Track 10: How can industrial ecology contribute to regional sustainability?
Chaired by Jouni Korhonen, Academy Fellow, University of Tampere
(jouni.korhonen@uta.fi), and Matti Melanen, Research Professor, Finnish Environment
Institute (matti.melanen@ymparisto.fi)
Within industrial ecology (IE), industrial symbiosis (IS) studies the physical flows
of materials and energy in local and regional industrial systems for sustainable
development. Another central aspect of IS is a systems approach to these flows and
actors and to processes affecting and affected by the flows. Entire systems (firm
and process integration networks), alongside individual system components (a single
process/organization), are examined to avoid problem transfer between system
components. The literature shows that the definition of system boundaries of IS
networks has been observed as a challenge for future development of the approach.
The IS system boundaries have been hitherto nearly always defined according to the
geographic or administrative borders of a given city/town, part of the city,
"industrial park" (e.g. including some 20-30 businesses), or administrative
municipality/region/province. Modern product life cycles, however, usually extend
over national and continental borders. What problems and difficulties vs. benefits
are inherent in this approach? What other ways could there be to better define the
boundaries in terms of sustainable development in general, and in terms of IS
network development, policy and management in particular? How to measure the
environmental benefits of industrial symbioses? How can these challenges be
addressed with the methods and approaches of IE that at present mainly come from
engineering and natural sciences? Can social sciences, cultural studies, business,
organizational, management and policy studies contribute to industrial ecology and
industrial symbiosis? Can such integration be implemented successfully in terms of
the broader goal of regional sustainable development, and under what conditions?
Selected papers from the workshop will be considered for publication in either of
two international peer reviewed journals, Progress in Industrial Ecology or The
Journal of Cleaner Production.
|
Mälardalens University is the first University in the world
to become enviromentally certified according to the
international standard ISO 14001.
