96179 - SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITION MANAGEMENT M

Learning outcomes

The overarching aim of the course is to provide students with frameworks and tools to understand the Sustainability Transition Management, with particular regards to the role of business and innovation. Moreover, students will develop competences related to the Life Cycle Management of product and processes, and hands-on experience on Life Cycle Costing.

Course contents

Introduction to sustainability transition: This module will start by exploring climate change and its physical science. We will discuss climate change's social, economic, and political implications. Climate governance and its implications for businesses will be detailed. We will then deepen on the theoretical evolution of the concept of sustainability. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and their links with sustainability transition will be explored. The module ends with an introduction to transitions theory and Geels Multi-Level Perspective. The interdisciplinary nature of sustainability transitions will be examined, and how technological, political, economic and socio-cultural changes are required to enable more sustainable forms of production and consumption.

Sustainability transitions in key sectors: There are five key sectors for sustainability transition: energy, mobility, agri-food, housing and infrastructure, and industry. The module will discuss the meaning of sustainability transition for those key sectors and what are possible challenges and solutions.

Managing sustainability transitions: The module starts with the Loorbach model of business transition management. The role of niches and incumbents will be discussed, and how opportunities can be identified. We will then dive into how companies translate the concept of sustainability into practice and develop sustainability strategies. The module ends with the evolution of sustainability-oriented innovation and the different stages presented by the model of Adams and colleagues.

Life Cycle Thinking, Assessment and Management: integrating Life Cycle perspective in the design of product, processes and business. Principles of Ecodesign. We will introduce the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment and how assessing the perfomance on the Triple Bottomline can support the management at product, process and business level.

Life Cycle Costing: how to integrate the Life Cycle perspective with cost management. Principle of Life Cycle Costing and integration with Life Cycle Assessment to minimize the trade-offs between environmental and economic impacts.

Hands- on experience: development of a Group Work based on the application of Life Cycle Costing to a real business case.  

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory readings:

Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S. E., Fetzer, I., Bennett, E. M., ... & Sörlin, S. (2015). Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. science, 347(6223). http://dx.doi. org/10.1126/ science.1259855

Geels, F.W., 2002. Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study. Research policy, 31(8-9), pp.1257-1274. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(02)00062-8

Loorbach, D. and Wijsman, K., 2013. Business transition management: exploring a new role for business in sustainability transitions. Journal of cleaner production, 45, pp.20-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.002

Adams, R., Jeanrenaud, S., Bessant, J., Denyer, D. and Overy, P., 2016. Sustainability‐oriented innovation: A systematic review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 18(2), pp.180-205. [https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12068]

Landrum, N.E., 2018. Stages of corporate sustainability: Integrating the strong sustainability worldview. Organization & Environment, 31(4), pp.287-313. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026617717456 [https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1086026617717456]

UNEP, 2011. Towards a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: Making informed choices on products.

França et al., 2021. Integrating life cycle assessment and life cycle cost: a review of environmental‑economic studies. Int. J. Life Cycle Ass. 26:244–274

Additional Readings:

Markard, J., Raven, R. and Truffer, B., 2012. Sustainability transitions: An emerging field of research and its prospects. Research policy, 41(6), pp.955-967. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2012.02.013

Vieira, L. C., Longo, M., & Mura, M. (2022). From carbon dependence to renewables: The European oil majors' strategies to face climate change. Business Strategy and the Environment. [https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3185]

Vieira, L. C., Longo, M., & Mura, M. (2022). Will the regime ever break? Assessing socio-political and economic pressures to climate action and European oil majors’ response (2005-2019). Climate Policy, 22(4), 488-501. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2022.2044283

Sonneman and Margni, 2015. Life Cycle Management. Springer

Teaching methods

• Lectures
• Case studies
• Guest speakers from industry
• Hands on exercises and Group Work

Assessment methods

1. For students attending the course the final exam will consist of:

• A set of theoretical questions (multiple choices) on the whole program + 1 open-handed question;
• A Project Work (PW) developed in teams, presented and discussed on the exam day.

  Exam is scored using the following criteria:

  Theoretical questions: 60% of final grade;

  Project work: 40% of final grade;

 

2. For students NOT attending the course the final exam will consist of:

• A set of theoretical questions (multiple choices)+ 1 open-handed question on the whole program;
• An oral exam.

  Exam is scored using the following criteria:

• Theoretical questions: 50% of final grade;
• Oral exam: 50% of final grade

The exam will take place according to the timetable of the School and communicated through the platform AlmaEsami (https://almaesami.unibo.it [https://almaesami.unibo.it/] ).

Teaching tools

Slides and complementary material on case studies will be provided to students.

Office hours

See the website of Sara Zanni

See the website of Leticia Canal Vieira