SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION RESEARCH: AWARENESS, MEASURES AND DEVELOPMENT

Journal article, 2012

This paper takes its standpoint in the hypothesis that awareness of sustainability is the key to create sustainable products, and that this awareness begins already at research level. It describes the development and follow-up of a method for increasing sustainability awareness in sustainable production research. Several activities were carried out to increase the awareness. Firstly) workshops with researchers and industry on sustainability. Secondly) development of measures based on literature and interviews with researchers. Thirdly) monitoring of awareness through concept maps. Progress was evaluated by comparing the awareness of the population when the project started in 2010, and then again in 2011. The results show that the participants had shifted their view from primary emphasizing technology towards a more balanced view of sustainability where social aspects were more often taken into consideration. According to the concept maps methodology, sustainability awareness in the population increased with 25%.