Eio Horizon 2011

New Horizons for
Eco-Innovation
Development
Opportunities, trends
and discontinuities
EIO Horizon Scanning Report

December 2011
EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 0

Eco-Innovation Observatory
The Eco-Innovation Observatory functions as a platform for the structured collection and
analysis of an extensive range of eco-innovation information, gathered from across the
European Union and key economic regions around the globe, providing a much-needed
integrated information source on eco-innovation for companies and innovation service
providers, as well as providing a solid decision-making basis for policy development.
The Observatory approaches eco-innovation as a persuasive phenomenon present in all

economic sectors and therefore relevant for all types of innovation, defining eco-innovation as:
“Eco-innovation is any innovation that reduces the use of natural resources and decreases the
release of harmful substances across the whole life-cycle”.
To find out more, visit www.eco-innovation.eu
Any views or opinions expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect the position of the European Commission.

Editor
Jarmo Vehmas
Authors
Finland Futures Research Centre
Jarmo Vehmas
Anne Karjalainen
Leena Saarinen
Ville Lauttamäki
Matthew Berglund
Anna Kairamo
A note to Readers
Any views or opinions expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect the position of the European Commission. A number of companies are presented as illustrative
examples of eco-innovation in this report. Their inclusion in this report does not imply that EIO endorses
these companies and, it should also be noted that, the report is not an exhaustive source of information
on innovation at company level.
This document is available for download from www.eco-innovation.eu

Table of contents
List of Figures...................................................................................................................................................... 4
List of Tables ....................................................................................................................................................... 4
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 8
1 | Setting the Scene ......................................................................................................................................... 10

1.1 | Eco-innovation in the electric media ....................................................................................................... 10
1.2 | The visibility of eco-innovation in diverse information sources ............................................................... 15
1.3 | Resource efficiency and productivity in diverse information sources ...................................................... 19
1.4 | Eco-innovations and emerging technologies .......................................................................................... 23
2 | Eco-Innovation in foresight studies and visions ...................................................................................... 25

2.1 | Eco-innovation in future related scientific articles ................................................................................... 25
2.2 | Eco-innovation in company visions and foresight studies – Locality, transparency and cradle-to-
cradle ............................................................................................................................................................ 26
3 | Key areas relating to resource-efficiency and sustainable material cycles ........................................... 29

3.1 | Visions for sustainable cities ................................................................................................................... 29
3.2 | Transition towards sustainable water management infrastructure .......................................................... 33
3.3 | Nature as a mentor to optimising resources, developing new materials and inventing novel
techniques ....................................................................................................................................................... 35
3.4 | From cradle-to cradle: assuming the circular energy and material flows in societies ............................ 39
3.5 | Getting to Zero waste .............................................................................................................................. 43
3.6 | Discontinuity creating ground for systemic eco-innovations ................................................................... 44
3.6.1 | Food demand on the rise, new horizons for household diets ........................................................ 46
3.6.2 | Ambient intelligence – intelligence embedded in living environment ............................................. 47
3.6.3 | Biotechnology revolutionising material cycles ............................................................................... 48
3.7 | Factors preventing eco-innovation implementation (STEEPV analysis - Society, technology,
economy, environment, politics and values) ................................................................................................... 50
3.7.1 | Barriers for implementing eco-innovations in STEEPV -framework .............................................. 50
3.7.2 | Most important barriers and ways to overcome them .................................................................... 54
4 | Main findings and key messages ............................................................................................................... 56
References ......................................................................................................................................................... 58
Annex I ............................................................................................................................................................... 66

List of Figures
Figure 1 | Source: Meltwater News 30.6.2011.. ...........................................................................................10
Figure 2 | Eco-innovation in the worldwide media. Search conducted with translations of the word “eco-
innovation” in ten most spoken languages of the world.. ..............................................................................12
Figure 3 | Eco-innovation in the EU-27 countries in electric media between 1.7.2010 – 30.6.2011.. ..........13
Figure 4 | Source: Meltwater News 30.6.2011.. ...........................................................................................14
Figure 5 | EIO’s core keywords in the electronic media.. .............................................................................15
Figure 6 | EIO’s core keywords in the scientific articles. ..............................................................................16
Figure 7 | EIO core keywords in the internet. ...............................................................................................17
Figure 8 | Eco-innovation synonyms in the electronic media. ......................................................................18
Figure 9 | Eco-innovation synonyms in the scientific articles. ......................................................................19
Figure 10 | Eco-innovation synonyms in the internet....................................................................................19
Figure 11 | Resource efficiency related keywords in patents. ......................................................................20
Figure 12 | Energy efficiency connected with innovation in scientific articles...............................................21
Figure 13 | Resource efficiency related keywords in the internet.. ...............................................................22
Figure 14 | Resource productivity related keywords connected with innovation in the internet.. .................22
Figure 15 | Resource productivity related keywords connected with innovation in the internet.. .................23
Figure 16 | Emerging technologies and eco-innovations presented in news (MWN) and scientific articles
(SCO) worldwide in 2006-2011.. ...................................................................................................................24
List of Tables
Table 1 | Ten most spoken languages in the world.. ....................................................................................11
Table 2 | Example of the cradle-to-cradle process in nature and in manufacture.........................................40

Executive Summary
Eco-innovation Observatory (EIO) is a three-year initiative, financed by the European
Commission (DG Environment). Its purpose is to gather and analyse an extensive range of
information regarding eco-innovations, particularly eco-innovation trends and markets. The
scope of the gathered information is in Europe and beyond. The EIO collects and analyses
data regarding different stages of time from historical trends to estimates of the future
developments of eco-innovation, which are related to emerging markets, emerging
technologies and emerging areas.
This second Horizon Scanning report 2011 “New Horizons for eco-innovation development:
opportunities, trends and discontinuities” aspires to present the future opportunities both
environmentally and economically beneficial to companies and consumers alike. In addition,
the eco-innovation trends collected from diverse information sources are presented here.
Furthermore, some future “discontinuities”, the reversals of existing trends or game altering
events are also considered and embellished with examples. Eco-innovation barriers are
presented to add a deeper understanding of factors in a way of successful eco-innovation
implementation.
Introduction
Horizon scanning as a methodological tool is introduced along with its utilization in the EIO context.
Horizon scanning aims at recognizing issues that are just beginning to emerge. It is a way to challenge
past assumptions of future developments. Horizon scanning in the EIO context launches the Foresight
activities each year and bolsters upcoming Delphi process and other EIO activities.
Setting the scene
In the worldwide electric media, the eco-innovation coverage is the widest in Europe, North America and
Asia Pacific (when data is proportioned to sources available in Meltwater News media monitoring tool).
In Europe, the widest eco-innovation electronic media coverage appears to be in Luxembourg, followed
by Spain, Ireland, Finland and Sweden. When eco-innovation visibility is compared by utilising other
information sources (scientific articles, internet, electric media and patents), it is evident that ‘energy’
and ‘energy efficiency’ tied with ‘eco-innovation’ lead overwhelmingly in it visibility in most cases over
other resources (namely water, materials and land) and other resource related efficiencies (material
efficiency, resource efficiency).
Eco-innovation in foresight studies and visions
Here, the scan of future studies literature on the topic of eco-innovation was conducted. Both scientific
articles containing scenarios, roadmaps or visions and company visions of a selection of small and
medium sized (SME) companies with some comparisons to larger companies were analysed. Based on

scientific articles emphasis of the studies is yet again in energy-related topics, especially in the reduction
of greenhouse gases and renewable energies. Few other topics with more comprehensive focus on
systemic changes relating to comprehend other natural resources as well were about innovative city
planning or social change. A cap was observed in the future research concerning issues related to other
pressing environmental challenges (i.e. biodiversity loss and nitrogen cycle) and their solutions.
According to the exploration in SME company visions and strategies and related literature, a vast
majority seems to lack comprehensive strategies and visions related to their environmental impact.
Interestingly, those SME companies, which do set the environmental goals and voice them in visions
and strategies, seemed to show a tendency to prefer holistic, cradle-to-cradle approaches instead of
end-of-pipe solutions.
Key areas relating to resource efficiency and sustainable material

cycles
Main interest of the year 2011 explorations to the environmental and business opportunities in relation to
eco-innovation lied in the system innovations, which have the potential to have a high impact in reaching
sustainability goals. Opportunities were recognized in the utilization of design philosophies of
biomimicry, cradle-to-cradle and zero waste. All these design philosophies are interlinked and aim to a
shift from today’s production and consumption patterns of resource extraction, consumption and waste
disposal to a more circular flow of natural resources, where “waste” from one process will become the
raw material for another process.
In addition, the efforts towards the overall aim of year 2011 Foresight activities, which is to map and
indicate emerging areas relevant for eco-innovation that might become future European Innovation
Partnerships or are relevant for the exiting European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs), have begun in this
chapter of this Horizon Scanning report. Future sustainable cities and water management are presented
in this context of European Innovation Partnerships. To add depth to the analyses, in parallel to the
“continuities” of the future development, namely historical trends, “discontinuities” are introduced. These
discontinuities contain an element of surprise; adopting a “discontinuous mindset” within a company,
feeds creativity and might lead to a breakthrough innovation, and further it can provide an edge in
enabling to surprise the competitors.
Main barriers to successful implementation of eco-innovations were the lack of understanding of the
necessity of sustainable ways of operating in every level of society and the shortage of economic
incentives for eco-innovation implementation. To overcome these barriers eco-innovation must be
rewarded by affecting the market conditions i.e. through education and regulation.
Main findings and key messages

 The comparative analysis on different (electric) information sources indicated that particularly
energy sector but also transportation and water related to eco-innovations have been the most
frequently represented. Energy related topics had the widest range of topics of which solar
energy seemed to have the strongest visibility. However, water related issues were a strong riser,
and particularly issues concerning ‘waste to water’ and ‘tidal’ or ‘wave’ power were reported
often.

 The emerging areas and opportunities related to eco-innovations concerned sustainable material
cycles and environmental systems. Particularly sustainable cities and water were highlighted in
this years’ horizon scanning. In this respect, sustainable water management infrastructure, new
materials as well as sustainable approaches related to ‘getting to zero-waste’, biomimicry and
cradle-to-cradle’ were identified as promising eco-innovation areas.
 From business perspective, discontinuities would be beneficial rather than detrimental. In terms
of eco-innovations, discontinuities could create opportunities in decrease of material cycles and
emissions e.g. through food production, biotechnology and intelligent IT-infrastructures.
 Barriers for implementing eco-innovations related particularly to systemic eco-innovations can be

reduced to two issues. Firstly, there is a lack of understanding on the necessity of sustainable
ways to operate on every level on the society. Secondly, the economic incentives for
implementing eco-innovations are insufficient. The most important change needed to promote the
implementation of eco-innovations would be to affect the market conditions (be that through
education, regulation, or something else) so that eco-innovations are rewarded.

Introduction
“New Horizons for eco-innovation development: opportunities, trends and discontinuities” is
the second horizon scanning report produced by the Eco-innovation Observatory (EIO). The
overall objective of the EIO is to provide an integrated information source on the current and
emerging eco-innovations trends to companies, innovation service providers as well as
decision-makers. This year, in the horizon scanning activities, our interests lie in the systemic
change that eco-innovations could ignite in the following decades, which again could create
new business opportunities especially for small and medium sized (SME) companies and
bring forth the principles of system level transitions towards more sustainable societies. In this
respect, eco-innovations can play a crucial part in advancing sustainable growth by creating
more resource efficient, ecological and competitive economy for Europe. Eco-innovations
answering to the environmental challenges, such as climate change and resource efficiency
could provide a key area also for the “Innovation Union” within the EU 2020 strategy that
promotes innovation partnerships and has recognised sustainable growth as one of its main
priorities.
To this end, this report aims to answer to the following questions:
 What are the emerging areas and opportunities relevant for eco-innovations?
 What are the continuities and discontinuities of future eco-innovation related development?
 Recognising the (present and future) relevant key areas related to resource-efficiency and
eco-innovations
 What are the defining barriers to the successful implementation of eco-innovations?
 What are the emerging technologies, areas and markets related to eco-innovations?
Horizon scanning is a methodological tool that aids in the identification of incipient developments and
issues that are of particular importance for future-oriented decision making. Scanning the horizon is a
way to challenge past assumptions on future developments and to provide new perspectives on future
threats and opportunities (Gordon & Glenn 1994: 1).
In providing knowledge of such developments and issues, horizon scanning acts as an early warning
system that allows for more informed planning and the revision of past assumptions (ibid.). However, the
goal of horizon scanning is not to rid the future of all uncertainty, but to provide decision-makers the
information that enables them to produce policies with sufficient flexibility (Sutherland & Woodroof 2009:
525).
Sutherland et al. (2008, 822) suggest that the most important activity horizon scanning has is the
recognition of issues that are just beginning to emerge. In their opinion, those are issues, which at the
present have highly uncertain impact. These issues Sutherland et al. name ‘weak or conflicting signals’.
Some of these signals will turn out to be irrelevant in the future, but the benefit of scanning of these
issues is that some will become central issues of the future (Sutherland et al. 2008, 822).

Brown, et al. (2005: 201) have arrived at a definition of horizon scanning that focuses on its usefulness
in the process of discovering and evaluating technological developments (particularly, medical
technologies):
“horizon scanning is a systematic process for objectively evaluating the status and potential
benefits of foreseeable technological developments based on contemporary research and
evidence”.
Horizon scanning does not constitute a stand-alone method; it is used to bolster other Future-Oriented
Technology Analysis (FTA) tools, such as expert surveys (Delphi) (van Rij 2010: 8). The wide scope of
horizon scanning facilitates the identification of themes that can then be subjected to more in-depth
analysis with other FTA tools (ibid.). EIO’s work package number 3: Prospective Analysis and Foresight
Activities contains a large variety of future-oriented methods, which are interlinked and each phase of
these activities provides input not only to other phases of foresight activities, but also other work
packages of the whole EIO-project. The horizon scanning process launches the prospective analyses
and foresight activities each year and is followed by an expert Delphi-process, which in return feeds data
to the impact analyses (both trend impact analysis and cross-impact analysis,) the future scenarios of
the particular years chosen topic and roadmaps.
The Internet has facilitated the readily access to large quantities of information, and this has recently
affected the horizon scanning activities as there has been the enormous growth on information available
to be scanned through (Tonn 2008). EIO Horizon scanning activities have sought to overcome this
challenge by managing the information loads by scanning relevant data from various sources. (See
detailed keyword-based results in the annexes of this report).
First, the most important data sources were different scientific article databases. The Web of Science
(WOS) has been used regularly. The WOS database grants access to over 10,000 high-impact scholarly
journals in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. In addition, the WOS has been
supplemented by Scopus database, a collection of nearly 18,000 scientific journals and 600 trade
publications. In addition, Google Scholar has been used in the scans, the scientific article search
machine, which is freely accessible to all online. Secondly, the scans of patent data were conducted
using the European Patent Office Worldwide Statistical Patent Database (PATSTAT). The PATSTAT
database contains 70 million patent records (63 million patent applications and 7 million granted patents)
from more than 80 countries.
Third, the electric news media coverage of eco-innovation related topics has been scanned regularly
utilising Meltwater News media monitoring service. Up-to-date news feeds enable us to follow the most
current new developments concerning eco-innovation activity. Also, the examination of the news
coverage of eco-innovations and related concepts can provide us with useful viewpoints to emerging
issues and interests in the area as well as to the present outlooks and differences between global
regions. In addition, search engine Google.com has been utilised to provide trends in the World Wide
Web. The searches were focused on the years 2006 – 2011 to ensure the novelty of the results.

