Sustainable operations of industrial symbiosis: an enterprise input-output model integrated by agent-based simulation

Industrial symbiosis (IS) is a key for implementing circular economy. Through IS, wastes produced by one company are used as inputs by other companies. The operations of IS suffers from uncertainty barriers since wastes are not produced upon demand but emerge as secondary outputs. Such an uncertainty, triggered by waste supply-demand quantity mismatch, influences IS business dynamics. Accordingly, companies have difficulty to foresee potential costs and benefits of implementing IS. The paper adopts an enterprise input-output model providing a cost–benefit analysis of IS integrated to an agent-based model to simulate how companies share the total economic benefits stemming from IS. The proposed model allows to explore the space of cooperation, defined as the operationally favourable conditions to operate IS in an economically win-win manner. This approach, as a decision-support tool, allows the user to understand whether the IS relationship is created and how should the cost-sharing policy be. The proposed model is applied to a numerical example. Findings show that cost-sharing strategies are dramatically affected by waste supply-demand mismatch and by the relationship between saved and additional costs to run IS. Apart from methodological and theoretical contributions, the paper proposes managerial and practical implications for business strategy development in IS

Urban wind power and the private sector : community benefits, social acceptance and public engagement

Given the ambitious government targets for renewable energy generation in the UK, there has been a push by government and industry towards various types and scales of Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs). This paper explores the implications of commercial urban wind projects for local communities, drawing on a case study of proposals by ASDA to construct wind turbines in two semi-urban locations in the UK. The paper argues that community responses to the proposals were complex and varied and could not adequately be encapsulated by 'nimby' (not in my back yard) assignations. It concludes that while ASDA followed a process of consulting local people, this process highlighted the problems of the 'business as usual' approach to public engagement employed by ASDA, and assumptions made about public acceptance of RETs

Design of an ecosystem to foster systemic eco-innovation. Systemic design for autopoietic local economies

The current global environmental situation, with its interconnected problems, requires holistic approaches to provide a cultural paradigm shift and a different economy to overcome the linear one. Systemic Design (SD) can represent a solution creating opportunities for eco- and system innovation, especially in the manufacturing sector, which will soon face a revolution in the production model. Thus, SD can help achieve environmental and economic sustainability at the local level. A multiple case study analysis on SD projects was developed to understand the significant eco-entrepreneurial opportunities that have emerged and the barriers for their implementation. Finally, an ecosystem is designed to foster systemic innovation based on helix innovation models and identify the facilitator for its creation, namely, the ‘local systemic network booster’

Sustainable Industrial Parks and their Impact in Ecuador: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Purpose:  The objective of this study focused on conducting a systematic literature review (SLR) of Sustainable Industrial Parks (SIPs) and their impact in Ecuador.   Theoretical Framework: SIPs are an effective tool for implementing Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) and are an instrument to increase impact with efficient use of resources and cleaner production.   Design/Methodology/Approach: The methodology adhered to three widely accepted steps for a SLR comprising: planning, execution and dissemination of the analysis. The data review period dates from January 1, 2003 to October 31, 2022, using crawlers such as Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and Dialnet, considering rigorous methods of inclusion and exclusion.   Findings:   The results of this study have provided evidence towards the design of a Circular Economy (CE) integration model through Industrial Symbiosis (IS), with agent-based modeling (ABM) adapted to the authenticity of the Ecuadorian industry and to manufacturing with a sustainable mentality.   Research, Practical & Social implications:  This research through the RSL extracted essential information that highlighted and unified different concepts of SIPs, the congruent point of its functionality and the signs of change that Ecuador shows framed under the concept of CE, beginning to an era of transition extinguished mainly to the current four dimensions of sustainability, focused on economic values, environmental, social and political aspects.   Originality/Value:  The current study contributes to the literature by showing that industrial development involves pollution and reducing it awakens the use of methodologies aimed at satisfying sustainability needs without involving the capacity of future generations

The idea of, Greenery Without Borders. Discovering Arbol de la Vida from the perspective of Green Infrastructure development

En la primera parte del texto se presenta la “Estrategia Europea de Infraestructura Verde”, instaurada en Breslavia (Polonia), habitada por más de 600,000 personas. Este contexto urbano europeo se convierte en el punto de partida del análisis de dos tendencias complementarias en la configuración del sistema verde urbano: como una red de parches y corredores ecológicos que forman la columna vertebral (estructura/ warp) del sistema; y como vegetación dispersa que acompaña a las urbanizaciones y otras zonas construidas, a veces en forma de los llamados “jardines de bolsillo”. La segunda parte es sobre el desarrollo de la segunda tendencia en dos parques de Breslavia que están en construcción, así como su posible adaptación en la Ciudad de México, donde las condiciones parecen favorecer formas de vegetación bastante dispersas. Al considerar el “Árbol de la Vida” símbolo de la cultura mexicana, la autora utiliza éste en la construcción de jardines en macetas verticales, y al colocarse en las paredes de patios y balcones, pueden convertirse en la respuesta local a la idea de jardines de bolsillo.The article consists of two parts. The first presents the European Green Infrastructure Strategy from the perspective of Wroclaw (Poland), which is currently inhabited by over 600 000 people. This fairly typical European urban context becomes the starting point for the analysis of two complementary trends in shaping the urban Green system: as a network of patches and ecological corridors that form the backbone (structure/warp) of the system and as dispersed greenery that accompanies housing estates and other built-up areas, sometimes in the form of so-called “pocket gardens”. The second part of the article is devoted to the implementation of this idea in two Wroclaw’s parks that are under construction, as well as its posible adaptation in Mexico City, where the conditions seem to favour rather scattered forms of greenery. Perceiving “Arbol de la Vida” as one of the distinctive symbols of Mexican culture, author proposes to use this form for the construction of the unique, vertical potted gardens. Placed on the walls of courtyards and balconies, they can become the local response to the idea of pocket gardens.Wroclaw University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture

Capacity-building barriers to S3 implementation: an empirical framework for catch-up regions

In this paper, we investigate the implementation challenge of Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) in catch-up regional environments, through the lens of capacity building. We analyse capacity building at two levels: micro-level (individual organisations) and meso-level (regional inter-organisational networks). We use empirical evidence from 50 interviews conducted in the period 2015–2017 from two Greek regions dramatically hit by the economic crisis (Crete and Central Macedonia). We argue that in the Cretan and Central Macedonian context, the difficulty of implementing S3 is directly linked with firms’ lack of adsorptive capability to exploit university-generated knowledge, university knowledge that is too abstract for firm’s to easily acquire, as well as to the capability of regional actors to build inter-organisational networking that fits their strategic needs