‍

At the Sustainability Innovation Lab, we study the management of sustainability transformations of firms, industries, and geographic regions (cities and rural areas). Besides conducting research, we actively engage in application-oriented projects and cooperatewith industry partners.

In research, our North Star is the question:

How can firms and other organizations manage sustainable technologies to make their implementation economically attractive?

Our work dives deep into topics around sustainable business models,multi-actor constellations, as well as scaling. It covers digital technologiesand alternative "green" technologies (e.g., biogas as a car fuel) alike.

More specific questions that we have beenstudying include (non-exhaustive examples).

• How can companies implement sustainable business models?
• What business model archetypes emerge in specific sectors during the sustainability transition (e.g., smart cities;  electricity)?
• How can companies leverage digital technologies in sustainable business models?
• How can companies scale innovations that employ sustainable technologies? What is scaling in the first place?
• How can firms manage stakeholder engagement? How do stakeholder interests influence innovation processes and outcomes?
• How can multiple organizations jointly create sustainable value propositions (e.g., public-private collaboration)?       

Our findings on questions like these are published in top-tier academic journals as well as in practitioner-oriented articles and books. You can find an overview of our publications here.

In practice, we support private and public actors in mastering the opportunities and challenges of the sustainability transition. To this end, we use a variety of cooperation formats including inhouse education, student projects, research funding, and more. You can findan overview of some of our previous and ongoing projects here.

‍

If you are interested in exploring potential synergies, please contact us at sustainability.innovation@unisg.ch.