Product Service Systems and Sustainability: Opportunities for Sustainable Solutions

Given that the concept of PSS is beginning to 'catch on' and gain attention, it is time for UNEP to contribute to, and influence the progress of PSS, to ensure that in concept and application it incorporates the idea of sustainability. In this context its potential is not generally understood by the public and private sectors or civil society. This booklet is intended to contribute to the dissemination and the discussion of the PSS concept as a promising approach to sustainability. The ultimate goal must be to achieve Sustainable Product-Service Systems. This UNEP publication is targeted at industry and government, academia and civil society to explain PSS – their potential benefits and limitations – in the sustainability context – using real company examples. To prepare this booklet, UNEP has drawn on the knowledge and experience of PSS experts to flesh out the concept of a sustainable PSS, to collect case studies of PSS in practice, to begin to document both its benefits and the hurdles which need to be overcome in its application, and to suggest ways forward in its development

System design for sustainable energy systems in emerging an low-income contexts

This keynote presents Product-Service System Design for Sustainability as a promising approach to tackle in emerging and low-income contexts the socio-ethical dimension of sustainability together with the environmental and economic ones. Firstly, reasons for applying eco-efficient Product Service Systems (PSS) innovation in low-income and emerging contexts are highlighted. Secondly, the known model of distributed economy is introduced as a promising characteristic of such eco-efficient Product-Service Systems to address the issue of locally based renewable and sustainable energy systems as the key leverage for a democratisation of access to resources, goods and services. In this framework the EU funded Learning Network on Sustainability (LeNS) project and its Method for System Design for Sustainability (MSDS) are presented

Designing a “New Normality”, Distributed and Sustainable for All

The Covid-19 pandemic crisis is increasing poverty and inequalities on a global scale. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that “The recovery from the covid-19 crisis must lead to a different economy.  Everything we do during and after this crisis must be with a strong focus on building more equal, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies that are more resilient in the face of pandemics, climate change and the many other global challenges we face.” Sharing this approach, the recovery cannot be a return to the “old normality”: it should lead to a radically better society and economy, a “new normality”

The role of public policy in stimulating radical environmental impact reduction in the automotive sector: The need to focus on product-service system innovation

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 InderscienceProduct-service system (PSS) innovation is a promising approach to address sustainability challenges in the automotive industry. Starting form this assumption, this paper presents and discusses the potential contribution that policy measures can have in fostering the automotive sector in innovating on a PSS level. A set of policy instruments (general instruments and specific PSS-targeted ones) are presented and classified, underlining the effects they could produce at the company and environmental levels. In order to effectively support sustainable PSS diffusion in the automotive industry, the paper suggests the integration of general policy measures (such as internalisation of external costs, extended producer responsibility programmes and informative policies), with the PSS-targeted ones (such as Green Public Procurement focused on sustainable PSS, support of companies in acquiring information related to PSS, support of demonstrative pilot projects). In addition, the paper suggests the necessity to involve actively universities and research centres

Digital transition, Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS), and environmental sustainability - A systematic review

Recently, the ongoing digital transition has brought forth both new risks and opportunities for environmental sustainability. However, despite some attention given to potential relationships between related areas and a growing research interest therein, a limited number of studies have holistically explored the nexus between digital transition, PSS, and environmental benefits. This research is a systematic literature review focused on the relationship between S.PSS and environmental sustainability during the digital transition process. We propose a novel analytical perspective by synthesizing and mapping the existing literature to derive a potential pathway for digital technologies to optimize four S.PSS relevant factors through four primary approaches (Information/Data Access Optimization, Connectivity & Communication Optimization, Process Optimization, Systemic Optimization ), leading to environmental benefits across six dimensions (Product lifetime extension, Intensive use of Product, efficiency of resources, resources’ renewability, Material life extension and Pollution reduction), and outlining current shortcomings and suggested future research directions. This study identifies broad consensus on the potential significance of digital transition in contributing to the environmental benefits of the product design for environmental sustainability (i.e. Life Cycle Design), but reveals a scarcity of research focusing on other aspects of S.PSS (e.g. service and business model innovation) and environmental benefits (e.g. resource renewability), which need further investigation. This study assists researchers in comprehending the potential environmental impacts of digital technologies when applied to S.PSS, identifying future research priorities to inspire designers to revaluate the new role and competence of S.PSS in promoting sustainable transition in the digital era