1 | Setting the Scene
The overall purpose of this chapter is to provide a comparative content analysis of diverse
information sources, namely Meltwater News, Scopus, EPO Worldwide Statistical Database
(EPO Patstat) and World Wide Web (Google.com). Moreover, at the end of this chapter the
analysis moves forward to the trends of resource productivity and resource efficiency.
1.1 | Eco-innovation in the electric media
In comparison to Europe, Oceania and Asia, North America continues to be the leading area in terms of
news coverage when the generic eco-innovation1 query was conducted in English. Latin America and
Africa, in particular, showed significantly fewer results. Understandably, the developing economies are
difficult to analyse with electrical source media monitoring. This is due to the fact that roughly 1.5 billion
people worldwide live without access to energy and thereby no access to and influence on electronic
media. However, the three continents with the largest news coverage concerning eco-innovations in
general continue having a consistent growth in the amount of news (See Figure 1).
Figure 1 | Eco-Innovation in the electronic media
Eco-innovation in the electronic media of the three continents:

Europe, North America and Oceania
700
News proportioned to population
600
500
400 North America
300 Europe
Oceania
200
100
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Source: Meltwater News 30.6.2011. Note: Year 2011 figure is of the first six months only
1
Keywords used in the search query: eco-innovation, ecological innovation, clean innovation, green innovation, material

However, in order to avoid English as a language bias in this electric media analysis, other major
languages of the world need also to be taken into consideration. According to Ethnologue statistics
(Lewis 2009), the world’s most spoken languages in 2009 were Chinese (1,213 million speakers),
Spanish (329 million speakers), English (328 million speakers), Arabic (221 million speakers), Hindi (182
million speakers), Bengali (181 million speakers), Portuguese (178 million speakers), Russian (144
million speakers), Japanese (122 million speakers), German (90.3 million speakers) (see Table 1). The
English core keyword of EIO “eco-innovation” was translated into these ten languages.
Table 1 | Ten most spoken languages in the world
Source: Lewis 2009. Note: “Eco-innovation” translations made with Google Translator 31.8.2011
Thus, including all the ten different translations of “eco-innovation” in the major languages of the world,
North America is no longer self-evident leader in the news coverage of eco-innovation, as nine world
parts are compared (Africa, Asia Pacific, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Central America, Europe, Middle East,
North America, South America). As far as the absolute numbers of news articles published in the electric
media observed by Meltwater News, Europe and North America have been in the lead quite evenly
during the period of 1.1.2006–30.6.2011. When the data is proportioned to the amount of sources
tracked by Meltwater News, Asia Pacific2 interestingly has relatively the widest coverage in electric
media of the topic “eco-innovation” in all years between 1.1.2006–30.6.2011 except year 2009, when
North America seems to have a peak in the news coverage of eco-innovation (See Figure 2).
2
‘Asia Pacific’ includes American Samoa, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, India, Laos,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Palau, Pitcaim, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Tonga and Tuvalu, whereas, ‘Asia’
concludes Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
and Viet Nam. (Meltwater News 2011.)

Figure 2 | Eco-innovation in the worldwide media
Source: Meltwater News 31.8.2011. Search conducted with translations of the word “eco-innovation” in
ten most spoken languages of the world Note: Year 2011 figure is of the first six months only
Subsequent to the position of eco-innovation in the worldwide media, our interest lies in its visibility in
the EU-27 countries. The underlying assumption is that the more eco-innovation is visible in the media
the more eco-innovation related activities are being planned or implemented. According to the results,
Luxembourg seems to have the largest visibility as to eco-innovation in the electric media among the
EU-27 countries. Luxembourg is followed by Spain and the three other countries forming the top five are
Ireland, Finland and Sweden. Overall, it appears that eco-innovation as a concept is not particularly
visible in any EU-27 countries’ media, and in some countries, it is lacking completely in the media
discussion. It is probable that other terms and concepts are discussed instead, i.e. resource efficiency or
energy efficiency and innovation in general.

Figure 3 | Eco-innovation in the EU-27 countries in electric media between 1.7.2010 – 30.6.2011
Source: Meltwater News 14.9.2011. Numbers are proportioned to population and presented as hits per
1,000,000 capita
All of the following searches were conducted only in English. Subsequent keyword search included the
following criteria: Eco-innovation in general – with generic eco-innovation keywords connected to
chosen key areas: water, energy, materials and land-use. This criterion is based on the description of
the concept of eco-innovation as defined in the EIO project:
"Eco-innovation is the introduction of any new or significantly improved product (good or

service), process, organisational change or marketing solution that reduces the use of natural
resources (including materials, energy, water and land) and decreases the release of harmful
substances across the whole life-cycle."
Source: EIO 2010

Figure 4 | Eco-innovations & natural resources in the electronic media 2006 - 2011
Eco-Innovations & natural resources in the electric media 2006–2011

200000
180000
160000
140000
120000
water
100000 energy
materials
80000
land-use
60000
40000
20000
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Figure 4 presents the amount of global news coverage of natural resources combined with eco-
innovation. All the sectors, except land-use, demonstrated growth in the five-year period, but particularly
energy related news have shown fast growth. Although the other issues have not quite kept up with the
pace the energy has taken, the data indicates that after 2009 also water theme has begun to pick up the
speed in the amount of eco-innovations related news.
The energy related issues have taken a great leap particularly after 2008, which suggest the discussion
in media has been affected by the current financial crisis and debate on climate issues. Interestingly,
despite the public discussion upon energy efficiency and climate change issues, material related issues,
such as material consumption, efficiency or recycling and reuse, have not shown bigger growth rates in
the news during the past five years.

1.2 | The visibility of eco-innovation in diverse information
sources
The following analysis shifts to comparative content analysis of diverse information sources. Namely,
electric media monitored with Meltwater News, scientific articles scanned with Scopus, patent data
scanned with Patstat and internet search conducted with search engine Google.com.
EIO’s core keywords were defined as eco-innovation, environmental innovation, material innovation,
resource innovation and energy innovation. Subsequently, search queries were conducted with fore
mentioned tools. Interestingly, there was not a single patent found with any of these keywords in their
abstract between the years 1990 - 2010. This is due to the fact that patents are per definition innovative,
so the word “innovation” is not found in the title or the abstract of the respective patent. In electric media
discussion (See Figure 5.), all the core keywords were represented, and the most clearly visible of all
was energy innovation, which has been rising sharply as a topic during the past two years. Following,
yet far behind, is environmental innovation. Eco-innovation thus far is not as widely discussed topic as
many other terms, especially related to energy issues. Material innovation and resource innovation seem
to attract only mild interest in the electric media.
Figure 5 | EIO’s core keywords in the electronic media
In scientific articles environmental innovation as a topic has dominated the discussion in the long run
between the past 20 years (See Figure 6). Energy innovation has been more visible only in the year
2006 and intriguingly eco-innovation as a topic has been in a steep rise between the years 2009–2010,
currently dominating the academic discussion of these five topics. Material innovation appears to be
consistently in a low level of academic discussion and further, resource innovation has been a topic only
in five scientific articles scattered between the past 20 years, thus the line is not even visible in the
graph (6) below.

Figure 6 | EIO’s core keywords in the scientific articles
Source: Scopus 9.9.2011
It appears that in the Internet, energy innovation has mainly remained most visible of these five core
keywords, (except in the year 1993) and the concept is gaining increasing amount of attention in the
internet. Following energy innovation with upward curve is eco-innovation. Environmental innovation has
remained at a more modest level compared to the previous two concepts, but its visibility is in a slight
rise. Material innovation and resource innovation seem to be gaining lower visibility in the internet than
the other keywords. All in all, it seems, based on these data sources, that in patent abstracts these five
concepts are not used at all. In addition, energy innovation dominates as a topic in both electrical media
and internet. Finally, environmental innovation, with recent steep rise, and eco-innovation are the most
common terms in the academic discussion. Furthermore, material innovation and especially resource
innovation are still at notably lower level of visibility in comparison to other concepts in all information
sources explored here.
Another keyword set closely related to the core keywords of the EIO have been defined by the EIO
consortium to be “ecological innovation”, “green innovation” and “low carbon innovation”. “Ecological
innovation” and “green innovation” can be considered synonyms for “eco-innovation” and “environmental
innovation” and “low carbon innovation” represents one component of energy innovation.

Figure 7 | EIO core keywords in the internet
Source: Google.com
Consistent with earlier patent data query on EIO core keywords, also “ecological innovation”, “green
innovation” and “low carbon innovation” have not been mentioned at all in the patent abstracts between
the years 1990-2010 (see explanation above). In the electric media all of the keywords are somewhat
visible, but dominating all others and on a steep upward curve is green innovation (see Figure 8). This
might be due to the fact that “green innovation” is nearer to the colloquial language and it might evoke
more emotional responses in an average reader. Thus, it is perhaps used to awaken the interest of the
potential readers and to quickly to get the main message across to them.

Figure 8 | Eco-innovation synonyms in the electronic media
Eco-innovation synonyms in the Internet

400000
350000
300000
250000
Green innovation
200000
Low carbon innovation
150000
100000 Ecological innovation
50000
0
1991
1995
1990
1992
1993
1994
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Source: Meltwater News 30.8.2011 Note: Year 2011 figure is of the first seven months only
With ecological innovation and low carbon innovation being only randomly visible in the scientific
articles, green innovation surprisingly is somewhat visible also in the scientific articles during the last five
years and almost reaches the visibility of energy innovation in 2010. Environmental innovation and eco
innovation from previous EIO core keywords remain the most visible ones in the academic discussion.
By far, green innovation is the most visible in the internet in comparison to the other data sources. Also
low carbon innovation is gaining more and more visibility, even though the term does not reach the
visibility levels of the EIO core keywords. In summary, green innovation appears to be most visible of
these other eco-innovation related keywords with upward curve in all the sources monitored. Ecological
innovation does not seem to be as discussed as the other terms in any of the monitored sources. Low
carbon innovation on the other hand has also remained at a quite low level of visibility in both electric
media and scientific articles with slightly descendent curve, but conversely is gaining visibility in the
internet.

Figure 9 | Eco-innovation synonyms in the scientific articles
Figure 10 | Eco-innovation synonyms in the internet
Eco-innovation synonyms in the Internet
Green innovation
Low carbon innovation
Ecological innovation
Source: Google.com 20.9.2011

1.3 | Resource efficiency and productivity in diverse information
sources
In this section, focus of observation is shifted towards resource efficiency and productivity. Related
search queries were conducted with varying information sources and following keywords were tied to the
keyword “innovation”. Keywords tied to innovation were “eco-efficiency”, “environmental efficiency”,
“material efficiency”, “resource efficiency”, “energy efficiency”, “material productivity”, “resource
productivity” and “energy productivity”. Searches were conducted with various information sources
including Meltwater media monitoring tool, scientific article database Scopus, patent database Patstat
and internet search engine Google.com.
According to the search results from Patstat, energy efficiency dominates overwhelmingly in its visibility
during the period of 1990-2010 in the patent data in the logarithmic scale (See Figure 11).
Figure 11 | Resource efficiency related keywords in patents
Resource efficiency related keywords in

patents
1000
100
10
1
Eco-efficiency Environmental Material Resource Energy
efficiency efficiency efficiency efficiency
Source: Patstat 17.8.2011
Material efficiency and resource efficiency seem randomly visible in the patent data and eco-efficiency
and environmental efficiency hardly at all. “Material productivity”, “resource productivity” and “energy
productivity” bore no results at all from the patent data.
Following the pattern of the results in patent data, also in electric media energy efficiency (this time tied
with keyword innovation) seems to be extremely widely visible. “Energy efficiency” tied with innovation
produces overwhelming amount of results compared to all the other resource efficiency and productivity
related keywords chosen under observation in logarithmic scale. Energy efficiency and innovation is ten
times more visible than the second follower eco-efficiency.
All in all, efficiency related keywords seem to be dominating substantially over productivity related
keywords in visibility in the electric media. The overwhelming stance of energy efficiency and innovation
might be related to expectations of ever increasing international targets on energy efficiency related to
mitigation of climate change. Eco-efficiency follows far behind, but is still on the rise and quite visible in

the electric media. Resource efficiency follows eco-efficiency with an upward curve. Environmental
efficiency and material efficiency seem to be less visible concepts in the electric media. Energy
productivity and resource productivity connected with innovation are not widely apart in the results as
regard visibility. In some years (2006, 2010) resource efficiency is more visible than energy efficiency,
and conversely energy efficiency is more visible in the years between 2007–2009 and the year 2011. In
anyway, neither one is widely visible in the electric media. Material productivity connected to innovation
seems to be an extremely rare topic in the electronic media.
Energy efficiency tied with innovation is the most consistent of the resource efficiency and productivity
related keywords in scientific articles, for other keywords appearance in scientific articles is very seldom
and random. For instance, material efficiency began to show growth from 2008 onwards, and resource
efficiency as well as environmental efficiency were visible in the results, but did not show consistency at
growth rate. However, the combination of energy efficiency and innovation has been steadily
accelerating through the past 20 years (See Figure 12).
Figure 12 | Energy efficiency connected with innovation in scientific articles
However, when sourced from the internet resource efficiency related keywords tied with innovation
showed clearer consistency within the past twenty year scope (see Figure 13). Particularly, by 2010
eco-efficiency and resource-efficiency had sprang to growth, whereas material efficiency and
environmental efficiency did not show significant increase or decrease during the past twenty years but
have had slight tendency towards growth during the past five years.

