Eco-innovation

Eco-innovation is a term used to describe products and processes that contribute to sustainable development.Eco-innovation is the commercial application of knowledge to direct or indirect ecological improvements.

It is often used to describe a range of related ideas, from environmentally friendly technological advances to socially-acceptable innovative paths towards sustainability.

Origins of the Concept of Eco-innovation

The idea of eco-innovation is fairly recent. One of the first appearances of the concept of eco-innovation in the literature is in the book by Claude Fussler and Peter James (1996). In a subsequent article, Peter James defines eco-innovation as 'new products and processes which provide customer and business value but significantly decrease environmental impacts' (James 1997).

Other Related Terms

Eco-innovation is closely linked to a variety of related terms. It is often used interchangeably with 'environmental innovation', and is also often linked with 'environmental technology', 'eco-efficiency', 'eco-design', 'environmental design', 'sustainable design', or 'sustainable innovation'. While 'environmental innovation' is used in similar contexts to 'eco-innovation', the other terms are mostly used when referring to product or process design, and therefore focus more on the technological aspects of eco-innovation rather than the societal or political aspects.

Eco-innovation as a Technological Term

The most common usage of the term “eco-innovation” is to refer to innovative products and processes that reduce environmental costs. This is often used in conjunction with eco-efficiency and eco-design. Many industries have been developing innovative technologies in order to work towards sustainability. However, these are not always shmet practical, or enforced by policy and legislation

Eco-innovation as a Social Process

Another position held (for example, by the organisation [http://www.eco-innovation.net Eco Innovation] ) is that this definition should be complemented: eco-innovations should also bring greater social and cultural acceptance. In this view, this 'social pillar' added to James's (1997) definition is necessary because it determines learning and the effectiveness of eco-innovations.

This approach gives eco-innovations a social component, a status that is more than a new type of commodity, or a new sector, even though environmental technology and eco-innovation are associated with the emergence of new economic activities or even branches (e.g., waste treatment, recycling, etc). This approach considers eco-innovation in terms of usage rather than merely in terms of product. The social pillar associated with eco-innovation introduces a governance component that makes eco-innovation a more integrated tool for sustainable development.

Ecovation is the process by which responsible capitalism aligns with ecological innovation to construct products which have a generative nature and are recyclable back into the environment for usage in other industries.

ee also

*Eco-development
*Eco-efficiency
*Environmental design
*Environmental Technology
*Global warming
*Green banking
*Institute for Humane Studies
*Sustainable Agriculture
*Sustainable Design
*Sustainable Development
*Aldershot High School - ECO Studies Program

References

Beveridge, R. & S. Guy, 2005; 'The rise of the eco-preneur and the messy world of environmental innovation', "Local Environment" 10(6): 665-676

Fussler, C. & P. James, 1996; "Driving Eco-Innovation: A Breakthrough Discipline for Innovation and Sustainability", Pitman Publishing: London, 364 p.

James, P., 1997; 'The Sustainability Circle: a new tool for product development and design', "Journal of Sustainable Product Design" 2: 52:57, http://www.cfsd.org.uk/journal

Jones, E. & Harrison , D., 2000; 'Investigating the use of TRIZ in Eco-innovation', TRIZCON2000 Conference proceedings, Altshuller Institute, May 2000

Jones, E. et al, 2001; 'Managing creative eco-innovation: structuring outputs from eco-innovation projects', "The Journal of Sustainable Product Design" 1(1): 27-39

Nuij, R., 2001; 'Eco-innovation: helped or hindered by integrated product policy', "The Journal of Sustainable Product Design" 1(1): 49-51

Ottman, Jacquelyn A., 1998; "Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation 2nd ed.", Chicago, NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company http://www.greenmarketing.com/index.php/our-book/

Pujari, D. 2006, 'Eco-innovation and new product development: understanding the influences on market performance', "Technovation" 26(1): 76-85

Rai, R. and Allada, V., 2002; 'Adaptive-agent based simulation model to study diffusion of eco-innovation strategies', Proceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference 2: 495-503

Rennings, K. (2000), "Redefining Innovation - eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics", "Ecological Economics" 32(2): 319-332

Smith, M.T., 2001; 'Eco-innovation and market transformation', "The Journal of Sustainable Product Design" 1(1): 19-26

External links

* [http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=-3058533428492266222 "Waste = Food Documentary"] - An inspiring documentary on the Cradle to Cradle design concept of Michael Braungart and William McDonough.
* [http://www.eco-innovation.net Eco Innovation]
* [http://www.frontlinien.dk/eco/index.htm Eco-innovation: Potentials and challenges of tomorrow's technologies (conference held in Copenhagen 2005)]
* [http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/sge/programs/sill.html The Sustainable Innovation Learning Laboratory] - a consortium of companies and professionals engaged in a discussion about the concept and application of sustainable innovation.
* [http://ec.europa.eu/environment/etap/index_en.htm Environmental technologies Action Plan (ETAP)] A European Commission initiative:
** [http://ew.eea.europa.eu/Industry/innovation/faq296659 What is ecoinnovation?] (EnviroWindows-European Environment Agency).
* [http://www.seri.at/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=316&Itemid=315 Eco-Innovation] from the Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI)
* [http://www.lostateminor.com/2007/04/13/neco/ Eco-Products] Interesting report on a new Eco-Innovation product company