System design for sustainability for all: S.PSS design applied to distributed economies

One major issue attached to the transition towards a sustainable society is that of improving social equity and cohesion in low and middle-inco- me contexts, for an environmentally sustainable re-globalisation process characterised by a democratisation of access to resources, goods and servi- ces (Assembly, UN General, 2014). Regarding such transition, Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS) has been studied since the end of the 90th (Mont, 2002; Goedkoop et al, 1999; Tischner, Rayan and Vezzoli, 2009; UNEP, 2002; Vezzoli et al, 2014) as one of the most promising offer/business models.S.PSS has been recently defined as: “an offer model providing an integra-ted mix of products and services that are together able to fulfil a particularcustomer demand (to deliver a “unit of satisfaction”), based on innovative interactions between the stakeholders of the value production system (sati- sfaction system), where the ownership of the product/s and/or its life cycle responsibilities remain by the provider/s, so that the economic interest of the providers continuously seeks environmentally and/or socioethicallybeneficial new solutions.” (Vezzoli, 2018) Distributed Economies (DE) is another model studied since 2005 (Johansson, Kisch and Mirata, 2005; IIIEE, 2009) as an alternative economic structure to the dominant Centralised one promising for locally-based sustainabi-lity (Johansson, Kisch and Mirata, 2005); DE has been recently defined as“Small-scale production units, located by or nearby the end-users, whether individuals, entrepreneurs and/or organisations/institutions, i.e. the produ- cers are the same end-users or nearby them. If the small- scale production units are connected with each other to share various forms of resources and/or goods (physical and knowledge-based ones), they become a Locally Distributed Economy Network, which may in turn be connected with ne- arby similar networks. If properly designed they are promising to promote locally- based sustainability, i.e. Sustainable Distributed Economies (S.DE).” (LeNSin Polimi team, 2018) The paper discusses an innovative system approach to sustainability, i.e. the win-win potential of coupling S.PSS and DE for a sustainable society for all, which is the Research Hypothesis of the LeNSin (the international Learning Network of networks on Sustainability) project, funded by the EU Erasmus+ programme involving 36 universities from Italy, Finland, Netherlands, Uni- ted Kingdom, China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. The Research Hypothesis runs as follow: (Polimi, 2015) A S.PSS applied to DE is a promising approach to diffuse sustainability in low/middle-income (all) contexts, because it reduces/cuts both the initial (capital) cost of DE hardware purchasing (that may be unaffordable) and the running cost for maintenance, repair, upgrade, etc. of such a DE hardware (that may cause the interruption of use), while increasing local employment and related skills, as well as fostering for economic interest of the producer/ provider to design low environmentally impacting DE products, i.e. resul- ting in a key leverage for a sustainable development process aiming at de- mocratizing the access to resources, goods and services. Shifting the concern of the design role, the following Research Hypothesis (Polimi, 2015) has been studied by envisioning a new system design role to design for S.PSS applied to DE. Within the LeNSin project, different types of DE have been classified as(LeNSin Polimi team, 2018): Distributed energy Generation (DG), Distributed Manufacturing (DM), Distributed production of Food (DF), Distributed Wa- ter management (DW), Distributed production of Software (DS), Distributed production of Information/knowledge (DI), and Distributed Design (DD). Both Research Hypothesises have been explored and characterised within the LeNSin project with the following process: each of the 36 partner insti- tutions carried out literature review on the topic, followed by a coordinated case study analysis; the results of those activities were shared between all partners in a meeting and trough the project web platform. These activities were followed by 5 seminars held in Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, China and India, where the partners gathered academics, companies, NGOs, govern-mental institutions, etc. This led to the a refinement and characterisationof the Research Hypothesises. All produced that far were the bases for thedesign and implementation of the first round of 5 pilot courses held in thenon-European partner countries, where local and European teachers were involved in the teaching and evaluating boards. All of the learning resources (syllabus, videos of the lectures, slides, case studies, tools, etc.) have been sha- red with other partners right after the end of each course. A second round of pilot courses was then carried out with the same logic in different universi- ties and with different guest EU teachers and observers. At the end, a total of 10 pilot courses were carried out, each of them evaluated by a questionnaire given to both students and professors. A method with a set of design tools for System Design for Sustainability for all (SD4SA) is now available. The paper gives a particular attention to the description of a Sustainability Design-Orienting Scenario for S.PSS applied to DE, as introduced by the po- larity diagram below. Finally, the following new role of designer is presented (Polimi, 2015) SD4SA: “design of S.PSS applied to DE, i.e. the design of the Systems of Productsand Services that are together able to fulfil a particular customer demand(deliver a “unit of satisfaction”), within the DE paradigm; based on the de- sign of innovative interactions among locally-based stakeholders, where the ownership of the product/s and/or its life cycle responsibilities remain by the provider/s, so that economic interests of the provider/s continuo-usly seek both environmentally and socio-ethically beneficial new solu– tions, i.e. solutions accessible to all”. The paper contents are innovative as both the understanding (and the de- scription) of the win-win potentials of S.PSS applied to DE; and the related system design approaches, skills and tools are new. Those outcomes resulted from a process where their validity and characterisation have been carried out by a well- integrated groups of worldwide researchers. Finally, all the learning resources on the knowledge-base and know-how developed in the project are uploaded on the LeNS web platform, where they could be downloaded free of charge, with an open and copy-left ethos. The outcomes achieved are already innovative and relevant, but at the same time, it is cle- ar that new research activities are needed to better identify the win-win characteristics of S.PSS applied to DE as well as the approaches and the skills for a new generation of designer adopting a system approach to effectively address the sustainability challenge