Figure 13 | Resource efficiency related keywords in the internet
Resource efficiency related keywords in the Internet
resource efficiency +
innovation
eco-efficiency + innovation
environmental efficiency +
innovation
material efficiency +
innovation
Innovation and resource productivity related keywords sourced from the internet instead had had a
clearly less stable growth rates than the resource efficiency ones. In this search, only resource
productivity has been increasing relatively steadily during the past twenty years (See Figure 14). Both
energy and material productivity had strongly bulged and dropped in every ten to five years. What is
interesting is the simultaneity of the material and energy productivity, as their rates seem to go hand in
hand in regards of growth and fall.
Based on all the information sources scanned here, energy efficiency alone or tied with innovation is the
most visible in media, internet, scientific articles and patents. With cautious estimate of the results of this
scan, it seems that main efforts and focus within eco-innovation activities seem to have been in the long
term directed towards upgrading energy efficiency through innovation.
Figure 14 | Resource productivity related keywords connected with innovation in the internet

1.4 | Eco-innovations and emerging technologies
This section is based on the data scanning carried out in Meltwater News service and Scopus. In
addition, Web of Science was included in the data, yet the results were overlapping with Scopus. Thus,
here is only presented the results from Scopus and Meltwater News. The aim of the search was to
explore the recent scientific articles and news items concerning emerging technologies that are related
to eco-innovations. The searches were limited to three sets of keywords: 1) emerging technologies; 2)
eco-innovations; and 3) key areas, which were combined into keyword lists including each set in same
search.
In both databases, the majority of the articles were related to (renewable) energy (See Figure 2). The
energy related scientific articles covered areas more narrowly, focusing mainly on energy efficiency in
buildings and in industrial sectors or manufacture. Other themes within the scientific scope concerned
sustainable water treatment processes, ocean observing systems, and sustainable nanomaterials for
e.g. green construction. Particularly the technological innovations presented in the articles concerned
nanotechnology in terms of solar cells, industrial ecology and water treatment processes. In addition,
one of the scientific articles concerned plant gene technology related to sustainable agriculture and land-
use. Land-use and agriculture connected to emerging technologies were also presented in news very
scarcely, although the amount of land-use related news has been steadily growing during the past five
years.
The number of scientific articles and news was, as anticipated, unevenly proportioned 3, whereas
regionally there were more similarities. Since the searches were carried out in English, it was also
expected that the English speaking regions would show more results. The largest amount of news and
scientific articles in 2006-2011 and 2011 came from North America and Oceania. (See Figure 15). The
number of news articles from North America was overwhelming 22 071 whereas the number of news
from Europe was (only) 4076 of overall 27 999 items. However, the EU-27 countries were well
represented as the origin of the news covered 22 EU member states. Again the best represented of the
EU-27 were the UK, but also Germany and Austria stood up.
Figure 15 | Resource productivity related keywords connected with innovation in the internet
Emerging technologies & eco-innovations in news in the three continents:

North America, Europe and Oceania
50
News proportioned to
40
population
30 North America
20 Europe
Oceania
10
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
3
24 scientific articles vs. almost 28 000 news items in 2010-2011.

In the news, energy related articles had enormously wider range of topics. The largest theme seemed to
be solar energy, which covered one fourth of the energy related news. Also, transportation (e.g. bio fuel
and electric cars) was frequently reported. However, particularly the news related to transportation often
proved to concern end-of-pipe technologies at least in the first half of 2011.
Furthermore, the percentage of the news related to material cycles was clearly higher in the scientific
articles than it was in the news, whereas the news related to water (water management, treatment,
reuse etc.) showed opposite results. In addition, water related news was linearly increasing during the
years 2006-2011. Particularly issues concerning waste to water and tidal or wave power were reported
often in the first half of 2011.
Themes that were represented inconsistently in the results, but that also came up in scientific articles as
well as news items were ICT and robotics as well as biomimicry. Particularly ICT and robotics were
presented in connection with industrial ecology.
Figure 16 | Emerging technologies and eco-innovations presented in news (MWN) and scientific articles
(SCO) worldwide in 2006-2011
Emerging technologies and eco-innovations by key areas in the news and

Scopus in 2006–2011
60
50
Percentage of articles
40
30
20 SCO MWN
10
0
Energy Materials Water Land use
Key areas
Source: MeltwaterNews 2011. Results are divided into four key areas concerning natural resources

2 | Eco-Innovation in foresight studies and
visions
Electronic searches of Futures Studies literature on the topic of eco-innovation were
conducted using the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The searches used various
iterations (plurals, etc.) of the keywords “scenario”, “vision” and “roadmap” in combination with
eco-innovation search terms. The search queries for both Web of Science and SCOPUS can
be found from the annexes.
Keywords used: Eco-innovation, ecological innovation, clean innovation, green innovation,

material flow innovation, low carbon innovation, sustainable innovation, environmental
innovation, clean technology, green technology, environmental technology, cleantech,
greentech, envirotech, sustainable technology, material flow technology, low carbon
technology AND scenario, vision, roadmap
All searches have been limited to the years 2006—2011. Additionally, only those articles with
available full-text versions have been considered. Scenario studies not specifying a target year
or time period, as well as studies producing only one scenario, have been discarded.
2.1 | Eco-innovation in future related scientific articles

Recent Futures Studies literature on the topic of environmentally friendly technology has regularly
focused on future low-carbon transitions and the role of policy in that transition (e.g. Chen et al. 2011;
Dagoumas & Barker 2010; Ashina et al. 2010). In most cases, the literature makes the connection
between climate change and the release of carbon into the atmosphere due to energy production,
considering the role of technology (among other factors) in the mitigation of carbon emissions caused by
energy production. Even in studies whose thematic focus lies outside of energy production (as in the
case of the transport sector), C02 emissions reduction has tended to remain a priority (e.g. Bows et al.
2009; Oudshoorn et al. 2011).
The vast majority of recent studies on energy and C02 emissions have concentrated mainly on the
effects of a range of specific policy decisions on energy demand and pollution (e.g. Schwarz & Erntz
2009, Nguene et al. 2011). Inevitably, any discussion concerning transitions to a low-carbon society will
involve technology, but all too frequently, the importance of technology adoption and implementation are
overshadowed by emission reduction targets or variable carbon prices. Some studies have considered
various implementations of competing low-carbon technologies such as wind, hydro and solar (in some
cases even nuclear and clean coal) technology under differing emissions reduction target conditions
(e.g. Chen et al. 2011; Shukla et al. 2010). Alternatively, they have also explored different ways of
meeting a distant, fixed emissions reduction target (e.g. Ashina et al. 2010; Ko et al. 2010; Giurco et al.
2010).
Very few recent studies feature a strong focus on innovation. A small portion concentrates on specific
technologies, such as nanotechnology and hydrogen technology, and their possible future applications
(e.g. Wiek et al. 2009; McDowall & Eames 2007). Others consider the effects of awareness campaigns

on the diffusion of technologies, which are already commercially available (e.g. water-saving devices in
Schwarz & Ernst 2009). Equally infrequent are studies that involve considerations of social change and
innovative city planning (e.g. Höjer et al. 2011; Ashina et al. 2010).
As has been mentioned above, the urgency of technological innovation and policy decisions thereof has
been most often motivated by fears related to climate change and C02 emissions. Nonetheless, a small
number of studies have shifted their focus toward issues of water consumption (e.g. Schwarz & Ernst
2009; Kok et al. 2011), the nitrogen cycle (e.g. Oudshoorn et al. 2011) and biodiversity (e.g. Østergård
et al. 2009).
There appears to be a great disparity between the perceived importance of certain environmental issues
and the amount of Futures Studies research being conducted on innovative solutions to them.
Rockström et al (2009) have identified a group of “planetary boundaries”, which, if exceeded, may
prematurely destabilise the Earth’s environment. The earth’s natural systems constituting the nine
planetary boundaries are climate change, biodiversity loss, the nitrogen cycle, the phosphorus cycle
(both nitrogen and phosphorus are considered to be part of one boundary), stratospheric ozone
depletion, ocean acidification, global freshwater use, change in land use, atmospheric aerosol loading
and chemical pollution. Among these, the authors have identified three boundaries that have already
been exceeded: climate change, biodiversity and the nitrogen cycle. In accordance with the authors’
conservative definition of the upper limits of each boundary, climate change ranks only third among
these three; both loss of biodiversity and interference with the nitrogen cycle have exceeded their
boundaries to a much more pronounced and urgent degree.
It follows from Rockström et al.’s work that climate change is an unquestionably justified research topic
and policy priority. However, a significant gap in the Futures Studies research concerning biodiversity
loss, the nitrogen cycle and other environmental issues needs to be filled. In line with the EIO’s agenda
of shifting the focus of environmental amelioration away from strictly end-of-pipe solutions and toward
solutions aimed at improvements across the entire lifecycle (especially resource consumption) of
products, services and processes, the work of Finland Futures Research Centre stands to significantly
narrow this research gap.
2.2 | Eco-innovation in company visions and foresight studies –

Locality, transparency and cradle-to-cradle
For this chapter a selection of European SMEs and their visions and strategies concerning environment
were looked into. The focus here is firmly on the SMEs, but since larger companies often have differently
resourced and envisaged environmental strategies, simultaneously also a few environmental roadmaps
of larger companies were sourced to set an example in comparison to the SME area. Practically, these
(EU-27) SMEs were mapped through an independent online business information service concerning
the European Union (see EUbusiness 2011). These results were analysed comparatively in the light of
data provided by European Statistical database as well as the recent studies relating to foresight of
SMEs and eco-innovations.
According to the Eurostat (2011) the number of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the EU-27
countries was around 20.9 million in 2008. This means that over 99.8% of the enterprises in the EU are
small, medium or micro-sized businesses. (Eurostat 2011a.) It is no wonder then that a number of
studies consider SMEs an important sector for healthy and dynamic market economy by not only
creating new jobs or flexibility in the labour market but also by creating competition and providing

innovations (See e.g. Hillary 2000, 2004 or Karami 2007). In this regard, SMEs could have a great
potential to contribute to the environmental problems and the niche of eco-innovations.
However, despite the recognised potential of SME in environmental issues, the future does not look too
bright in the light of studies concerning SMEs and their involvement in environment strategies. Firstly,
the trend in participation of SMEs in voluntary environmental management systems such as EMAS or
ISO 14001 is relatively weak. Taken into account that there are millions of SMEs in Europe, only ca.
4500 have implemented environmental management system. Although the number has been rising
slowly during the past six years, the pace is very slow in proportion to the number of SMEs (Eurostat
2011b).
The lack of implementation of effective environmental practises is considered a result of several issues
that relate to the heterogeneous nature of SMEs, lack of resource and knowledge about effective
environmental sustainability issues as well as limited management capacity and skills. Thus often
environmental vision or strategies in SMEs are defined in more general manner without detailed time
scopes or specific goals e.g. for reductions of emissions, whereas large entrepreneurs have set specific
targets in wider scale. (Shirlaws 2007; Moore 2009.)
Contrary to SMEs, large multinational companies have ample asset bases, and thus they can invest and
spread the costs of product development over a large and diversified global market. (Moore 2009.) For
instance, the roadmaps investigated here comprised specific targets and themes particularly related to
climate change, reduction of GHG emissions and energy issues. In this context, majority (86%) of the
roadmaps explored had specific targets as well as target years within the scope of 3–30 years.
While larger companies make announcements of dramatic environmental policies aiming at delivering
considerable benefits for environment, majority of owner-managers of SMEs consider that having an
environmental stance has a major impact on neither environment nor their economic performance.
(Shirlaws 2007; Gadenne 2009.) In fact, a survey study carried out in 2007 suggested that only 3% of
the heads of the European SMEs saw ‘reducing environmental impact’ as a key issue over the next five
years. (Shirlaws 2007.) This type of aspect was also seen among the selected European SMEs as none
of them had a long-term time scope (e.g. 2015, 2020 or 2030) for improving environmental performance,
and many had none or just a general portrait of the commitment to environmental aspects.
Regardless of the seeming lack of involvement, the past studies also suggest slightly controversially that
small firms and emerging entrants are in general more likely to pursue sustainability-related
opportunities than larger, long-established companies are. Since the larger companies may have a
broader reach due to their established market presence and an inherent tendency to react to cost
pressures by lowering the sustainable quality of their offerings; they are often less ambitious in their
environmental market presence. Important notion here is that SMEs and big entrepreneurs have
differential roles in transforming sectors towards more sustainable systems. Due to their size they reach
different market areas, are not equally flexible to pursue new opportunities in existing markets and thus
also must have different ways to approach environmental strategies (Hockerts & al. 2010; Moore & al
2009.)
Interestingly, the companies that had more extensive stance on environment had almost exclusively
adopted a cradle-to-cradle or life cycle assessment aspect in the production of goods or services.
Typically, this aspect involved embracing local raw materials (grains, water, food products etc.), pollution
management at source (zero waste through reuse and recycling, climate neutrality) as well as
considerations of efficiency in energy and water use. Particularly, companies were emphasising water
use through water footprint calculations, sustainability in water use and wastewater treatment.

