the empirical data, we suggest a framework for describing the roles and attributes of a group of five intermediaries that meets the needs of all types of companies engaged in design for sustainability. Finally we offer suggestions for Turkey on how to raise the capacity of its intermediaries operating in the design for sustainability field, which might be applicable to other similar contexts as well. This study contributes to the theory and practice of innovation support in the sustainability field, from which all innovation system's actors, especially intermediaries and governmental institutions, might benefit in designing support programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses both quantitative and qualitative analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of government policy and support mechanisms in the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland in promoting bioenergy – a key technology fundamental to each country's decarbonisation strategies. It is crucial that countries develop effective policies and support mechanisms to grow sustainable bioenergy sectors. This paper analyses the success of bioenergy policies within each country and evaluates the importance of wider independent variables that collectively characterise the background to energy sector, economic and environmental dynamics. Statistical correlation and regression analyses are applied to identify if the policy landscape has had an identifiable impact on actual bioenergy development. Furthermore, the outputs from a stakeholder workshop and expert interviews are analysed to identify drivers and barriers to bioenergy. The result is a comprehensive analysis of the successes and challenges in bioenergy development, and possible lessons that can be drawn for future promotion of the sector. The research finds that the UK and Nordic countries have had different yet equally successful approaches to promoting bio-power and bio-heat respectively. However, the influence of wider factors within different countries is found to have a potentially greater collective impact on bioenergy than any single policy mechanism. Thus there is credence in learning lessons from what does and does not work in different countries, but countries also need to develop their own brands of policy interventions that suit their country's unique challenges. • Performance of bioenergy policies assessed for the UK, Denmark, Finland & Sweden. • Analyses through statistical tests, stakeholder engagement & expert interviews. • Wider factors can have greater collective impact on bioenergy than policy. • UK's approach to promoting bio-power achieved a successful step change in generation. • Nordic countries' success in bio-heat sector may have limited transferability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much geomorphological research has potential to be applied but this paper examines the extent and nature of actual applications to environmental management. It reviews how this work has expanded and changed and reflects on the stimuli, types of involvement, and attitudes. These aspects, and how geomorphology can be applied effectively, are exemplified by developments in coastal and river management in the UK, highlighting the contributions made by geomorphology to sustainable strategies. Applied geomorphology has been recognised as a topic and component within geomorphology throughout the last 50 yr, contributing about 10% of published research papers in the subject. Major increase in direct involvement with environmental policy and practice came in the 1980s and 1990s but it has been followed by enormous expansion since then, including employment of professional geomorphologists in all stages and scales of projects, from provision of specific solutions, to design and initiation of projects, through to national policy development. Major stimuli to this increase in application encompassed the evident failure and detrimental effects of earlier approaches using hard engineering, changes in environmental awareness and attitudes of the public, and increased threat of climate change and incidence of major storms and natural disasters. These led to developments in approaches that 'work with nature', implementation of demonstration projects in river restoration, managed coastal retreat and now Natural Flood Management, and the explicit need for geomorphological assessment of water bodies following EU legislation. These have contributed to produce the present situation where applied geomorphology is 'booming', with high demand for geomorphologists. Evidence is provided that geomorphologists have contributed significantly to this change in thinking and are now very actively involved in developing and applying means of using their understanding and skills to implement more sustainable management, to the benefit of the environment and society. • The progress of applied geomorphology over 50yr is reviewed, particularly in relation to coastal and river management. • Applied geomorphology papers have constituted about 10% of published research in geomorphology throughout that time. • Applied geomorphology has made significant contribution to development of sustainable approaches to environmental management. • Geomorphology has helped to change policies and practices towards strategies of 'working with nature'. • Applied geomorphology has become much more professionalised and is expanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conserving the planet for the next generation has come to be an essential component of sustainable development, with "future generations" being the term most frequently included when citing definitions of sustainable development. However, beyond words, does a concern for a future beyond the current generation have any bearing on actions taken in the present? This paper examines the concept of generativity (concern for the future) as a component of sustainable development and specifically, in relation to green consumption. A sub-set of data gathered through a survey which sought to explore constructs for a model for green consumer behaviour has been used to reflect particularly, on the relationship between generativity and green behaviour. Further, the data has been deployed to explore comparisons on the basis of gender and age but also differences between respondents in the UK and Portugal. The results show a positive correlation between generativity and green consumption values, as well as between generativity and buying behaviour, and generativity and prosocial attitude. The data does not support gender difference in terms of levels of concern, or differences between the two countries but age, is shown to be an influencing factor. The paper concludes that the concept of generativity merits further exploration. Image 1 • Generativity (concern for the future) is positively correlated with and green consumption values and buying behaviour. • Generativity is positively correlated with prosocial attitude. • Generativity is not influenced by gender. • There were no differences in generativity between the sample in the UK and Portugal. • There are differences in levels of generativity between those with children and those without. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Previous research suggests that, despite a desire to introduce environmental concerns into New Product Design, many companies in the northwest of England have not done so. In order to understand more about why companies do or do not take on sustainability methodologies, an entirely new and rigorous approach was taken. This paper therefore presents the results of a questionnaire investigating the up-take of Eco/Sustainable Design in manufacturing companies in Sweden – a country that might be considered more environmentally progressive than the UK – and discusses them alongside the results of an identical questionnaire in the UK. The results are presented in the context of risk and risk aversion/management – in particular the risk associated with taking on board Design for Sustainability as a design method or a company strategy. It is found that there is no clear “winner” in sustainability between UK and Swedish engineering companies; there is encouraging news in both countries, with a desire to practice sustainability, but some that is not so good with the number of companies that actually implement relevant methodologies. It is apparent that there are still hindrances and perceived risks preventing companies taking sustainability fully on board, despite the recognition that sustainability is a “good thing”; the importance of the implementation of sustainability has not yet been fully grasped by industry and by those with the responsibility required to effect any changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes the results of research designed to explore reporting of three indices (Corruption Perception Index, CPI; Human Development Index, HDI and the Ecological Footprint, EF) in the UK national press between January 1990 and December 2009. Reporting of the indices was assessed by: (a) the number of articles published each year mentioning the index at least once (b) a weighting of (a) allowing for the different circulation between newspapers (c) the diversity of newspapers having articles mentioning the index (using the Shannon Index). Results suggest that the EF scored highest across all three measures whereas the CPI was lowest. The EF was also more likely to be reported in terms that implied a sense of ownership as well as a concept and not just an index. Unlike the CPI and HDI, there is no single methodology for the EF with various groups having their own approach. These features appear to have aided the relative popularity of EF within newspaper reporting. Finally, there was typically little if any description within the articles of the methodology or assumptions that rest behind the indices. Hence they are usually presented as a ‘black box’ to provide authoritative support for statements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]