Designing Sustainable Clothing Systems

The Fashion System is at the center of the international debate as one of the most polluting and most impactful industries on the environment. In the last decade the fashion industry has changed, and is still modifying, its approach, aware of the fact that the attention to the environment can no longer be considered a trend: the entire system needs to find and adopt a methodological approach to the project and to the production of goods and services. Today all the stakeholders on the supply chain follow a path from upstream to downstream: from the treatment of pollution, to the intervention on the production processes that generate a product, to the redesign of products and/or services to reach the discussion and reorientation of social behavior. This path shows the need to intervene in design terms and that the growth in responsibility and role of design, requiring reference scenarios, knowledge and new tools. The book defines the features and scenarios of sustainable development, as well as the evolution of sustainability in research and practice of fashion design, addressing the strategies for the design and development of environmentally sustainable products. The authors describe the Life Cycle Design approach and the strategies and guidelines for integrating environmental requirements into product design for sustainable fashion. They present the so-called Systems of Sustainable Products-Services, namely the most promising scenarios and models to make design for sustainable fashion economically convenient. Finally, they provide a method and related tools to support design for sustainable fashion in the evaluation of the environmental impact of products, with particular emphasis on the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment). The text is enriched by a full-bodied review of interviews and case studies, with the dual purpose of making the design options clear and of highlighting their specificity for the different design contexts

System Design for Sustainable Energy for all. A new challenging role for design to foster sustainable development