Commitment to maximise energy efficiency concerned mainly use of renewable energies and use of
energy efficient products in production facilities and procedures. In addition to the emphasis of locality,
also organic raw materials emerged often in areas of cosmetics and food products.
Furthermore, the cradle-to-cradle aspect was particularly evident among SMEs representing agriculture
and livestock sector. Here the key concept seemed to be transparency as the companies aimed at eco-
friendliness in all aspects of production - from the selection of raw materials and growing methods to the
distribution to end-users and beyond (see good practise example below).
In conclusion, European SMEs in general seem to lack of comprehensive strategies or visions

concerning their impact on environment, yet there seem to be a tendency to adapt environmental
strategies holistically at source of the harmful environmental impacts.
Company
Box 1 | European SMEs and cradle to cradle aspect

Peeze Coffee Roastery is a Dutch medium-sized company that was established in 1879 in the
Netherlands. Today the company produces a wide range of coffee products. Environmental strategy -
Quality, sustainability and responsible supply chain: Peeze company is an exceptionally environmentally
aware company that aims at maintaining fair and responsible business locally and globally by paying
attention to environment in its domestic coffee production as well attending to the working conditions of
the coffee producers in less developed countries. In order to achieve these goals, the company
environmental strategy involves following steps in the supply chain:
 Plantation
o Fair Trade certification: fair pricing, no child labour, better living and working conditions,
favourable trade conditions
o Eko quality label: biological growing methods, sustainable use of natural resources
(particularly water); and reduced use of pesticides and fertilizers
 Purchasing
o provides expertise, long-term cooperation and sustainable price for coffee producers; and
also supports projects of Efico Foundation
 Environmentally-friendly roastery
o low odour emissions
o 99% less water usage
o 75% energy usage
o rain water collection in aid of climate control
o CO2 neutral production
o Kiem quality label: aluminum-free packaging since 1996
 End-users
o organic concept (Max Havelaar) including coffee, tea, sugar and milk
o sells energy-efficient espresso makers
Source: Peeze Coffee 2011

3 | Key areas relating to resource-efficiency
and sustainable material cycles
This chapter will deal with exemplary eco-innovations found during the extensive horizon scanning work.
Examples of good eco-innovation practices were tracked from various sources. Meltwater News media
service, Web of Science scientific article database, websites of organizations like European
Environmental Agency, OECD, United Nations (UN), Defra (UK), NISTEP (Japan) and Nordic
Innovations Centre (NIC) were monitored regularly to find new and interesting ways of doing things in a
more sustainable manner. This year 2011, the special interest lied in the tracking of systemic eco-
innovations, which could make real difference in either diminishing the use of natural resources or
decrease the release of harmful substances across the whole lifecycle.
In addition, emerging areas were tracked with the object of creating a starting point for mapping and
indicating emerging areas relevant for eco-innovation that might become future European Innovation
Partnerships or provide relevant information for the Innovation Partnerships already planned by the
European Commission (See EU 2020 key initiatives). A first pilot European Innovation Partnership (EIP)
launched in 2011 was Active and Healthy Aging. Other possible up-and-coming themes for these EIPs
have been envisioned to be possibly Water Efficient Europe, Raw Materials, Smart Cities, Sustainable
Supply of Non-Energy Raw Materials for a Modern Society, Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability,
Smart Mobility for European Citizens and Businesses, Resource Efficiency in the Process Industries
(see Era Portal Austria 1.11.2011, Université de Genève 1.11.2011, SusChem 1.11.2011).
This task of mapping and indicating emerging areas relevant for eco-innovation is the overall goal of the
whole Foresight activities of the year 2011. In sections 3.1 and 3.2, the focus lies in two areas relevant
for future European Partnerships: sustainable cities and water. Sustainable material cycles are an
overarching theme area of the sections 3.3 - 3.5, and it could be suggested to be a future European
Innovation Partnership. Eco-innovation examples found were roughly divided into three different design
philosophies, namely biomimicry, cradle-to-cradle and getting to zero waste, for these design
philosophies overlap and complement each other. In addition, focus shifts from “continuities” presented
in chapter 1, namely historical trends to explore “discontinuities” that are less likely to take place, but
would have high impact in the case of their realisation. Finally, barriers of the successful implementation
of eco-innovations are presented and analysed in the STEEPV- (Society, Technology, Economy,
Environment, Politics and Values) framework.
3.1 | Visions for sustainable cities

The world population is increasingly settling in cities that are growing by the size of area as well as the
amount of inhabitants. The estimations suggest that by 2050, as many as 70% of world population will
live in cities. On European level this would mean over a ten per cent increase in urbanisation i.e. 84.3 %
of the European population will be urban by the next 40 years. (UN 2009; OECD 2010). In any case, the
unstable state and complex dynamics of the cities today, enforces us to ask questions concerning
sustainability in terms of development of urban regions and ecosystems (Cragliu & al. 2009). One
answer provided for the current and probable future problems caused by urbanisation is the
multidimensional concept of sustainable city.

Basically, the term sustainable city lies on the foundation of the Brundtland Commission’s work on
sustainable development (SD). SD was first introduced in the report “Our common future” in 1987; which
also includes the most widely cited definition for sustainable development: “development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
(WCED 1987; Bulkeley 2005) In addition to encompassment of the present and future states, also the
three dimensions, namely environmental, economic and social aspects are embedded in sustainable
development. In other words, SD approach aims at achieving simultaneously full economic potential with
maximum social equity and environmental maintenance. In this respect, the sustainable city (or eco-city)
concept also concerns these three aspects, and has been described the following way: “A sustainable
city enables all its citizens to meet their own needs and to enhance their well-being without degrading
the natural world or the lives of other people, now or in the future”. (Mander & al. 2006)
In other words, it has been recognised that cities should be identified as social, economic and
environmental systems rather than as isolated entities (Kidokoro & al. 2008). A sample of the realisation
of this type of sustainable city model is presented in the Tianjin eco-city example below. Furthermore,
Newman and Kenworthy (2004) have also added an operational aspect to the definition. They argue that
in order to achieve the conditions that fulfil this type of sustainable city concept resource inputs (land,
energy, water, materials) and waste outputs (gaseous, liquid, solid waste) ought to be reduced and
simultaneously the quality of life of the citizens (e.g. health, housing, income) should be improved. Thus,
sustainability in cities is more of an on-going process rather than a result (Newman & al. 2004).
Therefore, for example following needs have been attached to the sustainable cities: 1) advancing
healthy lives and inspiring less-consumerist lifestyles, 2) reducing the ecological footprint of the city, 3)
promoting resource efficiency, 4) making affordable housing available, 5) improving the public
transportation system and public facilities, 6) furthering possibilities for walking and cycling, 7) avoiding
urban sprawl with the aim of medium-high density, 8) aiming for diverse social mix and mix uses of
spaces within a city, 9) advancing social equality and economic efficiency, 10) sustaining vibrant
biodiversity and providing access to quality green areas and, in some cases 11) becoming active in food
production (Mander et al. 2006; De Oliviera 2011).
Within this framework, a wide range of visions and models for the development of future sustainable
cities with scope of 2020, 2030 and 2050 have been created and implemented. (See e.g. Kim 2006;
EFC 2010; or European Commission 2011). However, the recent research on sustainable city planning
suggests that the current visions and realisations of sustainable cities are still focusing too narrowly on
the sustainability by looking into only technological or social aspects. (See e.g. Williams 2010; Lankao
2007). Moreover, Williams presents that not all the interest groups working towards the goal of a
sustainable urban development share a similar vision of the features of a sustainable city. Thus, the
“complex whole” that the city comprises of must be considered carefully by taking account both the
social and technical solutions. Also, in order to make cities more sustainable the actions taken need to
include a wide-ranging selection of both top-down and bottom-up activities. Principally, inter-, multi- and
trans-disciplinary research and practice is the key of formulating a common vision. (Williams 2010).
One approach to tackle the question of combining technical and social in the vision of a sustainable city
is to consider it a city where individuals, organisations and businesses can effortlessly make the most
sustainable choices. These choices are supported through surrounding technologies, outstanding
designing process of the physical environment, availability of information and feedback. (Williams 2010).
Another example of more comprehensive view on urban areas is to see sustainable urban areas as
ecosystems. This idea has been introduced first in the 1960s, and again at the beginning of the 2000s

for instance by the initiative of UNEP and IETC called Cities as sustainable ecosystems in 2002
(UNEP/IETC 2003).
This model drives long-term systemic change through modelling natural systems in the framework of
urban development. The ecosystem metaphor is based on the strategies used by natural ecosystems
and social systems. For instance natural ecosystems use strategies such as nutrient cycling diversity,
solar energy, feedback loops and networks, whereas social strategies include adaptive learning,
place-based communities, ethics and cooperation. The hypothesis is that by deployment of these
strategies cities could be transformed into networks of compact, mixed-used urban eco-villages that
have integrated support systems and are adjusted to their bioregions. Thus such sustainable urban
ecosystem would be based on the patterns and processes of natural, sustainable ecosystems, achieving
ecological regeneration, healthy communities and viable economies with their bioregions. This model
also emphasises the urge to meet local needs. In other words, cities are considered to work the best at
bioregional and community levels, since at global scale economy easily takes the lead. (Newman & al.
2008; See also Jenks & al. 2010).
Also, this type of approach suggests that there should be more than one solution to sustainable urban
development, since wealthier nations and regions, such as the EU, has different needs and local
problems than e.g. low or mid-income nations.
Similar comprehensive perspectives on sustainable cities have been also provided by the recent
foresight studies concerning different aspects of sustainability of cities (e.g. energy use in housing, bio-
industry, industrial ecology, urban agriculture and life cycle approaches). Alternative pathways have
been produced for instance by using backcasting; a method that is used to generate desirable future
and then looking backwards from the created future to the present-day situation in order to strategize
how to achieve the most desirable future. (Vergragt & al. 2011). These studies also suggested that
social objects of change are neither included in most backcasting studies concerning sustainable
development. In addition, it also seems that more robust policy incentives are needed for change in
order to realise a sustainable city model. (Vergragt & al. 2011; Svenfelt & al. 2011; Wangel 2011.)
Although within the EU-27 there has been wide-raging attempts to develop new strategies for
sustainable cities and particularly in the city-region level, it is still not clear how spatial strategies can
work efficiently. (Kidokoro & al. 2008).
Another concept related to sustainable city is green urbanism. Green urbanism is based on set of
principles thriving to achieve minimal use of energy, land and water. Among the principles is the goal of
zero waste. This is obtained through circular, closed-loop systems. Another principle is the utilising of
the regional and local materials with less energy used within the production and produced by the means
of green manufacture. This principle includes the use of lightweight structures, minimising transport,
reducing waste through process-integrated new technologies and if successfully implemented, it will lead
to an increased long-term durability of the buildings. Further, green urbanism entails urban water cycle
planning and management system, which allows i.e. sewage recycling and rainwater harvesting. Among
the principles is also adopting deep green building strategies and benefitting from passive design
principles. Furthermore, each time sustainability strategies are applied to a certain city, it’s individual
character has to be respected, for each place have their own history and culture, the urban heritage that
needs to be valued. Climatic conditions vary from place to place, adding to the uniqueness of each
situation of adapting sustainability principles. (Lehmann 2010).
Sustainable city concept may offer a fertile ground for the future collaborative work carried out by public
and private actors such as urban planners, public policy experts, management researchers, sociologists,

engineers and designers. Thus, in European level, this framework could provide exciting opportunities to
tackle grand challenges by creating a unique type of Innovation Partnership (See EU 2020 key
initiatives).
Tianjin Eco-City project
Start date: 2007. Estimated completion date: 2018–2023
Overview: The Tianjin Eco-City is a joint collaboration between China and Singapore and it will
be located 150 km southeast from Beijing. The plan of the eco-city is built on six dimensions: 1)
intelligent city; 2) clean water; 3) ecology; 4) clean environment; 5) clean energy; and 6) green
building. (Yee & al. 2011.)
Aims: The aim of the project is to address sustainable development in a holistic manner adding
economic vibrancy, social harmony and heritage conservation to the six key dimensions (Hald
2009). Furthermore, one of the main goals is to create a replicable model for countries facing
problems of rapid urbanisation. The planned population of the eco-city is 350 000 in an area of
30km2. (Yee & al. 2011.)
Structure: Tianjin eco-city project is intended to be a showcase of the latest green technologies,
which is pursued by green building standards, renewable energy sources, sustainable water
circulation systems and waste treatment, which are embedded in a functional infrastructure. For
instance, although the goal is rather low (minimum 20% of the entire production) solar energy
and geothermal energy will be adopted as renewable energy sources. However, also organic
waste and sludge are used to produce bio-energy. In general, here implementation of the green
building standards could help environmental standards to spread more widely in China. (Low et
al 2009; Yee & al. 2011).
Infrastructure of the eco-city is built to reduce dependency on fossil-fuels, and thus walking,
cycling and the use of public transportation are encouraged. The basic building blocks called
“eco-cells” serve to integrate different land uses in order to minimize the need for commuting. In
addition, the city is effectively connected with railway system. Also, green spaces and light
traffic makes walking and cycling more pleasant. (Singapore government 2011)
Furthermore, the planned location of the eco-city consists of salt fields, salt marshes and ponds,
and the idea is to preserve the natural environment by water purification and remediation of the
existing built environment. For instance, two villages in the area as well as an ancient Ji Canal
are meant to be retained. (Singapore government 2011). The area in general has rather limited
water resources, thus the circulation of water is crucial. Significant amount of water supply will
be drawn from non-traditional sources, such as desalinated water, recycled wastewater and
underground rain water system. In addition, non-organic waste is reused or recycled and
conservation of resources and waste reduction will be encouraged through educational
programmes. (Zhang & Jin 2010.)
All in all, Tianjin eco-city is planned to specialise in tertiary sector and service industries and to
function as an educational and R&D centre for environment-related technologies. Subsidised
public housing, widely accessible communal amenities and facilities as well as barrier free

accessibility will be the basis for social harmony. (Singapore government 2011).
As an enormous undertaking, the Tianjin eco-city model has potential to open up numerous
environmentally friendly openings; it could set a working example, and enhance the spread of
technologies and environmental thinking into other cities and projects.
3.2 | Transition towards sustainable water management

infrastructure
It is hard to conceive any other resource that is simultaneously both as highly valuable for sustainable
human and economic development and as highly important in terms of maintenance of ecosystems as
water. Increasing pressure, competition and in some cases even conflict over water resources indicate
how the need for more effective management of water resources has become a global issue. It also
suggests how the value of water has been recognized; e.g. water resources are in the Water Framework
Directive implemented by the EU, water is considered a resource that needs to be protected, defended
and treated as a heritage (OECD 2009a).
On European level, the questions of water infrastructure are seen to concern principally upgrading the
old infrastructure, which is in need of maintenance, repair and replacement (OECD 2009a). Another
approach, applicable particularly to urban settings, involves promoting technological innovations to
improve the functions of the existing water systems (De Graaf & al. 2010). In any case, on European
level seeking solutions for more sustainable water management infrastructure should contain the basic
(economic, social, and environmental) aspects of sustainable development. Although the overall
abstraction and consumption in Europe is believed to be sustainable, the regional variation combined
with climate change, have together a potential to challenge the distribution in the region (OECD 2006).
In addition to the essential nature of water infrastructure, it also requires a special attention as the
investment outlays are anticipated to be vast throughout the world in the future. The trend has been a
growing use of private capital to shift the burden away from public sector, and the water sector ought to
be an attractive prospect. Not only it is a vital sector but also technologically relatively low risk and when
managed sensibly, it offers steady returns (OECD 2009a). Moreover, in the future technology has a
huge potential to play a key role in the development of water management infrastructure. Advances in
the ICT combined with space technologies such as Earth observation have a capacity to turn into a
more detailed monitoring and contribute to water-related provision. In addition to insufficient monitoring,
also scarce fresh water supplies are a major issue worldwide (OECD 2006).
In the past, there have been several attempts to increase potable water supply from which one of the
most pursued (and unsuccessful) forms has been desalination. A simple but widely used innovation that
challenges the dilemmas of salt-water purification is a biosand filter, which was developed already in the
1990s. The biosand filter has sprung innovations including adaptions at the household level. For the
areas with limited fresh water supply, desalination could be a future solution. Desalination is commonly
based on reverse osmosis or distillation techniques, which are very energy intensive and expensive
methods. Future possibilities could be a forward osmosis and membrane distillation, which are less
energy consuming methods. (Baig & al 2011).
Another area that could also solve the material-related issues in filtration techniques is nano- and
biotechnologies. For instance, biotechnology has a potential to transform the water treatment processes

entirely by enabling the service providers to disengage themselves from settings of traditional treatment
plants. In general, the promise of biotechnology lies in the potential to improve pollution prevention,
monitoring and remediation. On the other hand, in terms of maintenance and improving the
performance, nanotechnology is likely to have a great impact on infrastructure by use of sensors, smart
materials that e.g. have the ability to self-heal or regenerate (OECD 2006).
New biotechnology solutions make us also question the rationality of the centralised systems. For
instance, costs are attached to large municipal systems for supplying water, transport and network
maintenance. If the current centralised infrastructure were replaced by in-system and on-site processes
that were tailored for specific circumstances, substantial capital investment would not be required in the
same manner as in large fixed infrastructures (OECD 2009b). Practically, transformation into
decentralised water management would mean that the collection, treatment and reuse or disposal of the
wastewater take place on the closest site possible in regard to its generation (Weber 2006). Thus,
instead of flushing with fresh water and dumping the treated wastewater into environment, recycling and
reuse would take place in closed systems. In closed systems, water recycling would be more cost
effective as well as more sustainable in comparison to centralised wastewater management in remote
areas (Mikhailovich 2009).
Hence, besides the technology approach or upgrading the old perspective, it is a relevant to consider
new approaches to the future management of water infrastructure. In this respect, a third approach
concerns different types of integrated concepts. The so-called transformative approach involves a
gradual transformation of water infrastructures by integrating water infrastructure investments with urban
revitalisation programmes. In other words, the aim is to encompass the entire urban water cycle,
including groundwater and surface water, transportation, and treatment of water, wastewater and storm
water (De Graaf 2010; Weber 2006). Thus, at its most radical form, integrated concepts combined with
transformation towards decentralisation of the current water management infra could even result in a
completely optimised water infrastructure in terms of planning, policy and implementation.
Nonetheless, if issues related to socioeconomic matters such as costs and security can be overcome,
the so called intelligent infrastructures can be brought forth also in the water sector. Built-in components
that are interactively able to collect and transmit information about the state of the infrastructure to a
central computer or unit would provide greater ability to monitor and control water cycle more effectively
in real-time. This would e.g. reduce leakages and the need for water withdrawal. Locally or at end-user
level, the virtual closing of the water cycle could be monitored with artificial intelligence, embedded
software or sensors (OECD 2006).
All in all, from environmental aspect, reduction in demand and enhancement in access to water
resources could be secured by reuse of water, which would simultaneously reduce the amount of
wastewater effluents released in environment. The decentralised systems could reduce the energy
needed for the transportation of water from production site to the end-user. Thus, due to the energy
savings, this again would decrease the greenhouse gas emissions (OECD 2009b). The main questions
of sustainable water management today seem to concern how urban and rural water infrastructures
could be transformed to include contemporary values, ecological quality and flexibility as well as the
quality of social environment (De Graaf 2010). In addition to technological advancements,
transformation towards more sustainable water infrastructure requires investment, policy guidance as
well as change in behaviour and attitudes of end-users.

3.3 | Nature as a mentor to optimising resources, developing new
materials and inventing novel techniques
At the turn of the 21st century, the concept of biomimicry became popularised by scientist Janine Benyus
(See Benyus 1997; Edwards & al. 2005) who introduced a new type of discipline concerning the design
process of an innovation that is inspired by nature. The core idea is not just to copy nature but also to
identify situations where nature offers solutions for human problems. Through examination of particular
materials of nature, processes and devices as well as estimating where nature offers useful solutions, it
is feasible to find eye-opening possibilities and new perspectives for sustainable and environmentally
friendly solutions (Reed & al. 2009).
Nature as a model for innovations as such is not a new idea and there are number of applications where
nature has been mimicked in order to solve for example engineering problems. For instance
development of penicillin was based on the study how fungi protect themselves against bacteria; shark
skin has inspired new textures for airplanes and swim suits to make them more aerodynamic; and the
Japanese bullet trains are inspired by King Fisher’s beak to reduce the noise pollution caused by air
pressure.
Basically, biomimicry relies on the following nine principles: (1) nature runs on sunlight; (2) nature uses
only the energy it needs; (3) nature ﬁts form to function; (4) natures recycles everything; (5) nature
rewards cooperation; (6) nature banks on diversity; (7) nature demands local expertise; (8) nature curbs
excesses from within; (9) nature taps the power of limits. These principles point out the significance of
cooperation and diversity implying that humans have a great deal to learn from the natural world.
Besides seeing nature as a model, biomimicry includes the idea of nature as a mentor and measure. In
other words, the assumption is that hundreds of thousands years of evolution has developed a reliable
ecological standard that aims at optimisation of resources. These long-term developments in different
ecosystems thus can provide a source of knowledge and inspiration for contemporary developers and
designers of eco-innovative products as well as scientists (Edwards 2005).

Box 2 | Systemic eco-innovation – Eden project
Description:
The Eden project consisting of two large green gardens, a tropical and a Mediterranean, open
areas with green gardens. Areas are used for educational purposes and the idea is to increase
people’s knowledge and awareness of nature (Eden Project 21.4.2011; HowStuffWorks
21.4.2011).
The Project was constructed on an old mining and the design took inspiration from nature. The
biomes are bubbles consisted of hexagons and pentagons that are biomimicked from bee nest
structure. The material is EFTE, a high tech material that is much lighter than glass, insulates
well and suffers little from the weather conditions. In addition, it is recyclable and got inspiration
from dragonfly wings. The place has subterranean rainwater harvesting system for irrigation and
sustaining the humidity. The rich soil was made from local clay and bio waste (Eden Project
21.4.2011; HowStuffWorks 21.4.2011).
Sustainability effects:
The Eden project received almost two million visitors in its first year (2006) and it has reached to
top 3 UK attractions bringing millions to the local economy.
The Eden Project provides people with information of nature and its aim is to encourage people
into a sustainable lifestyle by illustrating the diversity of nature.
The project itself has environmental impacts, such as energy, water and material consumption.
They are however minimised as materials are chosen to be effective and recyclable, water is
harvested from rainwater as much as possible, and the whole project was built on land that was
previously an old mining.

Box 3 | Systemic eco-innovation – Seawater Greenhouse
Description:
Seawater greenhouses mimic the natural water cycle and create conditions for agriculture in
areas that are now considered as uncultivable because of their drought or extremely high
temperature. The greenhouse uses seawater and solar energy to grow crops. A small amount of
energy is needed for the greenhouse functions: pumping the seawater from the sea and drawing
the air through the greenhouse. Seawater is evaporated utilising the energy of the sun and
condensed freshwater is used for the crop irrigation. More freshwater can be produced than
consumed resulting in net production of fresh water instead of consuming it as conventional
greenhouses do. Seawater greenhouses make it possible to cultivate crops at dry areas without
costly desalination processes or high use of energy from unsustainable resources. Additionally,
the amount of water demanded to grow crops is remarkably lower inside seawater greenhouses
than in open areas or even regular greenhouses (Paton & Davies 2006; Seawater Greenhouse
21.4.2011).
Seawater greenhouses function as following: seawater is evaporated in front of the greenhouse

by the energy of the sun. A fan causes the water vapour to flow through the greenhouse creating
a humid and cool climate for the crop. Above the greenhouse, seawater is heated by the sun and
the hot water makes the inside air in the back of the greenhouse hot and humid before leaving
the interior. In the back of the greenhouse, the vapour from the leaving air meets cool pipes that
transfer cool seawater pumped to the system. Hot, humid air on a cool surface makes the vapour
condense producing fresh water. The water is stored to a container and conducted to the
greenhouse for crop irrigation. Not all the water from the humid air can be harvested due to the
ventilation of the greenhouse, but resulting water vapour increases humidity near the
greenhouse and makes it possible to grow crops downwind of the greenhouse on dry areas
(Paton & Davies 2006; Seawater Greenhouse 21.4.2011).
The first prototype of seawater greenhouses was built in Tenerife in 1992. The objective of the
project was to produce scientific knowledge of producing crops and fresh water in hot, coastal
areas. After the first pilot in Tenerife, a seawater greenhouse was built in Abu Dhabi in 2000 and
the results have been very good in growing crops in those conditions. Another seawater
greenhouse was built in Oman in 2004 to introduce the concept for local people. Current projects
are located in Sahara, Gran Canary and Australia. Applications of the concept can be used also
in cooling buildings. The results from the seawater greenhouses have been very promising, but
as the conditions change concerning, e.g. wind, temperature and air humidity, has to be
researched more (Paton & Davies 2006; Seawater Greenhouse 21.4.2011).
Drivers:
 Water scarcity; food security; demand for clean energy
Seawater greenhouses need no expensive desalination processes or fossil fuel based energy
system as it uses only seawater and solar energy as resources. The fact that it demands no

pesticide decreases the costs further. Both operating and fixed costs are therefore lower in a
seawater greenhouse compared with a conventional greenhouse resulting in increased
economic profits.
Providing food for everyone is a problem, especially in the developing world. Usually not
suitable for agriculture, dry areas can be used for food production in seawater greenhouses
without using the depleting freshwater sources. Seawater greenhouses are potential to increase
the food security of dry areas.
Depleting freshwater sources is a growing environmental problem. As seawater greenhouses do

not use fresh water, but instead produce it, it can help solving this grand challenge. Energy for
the seawater greenhouses is produced only from the sunlight reducing the need for fossil fuels.
Box 4 | Product eco-innovation – Sharklet

Description:
Sharks have a certain micro sized pattern on their skin that prevents microbes and algae from
attaching the skin. A synthetic surface was developed by mimicking the tiny crystal structure of
sharkskin. The surface does not kill microbes but the pattern is unfavourable for microbes to
attach and therefore it prevents attaching and colonisation of bacteria and other microbes.
Because not killing the bacteria, resistance to Sharklet™ is not formed. The material is being
developed for use in hospital surfaces and in medical devices to avoid pathogenic.
Manufacturers of different products could also use the surface to make nontoxic antibacterial
products. Besides antibacterial products, another application under research is using Sharklet™
in boating and maritime industries to avoid boats from fouling with algae and other marine
microorganisms. The problem is conventionally solved by using toxic paint at the bottom of
boats (Sharklet Technologies Inc. 21.4.2011).
Combating microorganisms has meant killing them – and amongst them killing useful
microorganisms, too. If attachment of microorganisms is prevented instead of killing them,
multiple advantages are gained. The organisms cannot develop resistance to the material, as it
uses no chemical toxins but only creates unfavourable surface to attach. Reducing the use of
antibacterial substances reduces the risk of bacteria developing resistance to antibiotics and
causing Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospital environments.
Concerning the marine application, the use of toxic paint can be reduced. The paints harm the
marine ecosystem as their toxins diffuse and spread to the water (Sharklet Technologies Inc.
21.4.2011).
The development of Sharklet™ began when Dr. Anthony Brennan, a materials science and
engineering professor at the University of Florida, was researching the US navy and detected
that the boats resemble huge whales. As the skin of whales or sharks does not foul, the
inspiration was discovered. Researching sharks showed that they have a special microstructure
on the surface of their skin that prevents fouling. Synthetic material mimicking sharkskin was
produced and the result was Sharklet™. Later, other purposes were also detected for the

material, as it was investigated if it resists bacteria as well. Now Sharklet Technology
incorporation has products for antibacterial surfaces and services for manufacturers.
Technology for medical device and boating are being developed (Sharklet Technologies Inc.
21.4.2011).
Drivers:
 Environmental hazards caused by toxic paints in boats
 Bacterial resistance to antibacterial substances and spreading of MRSA
 Demand for safe and hygienic products
Applications in hospitals and other health care purposes reduce the need for antibacterial
substances that kill pathogenic bacteria – as well as useful ones. High use of those substances
increases the risk of bacteria developing resistance to them, which has resulted in antibiotic
resistant MRSA bacteria dangerous for special groups like elderly people or people with a
chronic disease. Therefore, decrease in antibacterial substances is desirable to avoid such
development (Sharklet Technologies Inc. 21.4.2011).
Resisting bacteria without killing them reduces the need for toxins and harmful side effects of
killing bacteria. As majority of bacteria are not pathogenic, killing them also eliminates useful
bacteria, e.g. in human body. By using Sharklet™ antibacterial surfaces and medical device
could reduce the need for killing bacteria at the same time when effectively preventing the risk of
getting and spreading of diseases (Sharklet Technologies Inc. 21.4.2011).
In marine application need for toxic paints to reduce microorganism fouling of boats produces
severe problems in the marine ecosystems. The paints contain for example copper and other
metals that end up in the marine ecosystem. Sharklet™ surface contains no harmful substances
and therefore it would reduce the use of toxins and their harmful effects (Sharklet Technologies
Inc. 21.4.2011).
3.4 | From cradle-to cradle: assuming the circular energy and

material flows in societies
Another concept of the 21st century, close to biomimicry, is cradle-to-cradle, which refers to a full life-
cycle perspective encompassing the whole cycle of the innovation from the beginning of its design to its
production, use, re-use and recycling. In a sense cradle-to-cradle is also an idea inspired by nature as
nature tends to recycle everything, and thus creates a cyclic system for energy and material flows (See
Table 2). In other words, cradle-to-cradle approach mimics nature’s life cycles. In the same way than
decaying leaves become nutrients for organisms in the soil and replenish trees, the cradle-to-cradle
products are designed to maintain their material solidity by turning products at the end of their useful life
cycle into new ones. This means that the generation of designs, products and processes includes an

understanding that waste does not exist. Hence, ideally, this model supports a closed-loop system,
whereas the current cradle to grave is an open-loop system (Edwards 2010).
Table 2 | Example of the cradle-to-cradle process in nature and in manufacture
manufacturing
plants / assembly
soil nutrients animals materials product
decomposers customer use
Source: Edwards 2010
Besides eliminating the concept of waste by mimicking nature’s life cycle, also renewable energy
sources should be maximised instead of using fossil fuels. Use of so-called “solar income” implies that
the ecosystem as a whole is powered by solar energy as a primary energy source at the minimum
possible temperature, producing complex organic carbon molecules and oxygen as the main products.
In addition, natural systems thrive on diversity, in which each player has its own essential function.
Diversity also makes ecosystems resilient and able to adapt to change successfully. Thus, also human
systems should consider and protect biodiversity. This is to say that the cradle-to-cradle approach is a
complete life-cycle approach that regenerates itself (Edwards 2010; García-Serna & al. 2007).