This paper argues that Product-Service System Design for Sustainability applied to Distributed Renewable Energy DRE) is a promising approach to help achieve the goal of 'Sustainable energy for all' (United Nation). Firstly, two understandings are presented: 1) Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) is a key leverage for sustainable development and; 2) Product-Service System (PSS) is a promising model for sustainable development. Based on those understandings two consequent research hypotheses are presented: 1) S.PSS is a promising model for DRE and is particularly relevant for the distributed and informal economies in low-middle income (all) contexts; 2) (Product-Service) System Design for Sustainable energy for all is a new challenging role for design. The recently awarded LeNSes (Learning Network on Sustainable energy system) EU project (bi-regional with Africa) is based on these hypotheses and it is introduced in terms of its aims and expected results, i.e. to deepen and diffuse the knowledge-base and know-how of system design for sustainable energy for all. Finally, two best practices of DRE-based S.PSS are described, one is the recently awarded (2014 International Ashden) project 'M-POWER Off-grid electric services in Arusha, Tanzania' and the second is the pilot implementation of the 'Sunride sustainable mobility system in Cape Town'

System Design For Sustainable Energy For All. A new knowledge base and know-how developed within the LeNSes European and African project

This paper presents the results of the Learning Network on Sustainable Energy Systems (LeNSes) an African-European multi-polar network for curriculum development on Design for Sustainability (DfS) focused on Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) and Sustainable Product-Service Systems (S.PSS), i.e. System Design for Sustainable Energy for All (SD4SEA). The project has been funded by the European Union (EU) 2013-2016, Edulink Programme and involves four African and three European universities offering design-specific programmes of study. The results are articulated in knowledge-base and know-how outcomes. Regarding knowledge level the paper highlights the design role within the framework of the S.PSS applied to DRE and how they can be used to develop and implement sustainable energy solutions for all in the African, or more in general low and middle-income context. The discussion is supported by the presentation of projects shaped in the courses regarding sustainable energy product service systems involving for example cooking, mobility, lighting, and healthcare. The United Nations’ Global Action Agenda [1] highlights indeed action areas for the achievement of long-term sustainable development as Modern Cooking Appliances & Fuels, Distributed Electricity Solutions, Grid Infrastructure & Supply Efficiency, Large Scale Renewable Power, Industrial & Agricultural Processes, Transportation, Buildings & Appliances. From the know-how (design methods and support tools) point of view they consist in a new modular and adaptable package of learning resources focused on System Design for Sustainable Energy for All (SD4SEA); in pilot courses at African Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) targeted at undergraduate and graduate students, practitioners and companies; and in an open web platform for distributed production and transfer of learning resources (lectures, tools, case studies, student projects…) in this area

New design challenges to widely implement 'Sustainable Product-Service Systems'

Sustainable Product-Service Systems (S.PSS) carry great potential to deliver social well-being and economic prosperity while operating within the limits of our planet. They can however be complex to design, test, implement and bring to the mainstream. To increase our understanding of the potential benefits, drivers and barriers in S.PSS design, the research community has been inspired to collect and analyse an extensive number of cases in diverse sectors and to develop and test several design methods and tools. This Special Volume on "New Design Challenges to Widely Implement 'Sustainable Product-Service Systems'" presents results of key studies in the following areas: user satisfaction and acceptance of S.PSS solutions, how industrial partnerships and stakeholder interactions can be designed for environmental and socio-ethical benefits, how knowledge of socio-technical change and transition management feeds S.PSS design processes, and the role of policy instruments to foster their implementation and scale-up. This Introduction reviews the current state of research and summarises the articles presented. The articles demonstrate increasing confidence in integrating approaches and theoretical frameworks from other arenas. These approaches include sociological practice theory, to shed new light on consumer practices in S.PSS configurations, and strategic niche management, to foster a suitable design and experimentation milieu. Experimentation, iteration and cyclical design processes were also seen by many authors as crucial to implementing and stabilising S.PSS solutions, but also their continuous sustainability evaluation. Several articles highlight the importance of local authorities, in developing S.PSS-enabling policies as well as supporting novel networks of stakeholders in the co-production of value. Finally this Introduction highlights key issues for a design research agenda, including but not limited to the development of new knowledge to support S.PSS designers (such as S.PSS design in low and middle-income contexts) and the role of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the diffusion of knowledge and know-how to companies. Together, the papers in this special volume provide insight into the promise of the S.PSS concept for understanding, advancing and accelerating sustainability