Box 5 | Systemic eco-innovation – Industrial symbiosis in
Kalundborg
Description:
The Enterprise of Industrial Symbiosis in Kalundborg municipality includes organisations that

reuse each other’s waste in their own production. Resources thus circulate between different
industrial actors increasing efficiency and reducing wasted resources. (Industrial Symbiosis
21.4.2011.) In Kalundborg municipality in Denmark Industrial Symbiosis, a special system for
resource and material cycle has been working for more than three decades. There are six
companies mainly involved in the system, and in addition, a waste company Kara/Noveren I/S as
well as the municipality of Kalundborg are involved. Waste and by-products from one company are
recycled to another industry serving it as a resource. The result is reduced material and resource
use and nature mimicking resource cycle. Besides, from the obvious environmental benefits, the
local economy is benefitting, too (Industrial Symbiosis 21.4.2011). The main resources cycling in
the system are water; gas and gypsum; ash; fertilizer and yeast slurry; steam; sludge and waste.
Water and wastewater are recycled between organisations and as a result, for example the use of
ground water at Novozymes A/S has decreased by 90% replacing it with recycled water and water
from a lake nearby. Lake water use has decreased, as well, by 50%. Surplus gas at Statoil is reused
within the same company, whereas gypsum from SO2 remove is sold to Gyproc A/S that uses it as
raw material for plasterboard production. Ash is removed from the exhaust gas at Asnæs Power
Station and reused in cement industry. In the processes of Novozymes A/S, Novo Nordisk A/S and
Statoil by-products are generated, which can then be used as fertilisers or animal feed. Asnæs
Power Station generates heat for the city of Kalundborg and the steam generated in the process is
used in other companies. This combined heat and power production increases remarkably the
efficiency of the production. Sludge from one process is used as a resource for another one as soil
enrichment. Waste is collected from all the participating companies and reused when possible. Gas
from landfill is utilised to produce electricity (Industrial Symbiosis 21.4.2011).
Barriers:
 lack of matching between demand and offer of resources
 possibly long distances between different companies
Drivers:
 Resource scarcity; High cost of resources
Industrial symbiosis is economically beneficial to the economics of the area as waste from one
partner becomes a resource of another one. Individual partners benefit because the system works
on a commercial basis. Furthermore, natural resources are used more efficiently and the need for
virgin resources reduces. Material cycles become more sustainable and waste decreases.

Box 6 | Systemic eco-innovation – Concept for closed circulation
Description:
Closed circulation recycles nutrients, waste, waste energy and carbon between its own units: a
fish farm, a greenhouse, a biogas plant, a CHP power plant, a wind farm and a biodiesel plant.
The nutrient-rich water from the fish farm is conducted to the greenhouse, whose vegetables
use the nutrients of the water. Side products of the fish farm and the greenhouse are transferred
into biogas at the biogas plant, which is situated at landfill and uses other waste, as well, for
producing biogas. The biogas is utilized at the CHP power plant that produces heat and
electricity that is conducted to the national electric grid (Association of Finnish Local
Authorities and Regions 22.4.2011; Sybimar Oy 22.4.2011). The CO2 at the power plant is
conducted to the greenhouse, where vegetables use it for accelerating their growth. The CHP
power plant and the wind farm together guarantee stable energy production. For logistics
needed in the system, the biodiesel plant produces biodiesel from the waste of the fish farm.
The system produces food with its own energy and with minimal emissions. Materials and
energy are circulated from function to function; waste from one unit feeds another one. The
concept makes the system work in a sustainable way using the resources effectively and
producing no waste. (Association of Finnish Local Authorities and Regions 22.4.2011; Sybimar
Oy 22.4.2011.) The concept is planned by Sybimar Ltd, a company founded in 2005 with a vision
of utilising side streams of food production industry. In 2010, the closed circulation concept
won a special distinction in an international competition targeted to countries in the Baltic Sea
area “Practical solutions to combat climate change” (Association of Finnish Local Authorities
and Regions 22.4.2011; Sybimar Oy 22.4.2011).
Barriers:
 Rebuilding infrastructure and transferring it from the old to the circulating model is
slow even if there is an available concept.
Drivers:
 Climate change, diminishing oil reserves and dependence on foreign oil resources
drive to investigate new energy production methods.
Every unit can benefit economically for eliminating waste and receiving waste and by-products of
another function. In addition, the self-sufficiency of the communities is increased, as well as new
jobs created. Environmental impacts include range of things, for instance, principles of cradle-to-
cradle are followed as all the side products and wastes of one unit are recycled into another unit of
the system, also the need for artificial nutrients for greenhouses or agriculture is reduced.
Furthermore, the use of fossil energy sources are diminished, polluting nutrient escape to natural
water ecosystems eliminated and emissions to the atmosphere are reduced for during the process
CO2 is utilized for crop growing.

3.5 | Getting to Zero waste
The getting to zero waste idea is a strategy or innovation process that has the same starting point than
cradle-to-cradle model; the aim of material cycles (production, use, recycling and reuse) should be
elimination of waste. Reaching the “zero waste world” is seen possible by explicit design for reuse or
through so-called universal recycling as Paul Palmer (2005) puts it. Palmer’s model includes the idea
that creation of garbage has simply become unacceptable, and thus instead of the whole recycling and
disposal system should be turned from an end-of-pipe strategy into a closed-loop system (Palmer 2005).
From this perspective, the principal problem is the (social) acceptance of waste as a side product, which
only function is to be disposed properly out of sight. In this respect, there are five steps to move towards
non-waste societies. Firstly, recycling should encompass the whole life cycle of products instead of just
down-cycling or disposing them. Recycling should be included in the designed product, and thus
recycling would be both planned in advanced and the recycling and reuse processes would be diverted
away from garbage industry. Thus garbage subsidises would not be needed, but to promote universal
recycling it should be also made profitable (García-Serna & al. 2007). Example 3.6.1 concerning a
company called Recycle Match is an intriguing model how the zero waste strategy could began to work
as a profitable system.
Box 7 | Material flow eco-innovation – Recycle Match

Description:
Recycle Match is a company that functions as a match-maker of demand and offer of recyclable
materials. Companies can sell their by-products or wastes for Recycle Match who finds a buyer
for the material. There are several materials that the company provides: plastics; textiles and
fibres; paper; rubber; metals; chemicals; building materials; concrete and ceramics; electronics;
food and organics; glass; minerals and wood. Because of high effort on matching the demand
and offer, materials that would otherwise end up in landfill are now being used as raw material.
For example, tons of damaged windows were recycled through Recycle Match after several
suppliers had told it to be unrecyclable because of their heavy film and special trim. The
companies gain great benefit: they get income from their waste and they can buy recycled
material for a lower price than virgin material (RecycleMatch 22.4.2011).
Barriers:
 High number of companies must be involved in order to create a sufficient and
attractive supply
Drivers:
 Demand for recycled material; Desire of reducing waste and costs of disposing of waste
All the participants in Recycle Match can benefit economically of the service. A seller of material
gets income from their waste that could otherwise make costs when disposed of. Buyers of
material get it for a cheaper price and using recycled material adds their ecological image. As a
match maker, the company Recycle Match has created new business. Also, new jobs are created
to recycling markets. In addition, recycling materials reduces use of virgin materials and

resources and eliminates the waste going to landfills. If used in a large scale, the material loops
become closed and waste from one actor becomes raw materials of another one.
3.6 | Discontinuity creating ground for systemic eco-innovations

Discontinuities are defined by Singer & Piluso (2009) as “reversal of established trends and game
altering events”. New technologies are exemplary means of achieving disruptive change in the
established manner of doing things and surprising the competitors. In addition, new business models
can alter markets. Sudden events changing the business environment can be for instance unexpected
regulation or financial crises. It might be as important as tracking the “continuities” in other words
mapping out trends for the businesses to use new way of thinking to also intellectually imagine events
that are less likely to happen, but would have a profound impact in case they would happen. In case of
a discontinuity, the business would thus benefit rather than suffer from the surprise (Singer & Piluso
2009; Committee on Forecasting Future Disruptive Technologies National Research Council 2009).
To Linstone (2011) a discontinuity entails “a fundamental system transformation”. As an example, he

gives the shift from silver halide photographic film to digital photography (Linstone 2011). Geerlings et al.
(2009) argue that due to the hierarchical nature of technical developments, various types of change are
possible causing more or less discontinuity. Hierarchical nature of technical developments stems from
different facts. For instance, new knowledge and opportunities constantly change rationality. In addition,
a dominant paradigm, sub-paradigms and even the dominant paradigm challenging anti-paradigms exist
simultaneously and the variation and selection are interactive, involving a hierarchical aspect as
variations of higher and lower order are created. With varying degree of discontinuity, following types of
change are possible (Geerlings et al. 2009).
First, incremental innovations have been connected to the on-going process of improving the existing
products and processes or the optimisation of prevailing systems. A single incremental innovation offers
only minor improvements, but in combination, these innovations can offer far-reaching effects on
productivity. Second type of change are the radical innovations, of which are connected with
discontinuity in time and cyclicality. Radical innovations are defined also as partial system redesigns.
The third type of change some articles call technological revolutions and some transformative
innovations. Technological revolutions Geerlings et al. define as the kind of change that can cause
paradigm shifts and will potentially affect the cyclical effects of the economic development. Further, they
may cause a change in the technological regime and have an effect on the other sectors in the
economy. Scrase et al. (2009) use the term transformative innovation, which brings about profound
system-level changes to institutions, infrastructures and people’s behaviour. In order for deep system
level transitions to take place, governments are encouraged to foster new dynamic multilateral
partnerships between public and private actors (Geerlings et al. 2009; Scrase et al. 2009).
Singer & Piluso (2009) argue that from the business perspective, business-as-usual type high probability
and low impact mainstream developments involve large investments, small odds and low return of profit
whereas discontinuous, game changing low probability and high impact events involve small investment,
long odds, but in a case of being realised the potential returns can be dramatic. Five tools are proposed
by them to achieve a “discontinuous mindset” which is required to prepare for the future discontinuities.
First tool is the encouragement of an open-mind, which involves learning and unlearning, thus, not
relying solely on conventional wisdom. Second, is to utilise innovative planning techniques, namely
scenario planning to aid companies to anticipate alternative futures. Third, is to follow unconventional or

alternative sources of information, to get a different view on the current events. As discontinuities are by
nature unexpected, reading the same journals and following the same websites as all the competitors, is
not enough to prepare for future discontinuities. Conferences outside ones’ own discipline, travels to
distant places to observe markets in different cultures and reading articles and blogs stretching the
existing range of knowledge are recommended. Fourth, unconventional thinking through creative
ideation process might bring about a profitable idea. Fifth, proper reward system to encourage “leaps of
imagination” should be put to place by companies to make suggestion of new, unconventional ideas
worthwhile (Singer & Piluso 2009).
Thus to provide a wider glance into the future market opportunities, in this section focus shifts to tracking
possible future discontinuities. This section is based on a literature review. Both relevant books and
scientific articles have been scanned to presents examples of market trends and possible discontinuities
that could alter the direction of historical development.
Game changers in China

Disruptive innovations that could serve as significant examples of ways to move towards low-
carbon economy both in China and in the world are identified by Tyfield et al. (2010). Transport
sector: Electrical bicycles and fuel cell bicycles are estimated to increase their popularity in a
country where commuting distances are long as increasing amount of people are moving to
mega-cities and private cars are expensive and impractical amidst traffic jams. The effects will be
systemic, as private car ownership may be discouraged (Tyfield et al. 2010).
Energy production: Chinese NGO GEI is working on institutional mechanisms to make biogas
production from animal slurry a socially sustainable practice embedded to the everyday
practices of poor farmers in the south-western providence of Yunnan. These mechanisms are
not only designed to succeed by setting up a full low carbon agriculture system in a matter that
numerous international and national projects have failed in the past, but also to shift these farms
to organic agriculture with further emissions reductions. Another example of decentralised bio
energy production in the rural areas of China is the production of pellets from agricultural
residues like woodchip and corn. In addition, stoves and boilers are produced to maximise the
efficiency of combustion (Tyfield et al. 2010).
Heating and cooling: Extremely energy intensive processes of heating and cooling systems can
be replaced by low carbon technology solutions. In Hanzhou and Shenzhen innovation
showcased is the air-conditioning that functions with salt and water only. In addition, Chinese
dominate the global markets of solar thermal water tanks, a low cost energy and heating option
without the need to rely on government subsidies (Tyfield et al. 2010).
Purification systems: Innovations include solar desalination of salt and a water purification
system. The latter allows the high temperature recycling of water in industrial processes. Thus,
the usual practice of wasting energy through cooling and reheating water is eliminated. Further,
as water recycling process is efficient, the water demands of the industrial processes are
diminished (Tyfield et al. 2010).
Noteworthy is that these game changers are low-technology solutions rather than high-
technology solutions. Writers argue that waiting for ‘perfect’ solutions is not wise and that these

technologies presented are not only appropriate for Chinese domestic market and other
developing countries, but could also inspire all people, including the poorest, in the world to
engage in low carbon innovation (Tyfield et al. 2010).
3.6.1 | Food demand on the rise, new horizons for household diets
As global population growth figures and income levels are on the rise, food demand and pressure on
agricultural land are likely to increase during the following decades (Wirsenius et al. 2010). Production of
food causes various negative environmental impacts, e.g. degradation of land, use of natural resources,
loss of biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions. Especially the production of meat has high negative
environmental impact compared to vegetables and stable crops (Elferink & Nonhebel 2007).
Large difference exists today between high income countries and low income countries in meat
consumption. This will likely change in the future, for meat consumption around the world has more than
doubled from 1990s with many of the developing countries in the lead (Fiala 2008).
Fiala (2008) estimates that if current meat consumption patterns continue, the total amount of meat
consumed in the year 2030 will be 72% higher than the total amount of meat consumed in the year
2000. Production of this amount of meat will, based on the calculations made during the study, produce
about 1.9 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions (Fiala 2008).
In addition to the negative environmental impacts of meat production, also health and ethical concerns
have been raised related to meat production (e.g. Pluhar 2010). Could there be a chance that eating
meat would become unethical in the western countries in the following decades?
Wirsenius et al. (2010) explored in their study three different model-based scenarios of global
agricultural land-use in 2030, providing the base for land-minimising growth of world food supply.
Reference scenario and three alternate scenarios aiming for land-minimising growth of world food supply
are presented in their study. Alternate scenarios take into account in various degrees the following
measures to minimize land use: 1) faster growth of feed-to-food efficiency in animal food production, 2)
diminished amounts of food wastage and 3) dietary changes toward vegetable food and meat products
that require less land. They concluded that there is substantial scope for land-minimising growth of world
food supply through efficiency improvements in the food chains, particularly related to meat production
processes, and dietary changes towards food that demands less land (Wirsenius et al. 2010).
Emerging issue: Synthetic meat

Sutherland et al. in their horizon scanning work convened to identify emerging issues with
possible impacts on the conservation of biodiversity. One of the final 15 chosen issues was
synthetic meat. In their article, these authors pointed out, that research efforts worldwide are
already directed towards technologies to bioengineer medical tissue to be able to grow synthetic
meat in the laboratory. Muscle stem cells are extracted from live animals and multiplied then
stretched to make the muscle fibres. Even when technical challenges still remain, and the price
for some of the successful experimental products is high, if the synthetic meat products would
become mainstream and replace meat products on a wide scale in the markets the environmental
impacts would be significant. Possible outcomes could be diminished amounts of livestock-

originated greenhouse gas emissions, diminished pressure on agricultural land and pressure on
fish stocks. Possible environmental impacts are dependent on various factors, e.g. would
majority of people be willing to eat this kind of bioengineered meat? (Sutherland et al. 2010).
3.6.2 | Ambient intelligence – intelligence embedded in living environment

Society is undergoing a fundamental transition towards information society, in which IT-infrastructure is
constantly re-formed by new technologies. At the same time energy and material consumption is
continuing a rising trend throughout the world and new measures towards more sustainable practices
are needed. However, new information and communication technologies (ICT) converging with the
existing infrastructure and combined with the need for more resource efficient societies has already
produced innovative solutions such as smart grids, which were mapped in the first EIO horizon scanning
report. In brief, ICT is becoming more and more inclusive part of everyday life (Clements-Croome 2004).
Among the possible expressions of the future information society is an intriguing and rather extensively
debated concept of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) (See e.g. Augusto & al. 2010; or Mickulecký & al. 2009).
Ambient intelligence is defined as a holistic approach to the development of IT-infra. This would mean
not only an increased diffusion and use of the present day computers and telecommunications
equipment but an emergence of an environment in which people are surrounded by and interconnected
through both fixed and mobile IT-solutions. Characteristic to this type of living environment is its
capability to respond to and recognise the presence of individual people. Thus, AmI would also allow a
change towards a new type of environmental control and monitoring (Augusto & al. 2010).
For instance so called intelligent buildings that are developed to adapt to changes and use less energy
by automatically regulating heating, cooling and lighting can be seen as a first form of ambient
intelligence systems. The idea of sustainable, adaptive buildings that are technologically aware and
meet the needs of the occupants or business owners covers the AmI paradigm as a small-scale solution.
Above all, AmI paradigm can be seen part of a systemic change that concerns not only environment but
socio-economic factors within the well-being of humans and their environment.

Emerging issue: Renewable energy super grids
Intelligent energy networks that combine IT with electric transfer technology are already under
development. So called smart grids that are connected by the internet to smart meters (at home,
substations, transformers etc.) will enable more efficient and high-voltage long-distance
transmission lines that are connected to all generators of electricity. In addition, also
electric-energy storage units of smart grid are more energy-efficient and could be placed near or
owned by end-users enabling two-way communication throughout the grid. Smart grid
distribution system also allows end-users to reduce their energy costs e.g. by using time-of-day
pricing and automate the process based on customer preferences. Thus, customers would be
enabled to take control of their energy-use patterns (Gore 2009).
All in all, smart grids will be also more reliable and secure, less costly and less harmful to
environment. At its most radical form, smart grids could develop into a new type of AmI systems
such as super grids, energy networks that are supranational combining energy networks across
and beyond continents. This would enable the harnessing of the renewable energy of i.e. the
windiest and the sunniest regions of the world.
Implementation of large-scale super grid would supply power e.g. to the European Union, the
Middle East and Northern Africa (See Desertec 2010). In its realisation, this type of system could
benefit from renewable energy sources throughout the continents utilising for instance solar
power in the Middle East and North Africa and hydro and wind power in the EU. This maximise
the use of and eliminate the problem of reliability of renewable energies.
The wild card that could possibly bend this trend is e.g. cyber collapse that would have a very
high impact on societies in many ways. As such, cyber collapse has however, a very low
probability (Saritas & al. 2011).
3.6.3 | Biotechnology revolutionising material cycles

During the past 30 years, it has been debated whether our planet has the environmental capacity to
provide enough resources for the growing population. As the ecological footprint of humankind
exceeded the carrying capacity of earth in the late 1970s and still maintains its steady growth rate, it is
clear that questions concerning consumption patterns and production issues needs to be addressed.
Although technology alone cannot solve everything, technologies that reduce negative environmental
impacts ought to be encouraged (Meadows & al. 2009).
In this respect, advancements in the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology and material sciences
have been recognised as potential future trend shapers in the same way than technology has moulded
societies to industrial and information societies (Linstone 2010). Breakthroughs in nano- and
biotechnology are allowing the industry to carry out chemical reactions the way nature does, and has the
capacity to spur green innovation and help different industries to reduce their GHG emissions as well as
their dependence on fossil fuels (OECD 2010; Meadows & al. 2004).
Actually, one of the core strengths of biotechnology is its adaptability; it is a multidisciplinary field, and
thus combining biotechnology with other technologies, it offers interesting solution to the core problems
such as waste treatment and energy issues. (OECD 2010.) Practically biotechnology covers a range of
enabling technologies and spurs new fields such as Green Chemistry. Biotechnology already has huge

markets worldwide, but its future lies in the new applications and processes, which will e.g. function at
low temperatures, consume little energy and rely on biosynthesis (Ahmed 2009).
As for eco-innovations, biotechnology has perceived to have advantages particularly in the areas of
environmental remediation especially in the clean-up of heavy metals and chemicals (see also emerging
issue below) (OECD 2011).
Nano or biotechnological revolution could breakdown the trend concerning unsustainable use of
resources; however, there are also risks that could break the growing implementation of new
biotechnologies. One question concerns the safety of using genetically modified organisms and
releasing them to environment, which on the other hand, is a clear barrier for further development of new
biotechnological solutions (Søgaard Jørgensen & al. 2006).
Emerging issue: Bacteria eating harmful substances

Biotechnological adaptations in waste and water treatment have been proved to be effective way
to manage and prevent extraction of polluted and harmful substances to environment. For
instance, an Irish company BioPlastech Ltd. has created a biotechnological solution to convert
polypropylene (PP) into biodegradable plastics (Kannelos 2009).
In practice, this innovation turns PP into styrene oil, which is fed to micro-organisms and then
metabolically turned into globules of fatty acids. When 60 % of the bacteria consist of fatty acids,
the micro-organisms are split open and harvested acids are converted into a biodegradable
plastic, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). In other words, this innovation could e.g. help to reduce
plastics from the landfills. Since biodegradable plastics are also more valuable than non-
degradable, recycling of PP would be profitable and thus create a driver for the adaptation of
these type innovations (Kannelos 2009).
One of the further developments of the field of biotechnology is its potential to transform into a
true bio economy within the next 20 years. Bio economy concept covers a broad set of economic
activities relating to invention, development, production and use of biological products and
processes. According to OECD, if bio economy continues on its course, it could have major
socioeconomic contributions worldwide (OECD 2009).

3.7 | Factors preventing eco-innovation implementation (STEEPV
analysis - Society, technology, economy, environment, politics
and values)
Discovering or mere existence of an eco-innovation (that is, of an innovation that brings improvement for
both the economic performance and the environmental performance of society (see, for instance,
Huppes et al. 2008), does not necessarily mean that the innovation becomes widely implemented. In
scientific literature concerning eco-innovations, the issue of barriers hindering an existing eco-innovation
from entering the market is widely discussed. Detailed case studies that would describe different stages
of the eco-innovation process of an invention becoming a product on the market (or failing to do that) are
difficult to come by, but a wide range of articles that describe the issue on a more general level can be
found. This section gives a concise review on some general issues that, according to reviewed literature,
can affect negatively for the successful launch of eco-innovations to the market. This definition means
that most of the barriers listed in this chapter deal with demand side of the eco-innovation question.
From the perspective of technology owner, what are the things affecting the success of an existing eco-
innovation?
The barriers for successful implementation of eco-innovations are collected to a STEEPV (Society,
Technology, Economy, Environment, Politics and Values) –framework. The items under each of the six
titles of the STEEPV –framework are in most cases constructed by combining the basic idea of several
similar types of barriers mentioned in the reviewed articles. From which sources the ideas behind each
and every item in the list can be found, is not specifically defined. While compiling the list of the most
important barriers to eco-innovations, one attempt was to avoid repetition. That means that even though
there are a number of issues that would fit under more than just one STEEPV –category, each issue is
mentioned only once.
The list of sources that were used can be found at the end of the chapter. Along with those mentioned,
also other, mostly unpublished, yet reliable, sources such as materials produced during the course of
the EIO project as well as interviews reports and results of several projects carried out by the Finland
Futures Research Centre, have also been used in writing this chapter.
3.7.1 | Barriers for implementing eco-innovations in STEEPV -framework
Society
Anatomy of decision-making process regarding bringing new innovations to the market. Before
any decision is implemented, it goes through a chain of decisions. In order for a new idea to go through,
the decision has to be accepted at each and every level. The more complicated the problem, the more
decision levels there are. For a decision to disregard some new way of operating it is often enough that
one person in the chain decides “no”. As for the innovation to be implemented, everyone involved in
decision making has to say yes. So, it is a lot more difficult to get a new idea through than what it is to
stick with the old.
Growing role of lobbyists and interest groups. Most influential lobbyists and interest groups are
working for existing large industries, often called “modernisation losers”, who have the most to lose if

ecological restrictions supporting the use of eco-innovations are very strict (and have the most to gain if
the regulations are lax).
The diminishing role and understanding of scientific knowledge. There are signs that for the
general public it is increasingly difficult to distinguish the difference between a view that is based on
scientific research and information that is more or less a value-driven opinion. As the understanding of
what is considered the best available (scientific) knowledge and what should be considered as less
factual arguments is diminishing, the issue of ecological sustainability and correspondingly market for
eco-friendly products is smaller than what it ought to be.
Technology
Inadequate technological knowledge. In some cases, existing deficiencies in technological knowledge

(for production side the lack of knowledge on what is possible, for demand side the knowledge of the
products available and their features) and the lack of creativity hinders the implementation of some eco-
innovative measures.
Difficulties in connecting new innovations with existing systems. Standardised modules that
comprise a product or a service sometimes make it difficult to introduce new elements to the structure
that would improve the ecological performance of a product or a service. This is the case especially with
innovations that consist of many components and where changing one bit requires the other elements
also to change.
Low incentives of being a pioneer in technology adaptation. It rarely pays off to be pioneering the
use of some technology. Therefore, customers (especially businesses) may be reluctant to change their
existing ways of operating. Only if there is reliable enough evidence that the new technology will function
at least as well as the one used earlier or that the body marketing the new eco-innovation can offer
some other securities or advantages for a company that adopts the new product, will the new innovation
be lucrative enough to be adopted.
Environment
Environmental costs of ecologically harmful production are not considered in full. The cost of
polluting is still, even after the attempts to build a system that would internalise the external costs of
polluting, too low. When not all the costs of harmful behaviour are visible to the pollutant, it is more
economical to pollute or waste resources rather than to come up with new eco-innovative ways of
operating.
Economy
Short-sightedness. Performance and viability of companies (and even national states) is analysed on
short-term basis. Companies are often reluctant to invest on issues such as environmental
improvements that have costs right away, but whose positive effects can be seen only after few years.
Economical thinking dominates. Ecological way to operate is often costly, at least in short term. If
there is no credible way to show what kind and how big a profit one is able to gain by being eco-

innovative (be that savings in, for instance, in energy costs, or increased selling price of the product
among eco-conscious consumers), most companies choose not to do so.
Economical profit is often understood from too narrow a perspective. Only the kind of income that
can be calculated and verified as directly being a result of a certain activity, are considered as benefits.
With investments that lower the environmental burden of a product or service, the positive effects are
either realised during a relatively long period or indirectly. The costs of ecological improvements are,
however, considered in their full value.
Difficulties in determining the costs. Financial effects of new ways of operating are often mere
estimates whereas with old ways one knows what the price and other characteristics when using the
application are. Only in cases where on is dissatisfied with the old products, can one expect the
introduction of new innovation to be easy
Ineffective use of already existing eco-innovative technologies due to fear of too big market
disruption. Owners of potentially disruptive technology might opt not to introduce the technology they
possess fearing that it might reduce their own profits if it would affect (possibility for instance with some
companies that have invested heavily on some older technology that might after the introduction of the
new technology become redundant).
Withholding information on very profitable eco-innovation. If a company makes a discovery that

fulfils the two requirements of an eco-innovation: being ecological and economical, the positive effects of
using the innovation can be so big that the company does not want to share this innovation with other
players in the industry
Too high licence fees. Companies owning some interesting eco-innovative technologies might charge
too high licence fees for the use of the technology thus reducing the use of the innovation and
diminishing the development of new products building on this technology.
Volatile energy prices. Fluctuating energy prices make the cost-effectiveness of introducing
innovations that save energy somewhat risky, hence lowering the incentive to develop and introduce
such innovations.
Conflicting interests in investor-customer relationships. One example of this is the case where a
company renting a production or office space would want to improve the eco-efficiency of the leased
building by using some form of renewable energy of energy conservation technologies. These attempts
might be hindered by the property owner who does not want to change the existing solution on the basis
of that the building might become harder to rent after the current lodger terminated their contract, or due
to fear of increased maintenance costs.
Eco-investments’ possible adverse effects on parameters of investment profitability. In some

cases increase in the amount of money invested in, for instance, for new energy production system such
as geo- or solar energy of a building might increase capital tied to the investment. If the new system fails
in bringing corresponding relative amount in profit (either through increased income or decreased
maintenance costs), the investment on the energy system will lower the rate of return for the investment
on the building and make it unattractive for an investor who judges the quality of the investment by
looking at this criteria.
Inadequate availability of risk capital for developing and marketing eco-innovations.

Lack of intermediate actors, such as eco-innovation consultants that would assist companies and
households in adopting the existing eco-innovations by combining and tailoring different solutions to
different purposes.
Politics
Lack of global environmental standards. As there are no binding global contracts for polluting and
energy efficiency, there’s always a possibility for an industry to relocate its business if regulations
concerning pollution of required production technology in one country change in a way that they
threatens to increase its costs.
The imperative of economic growth. Success of a political leaders and policies are ultimately decided
on their performance measured in short-term macroeconomic variables. Most commonly used measures
are unemployment figures or GDP. These, however, tell very little about the long term sustainability of
the society which really should be the politicians’ and their voters’ real concern. Practises that are
unsustainable in the long run are often rewarded in increased GDP in short term. This attitude does not
support the use of eco-innovative methods.
Lack of environmental standards or too low an ambition level for environmental regulation measures.
At the moment, there is pressure to relax already announced European environmental standards as
companies in Asia and the US might unfair competitive advantage over European companies. The
choice seems to be too competitive in the short run or be eco-innovative in the long run.
Inconsistent regulation policies make it very difficult for businesses to invest on designing and
investing on use of eco-innovations. In this kind of environment, the companies just seek ways to do the
minimum amount of ecological actions that the law requires.
Locking on some technology or pollution level in regulation. Regulation should be designed so that
it fosters continuous improvement and always rewards actors for being eco-innovative, rather than
locking in any particular technology.
Countries protecting the use of native, ecologically harmful, energy sources against more
ecological alternatives in favour of, for instance, employment benefits.
Values
Workings of the consumer society. Ideals and wishes of what kind of living is desirable or socially
acceptable do not support the transformation towards eco-innovative way of operating. The amount of
ecologically inclined persons is increasing in developed countries but the amount of people who are
regularly willing to pay extra for environmentally friendly is still a quite a small.
Ecological thinking not a big value in developing countries. In these markets, the attitudes are even
more consuming-driven as in developed countries. This kind of thinking does not put much weight on the
significance on the ecological features of new eco-innovative products
Importance of environmental values is present in speech only, when a more affordable option
exists, it is chosen over more expensive eco-innovative product.

Consumer’s demand for more of everything (more features, more possibilities for various uses, more
visual outlook etc.) undermine the ecological achievements in some single features. When the total
number of components in a given product increases, its ecological footprint increases even if there were
some progress towards eco-efficient ways in different individual components
3.7.2 | Most important barriers and ways to overcome them

According to the studies reviewed for this chapter, difficulties standing in the way of implementing eco-
innovations mostly fall under the theme of economic or societal issues. The main problems can be
traced back to the internal logic of the economic system that does not reward sufficiently for being eco-
innovative. This would not be a problem if the customers would value eco-innovative ways of operating
so that they would be willing to always choose the most ecological option, but this is not the case. The
price of a product is in most cases the most important considered element. As long as are there is no
clear demand for eco-innovative products and services from the customers, the companies do not find it
necessary to develop and make use of eco-innovations (van Hemel & Cramer 2002).
According to a study carried out among several small and medium sized companies, improvements for
ecological performance only stand a chance if it is supported by stimuli other than the expected
environmental benefit alone (van Helem & Cramer 2002). The same goes for larger companies,
although these are to some extent more able to develop and test the market potential of using eco-
innovative solutions. Without customer pull, even implementing eco-innovations that would not create
extra costs to a company might not become in use. This is because if a solution to an environmental
problem requires an intervention in the established patterns of production, consumption, or transport, it
is likely to meet resistance (Jänicke 2007).
In the absence of a true customer market for eco-innovative products and services, one option to ensure
the development and implementation of eco-innovative technologies is to change the rules of the market
so that eco-innovative ways of operating are favoured over ecologically harmful ones. Affecting the
market structure through environmental policy instruments was another important recurring issue
concerning the implementation of eco-innovations in the reviewed literature. As stated above, at the
moment there are generally very little environmental considerations in the market. Therefore, results in
eco-innovations in industries are more or less a result of environmental public policies.
Studies of eco- innovation have found repeatedly that regulation is the most important stimulus for
innovation with other incentives such as cost reductions, effects of supply chain pressure and influence
of NGO campaigning being also crucial in some circumstances (Green, 2005). The most avid regulators
have traditionally been the western industrialised countries. However, pressure of the industries of the
Asian countries presents a difficult dilemma for politics of the western countries in the future concerning
determining on the right level of environmental regulation. In times of economic difficulties, the
temptation to ease up on regulation is big, but in the long run, this might prove to be costly. It is
estimated that current or even projected levels of tightening environmental restrictions are not enough to
produce sustainable development.
Companies often dislike environmental restrictions, but according to many studies, restrictions can also
act as an important factor influencing a birth of a new industry. When supported by global demand or
regulatory trends, strict regulation can result in the creation of lead markets (Beise & Rennings, 2005).
As long as regulation has a big effect on the eco-innovativeness of the companies, the public authority
must be careful in designing the regulatory systems so that they ensure constants technological
improvement and reward for sustainable practises. “Crucial is that industries that operate in ecological

fashion are able to counter the resistance of the established industries that often are somewhat reluctant
in adopting new ways of operating” (Ekins, 2010). Regulation and environmental policies are generally
seen as a driver for eco-innovations, but practising this political power in an unskilled way, regulating
might become a barrier.
Barriers for implementing eco-innovations can be viewed in different levels. According to, for instance,
Bleischwitz et al. 2007 and Leitner et al. 2010, eco-innovations can be used and integrated on three
different levels: as processes, products and systems (or organisations). Changing the established
practises inside these levels is increasingly difficult (processes being the easiest to influence).
As most of the academic writing on eco-innovations seemingly concentrates of the systemic level, based
on the literary review dome for this chapter, the most important barriers affecting the implementation of
eco-innovations can be reduced to two main things. Firstly, there is too little understanding on the
necessity of sustainable ways to operate on every level on the society and secondly, the implementation
of eco-innovations is missing economic incentives. The most important change needed to promote the
implementation of eco-innovations would be to affect the market conditions (be that through education,
regulation, or something else) so that eco-innovations are rewarded.

4 | Main findings and key messages
Emerging areas relevant to eco-innovations
 The comparative analysis on different (electric) information sources indicated that energy sector
has gain significantly higher visibility after 2008. However, in addition to the energy related
issues, e.g. in the electric media also water related eco-innovation issues have begun to pick up
speed in the past four years.
 In terms of resource efficiency and productivity, eco-innovation activities in the long run seem to
be directed towards energy efficiency upgrades. Emerging technologies and eco-innovation
related queries show that energy related articles (electric media and scientific publications) have
had significantly wider range of topics. Here the leading theme seemed to be solar energy, which
covered 25% of the energy related news. However, also transportation was frequently reported.
 The amount of news articles related to material cycles were clearly higher than the ones in the
scientific articles, whereas the news related to water (management, reuse etc.) showed opposite
results. Interestingly, the water related topics have had a consistent representation in the past
five years. Particularly issues concerning ‘waste to water’ and ‘tidal’ or ‘wave’ power were
reported often especially in the first half of the 2011. Water is a highly important resource, and on
European level, eco-innovation related to water sector concern particularly solutions regarding
new and more sustainable water infrastructure.
Emerging technologies, markets and areas related to eco-

innovations
 The emerging areas and opportunities related to eco-innovations concerned sustainable material
cycles and environmental systems. Particularly sustainable cities and water were highlighted in
this years’ horizon scanning. In this respect, sustainable water management infrastructure, new
materials as well as sustainable approaches related to ‘getting to zero-waste’, biomimicry and
cradle-to-cradle’ were identified as promising eco-innovation areas.
 Sustainable cities are considered an answer for the rapid urbanisation. Generally, the
sustainable city concept involves social, economic as well as environmental systems, but the
recent research indicates that the current visions and realisations of sustainable cities are still
focusing too narrowly on the sustainability by looking into only technological or social aspects.
However, combination of technological and social aspects of sustainable cities could be
realised in the vision of collaboration where individuals, businesses and institutions are
seamlessly involved in the making of sustainable choices.

Discontinuities, barriers and drivers for eco-innovations
 From business perspective, discontinuities would be beneficial rather than detrimental. In terms
of eco-innovations, discontinuities could create opportunities in decrease of material cycles and
emissions e.g. through food production, biotechnology and intelligent IT-infrastructures.
 Barriers for the implementation of eco-innovations can be viewed in different levels: process,
product, systems or organisational dimension. From this perspective, barriers related particularly
to systemic eco-innovations can be reduced to two issues. Firstly, there is a lack of
understanding on the necessity of sustainable ways to operate on every level on the society.
Secondly, the economic incentives for implementing eco-innovations are insufficient. The most
important change needed to promote the implementation of eco-innovations would be to affect
the market conditions (be that through education, regulation, or something else) so that eco-
innovations are rewarded.
 The most important barriers for implementation of new eco-innovations fall under social and
economic themes. Economic systems do not reward sufficiently eco-innovative solutions and at
the same time, customers do not value these solutions enough to prefer them over less
sustainable choices. Without customer pull, implementing eco-innovations that would not create
extra costs to a company might not become utilised. If solutions to an environmental problem
require an intervention in the established patterns of production, consumption or transport, it is
likely to meet resistance.
 On the other hand, development and implementation of eco-innovative technologies or services

in the absence of relevant customer market could take place through a change in the market
structure i.e. eco-innovative solutions are favoured over ecologically harmful ones. Studies of
eco- innovation have found repeatedly that regulation is the most important stimulus for
innovation with other incentives such as cost reductions, effects of supply chain pressure and
influence of NGO campaigning being also crucial in some circumstances.
 Companies often dislike environmental restrictions, but according to many studies, restrictions
can also act as an important factor influencing a birth of a new industry. When supported by
global demand or regulatory trends, strict regulation can result in the creation of lead markets. On
the other hand, regulation and environmental policies are seen as a driver for eco-innovations,
but unskilled practice of political power can turn regulative framework into a barrier.

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Annex I
Scientific databases: Scopus & Web of Science
Electronic searches of Futures Studies literature on the topic of eco-innovation were conducted using
the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The searches used various iterations (plurals, etc.) of the
keywords “scenario”, “vision” and “roadmap” in combination with eco-innovation search terms. The
search queries for both Web of Science and SCOPUS can be found below. Due to significant
differences in the search functions provided by the two databases, the search queries—while built
around the same basic keywords—have been structured differently in order to account for
inconsistencies in Boolean operations and, thus, guarantee that the separate searches are as similar as
possible.
Web of Science
TS=(("eco-innovation*" OR "eco innovation*" OR "ecological innovation*" OR "clean

innovation*" OR "green innovation*" OR "material flow* innovation*" OR "low carbon
innovation*" OR "low-carbon innovation*" OR "sustainable innovation*" OR "environmental
innovation*" OR "clean technolog*" OR "green technolog*" OR "environmental
technolog*" OR "cleantech" OR "greentech" OR "envirotech" OR "sustainable
technolog*" OR "material flow technolog*" OR "low carbon technolog*" OR "low-carbon
technolog*") AND ("scenario*" OR "visio*" OR "roadmap*"))
SCOPUS
TITLE-ABS-KEY(({eco innovation} OR {eco innovations} OR {eco-innovation} OR {eco-innovations}
OR {ecological innovation} OR {ecological innovations} OR {clean innovation} OR {clean innovations}
OR {green innovation} OR {green innovations} OR {material flow innovation} OR {material flows
innovation} OR {material flow innovations} OR {material flows innovations} OR {low carbon
innovation} OR {low-carbon innovation} OR {low carbon innovations} OR {low-carbon innovations} OR
{sustainable innovation} OR {sustainable innovations} OR {environmental innovation} OR
{environmental innovations} OR {clean technology} OR {clean technologies} OR {clean technological}
OR {green technology} OR {green technologies} OR {green technological} OR {environmental
technology} OR {environmental technologies} OR {environmental technological} OR cleantech OR
greentech OR envirotech OR {sustainable technology} OR {sustainable technologies} OR
{sustainable technological} OR {material flow technology} OR {material flows technology} OR
{materials flow technology} OR {materials flows technology} OR {material flow technologies} OR
{material flows technologies} OR {materials flow technologies} OR {materials flows technologies} OR
{material flow technological} OR {material flows technological} OR {materials flow technological} OR
{materials flows technological} OR {low carbon technology} OR {low-carbon technology} OR {low
carbon technologies} OR {low-carbon technologies} OR {low carbon technological} OR {low-carbon
technological}) AND ({scenario} OR {scenarios} OR {vision} OR {visions} OR {visionary} OR
{roadmap} OR {roadmaps} OR {roadmapping}))

About the
Eco-Innovation
Observatory (EIO)
The Eco-Innovation Observatory (EIO) is a 3-year initiative financed by the European

Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment from the Competitiveness and
Innovation framework Programme (CIP). The Observatory is developing an integrated
information source and a series of analyses on eco-innovation trends and markets, targeting
business, innovation service providers, policy makers as well as researchers and analysts.
The EIO directly informs two major EU initiatives: the Environmental Technologies Action Plan
(ETAP) and Europe INNOVA.
This second horizon scanning report explores the eco-innovation related future opportunities
environmentally and economically beneficial to businesses and consumers alike. Eco-
innovations visibility in various electric sources is explored, including the Internet, scientific
publications, patent data and the electric media. Eco-innovation related future studies and
scans of various information sources revealed that key areas for enhancing resource
efficiency and sustainable material cycles as well as providing new business opportunities are
mainly amongst the systemic approaches of biomimicry, cradle-to-cradle and zero waste. In
addition to trends identified, “discontinuities” with the potential to break trends are presented.
Main barriers to successful implementation of eco-innovations are also identified to find ways
of overcoming these obstacles. The report is embellished with few inspiring eco-innovation
examples.
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Eio Horizon 2011

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New Horizons for

EIO Horizon Scanning Report

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 0

The Observatory approaches eco-innovation as a persuasive phenomenon present in all

To find out more, visit www.eco-innovation.eu

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 1

This document is available for download from www.eco-innovation.eu

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 2

1 | Setting the Scene ......................................................................................................................................... 10

2 | Eco-Innovation in foresight studies and visions ...................................................................................... 25

3 | Key areas relating to resource-efficiency and sustainable material cycles ........................................... 29

4 | Main findings and key messages ............................................................................................................... 56

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 3

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 4

Setting the scene

Eco-innovation in foresight studies and visions

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 5

Key areas relating to resource efficiency and sustainable material

Main findings and key messages

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 6

 Barriers for implementing eco-innovations related particularly to systemic eco-innovations can be

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 7

To this end, this report aims to answer to the following questions:

 What are the defining barriers to the successful implementation of eco-innovations?

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 8

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 9

1.1 | Eco-innovation in the electric media

Figure 1 | Eco-Innovation in the electronic media

Eco-innovation in the electronic media of the three continents:

400 North America

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 10

Table 1 | Ten most spoken languages in the world

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 11

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 12

"Eco-innovation is the introduction of any new or significantly improved product (good or

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 13

Eco-Innovations & natural resources in the electric media 2006–2011

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 14

Figure 5 | EIO’s core keywords in the electronic media

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 15

Source: Scopus 9.9.2011

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 16

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 17

Eco-innovation synonyms in the Internet

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 18

Source: Scopus 9.9.2011

Figure 10 | Eco-innovation synonyms in the internet

Eco-innovation synonyms in the Internet

Source: Google.com 20.9.2011

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 19

Figure 11 | Resource efficiency related keywords in patents

Resource efficiency related keywords in

Source: Patstat 17.8.2011

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 20

Figure 12 | Energy efficiency connected with innovation in scientific articles

Source: Scopus 9.9.2011

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 21

Resource efficiency related keywords in the Internet

Source: Google.com 21.9.2011

Source: Google.com 21.9.2011

EIO Report: Horizon Scanning December 2011 22

Emerging technologies & eco-innovations in news in the three continents:

Source: Google.com 21.9.2011