Innovation for sustainability
Innovating new sustainable products, services, business models and forms of consumption can help tackle global challenges.
Sustainability in Business (SUB)
Our mission is to provide knowledge about innovative business models and transition paths that enhance sustainable development. As complex sustainability challenges call for multi-disciplinary knowledge and societally impactful research, we co-create solution proposals together with partners from different sectors of society.
Research areas
Sustainability transitions
Our research looks at several dimensions of the transition toward sustainability societies.
Circular economy
Circular economy keeps materials in use longer using strategies like reuse, remanufacture, recycling, and replacing ownership with rentals.
Corporate responsibility
Cross-national governance of businesses make ethical issues urgent.
SUB Publications
The latest publications from SUB researchers
Sustainability teaching
Sustainability course offerings in the School of Business
SUB seminar series
The SUB lunchtime seminar series provides a monthly forum for all interested to discuss topical research in social and environmental issues in management.
Seminar schedule 2021-2022
Spring 2022
Thursday 31.3, 11.00-12.00
Ekonominaukio 1, U213 and Zoom
Karelia Dagnaud1, Linda Turunen1, Minna Halme1, Jarkko Levänen2
(1) Aalto University, (2) Lappenranta University of Technology
Objects as means of sustainability knowledge co-creation across the research-practice boundary
Thursday 28.4, 11.30-12.30
Ekonominaukio 1, U213
Leena Lankoski, Aalto University School of Business
Driving towards sustainable choice: A configurational analysis with a framing experiment
A thorough understanding of sustainable consumer choice is required so that it can be effectively promoted. Even if individual elements affecting choice have been identified, their joint impacts are less well understood. To address this gap, we examine the topic with a configurational approach. We use fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) with a randomized experiment to show how ‘accelerators’, ‘brakes’, framing, and gender are intertwined in influencing choice. Empirically, we address this topic through the example of animal welfare in food production. We thus offer more nuanced understanding of how multiple elements interact in complex ways in affecting sustainable consumption. We also show how framing sustainability in terms of losses or gains (in terms of avoiding unsustainability or seeking sustainability) affects choice so that under a loss frame, sustainable choice results more easily and under a gain frame, non-choice results more easily.
Thursday 12.5, 11.30-12.30
Ekonominaukio 1, U213
Ira Chatterjee, Hanken School of Economics
Social entrepreneurship and values work: The role of practices in shaping values and negotiating change
Ira writes together with Joep Cornelissen, Joakim Wincent and Dean Shepherd, and will speak about their research on social entrepreneurship in Barefoot College, an organization that trains poor women as solar energy entrepreneurs in India. Ira’s topic is of interest for those interested in social entrepreneurship and ethnographic research in low-income emerging market contexts. The presentation bridges her recently published and forthcoming results (Journal of Business Venturing).
Ira Chatterjee is a Ph.D. candidate at the Hanken School of Economics (defense April 19, 2022). Her work, situated at the intersection of entrepreneurship and social change, explores how organizations can tackle grand challenges and contribute to sustainable development goals. Ira’s research draws attention to the centrality of context and focuses on the mechanisms and strategic practices that enable positive social change, and how individuals and societies can thrive through entrepreneurship. Her work has been published in the Journal of Business Venturing and she has co-authored two book chapters. Ira received her MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, and spent 12 years in industry before making the shift to academia.
Awards and highlights
Minna Halme, Leena Lankoski and Mika Kuisma
Article "When Is There a Sustainability Case for CSR? Pathways to Environmental and Social Performance Improvements" (co-authored with Jukka Rintamäki and Jette Steen Knudsen) received Business & Society’s 2020 Best Paper Award
Inês Peixoto
Finalist for the EGOS Best Student Paper Award with the paper “Risk organization and moral multiplexity in the EU biofuels market” (presented at EGOS Edinburgh 2019)
Minna Halme
HSE Support Foundation Societal Impact Award, 2019
Elizabeth Miller
Thesis "Trash to Treasure: A Multiple Case Study of Finnish Companies That Create Economic Value from Waste Materials" received award for top university master's thesis, Association for Environmental Management (Ymparistöjohtamisen yhdistys ry), 2018
Samuli Patala and Minna Halme
Article "Polycentric Governance of Privately Owned Resources in Circular Economy Systems" received Carolyn Dexter Award for international papers, Academy of Management 2018
Jouni Juntunen, Minna Halme, Angelina Korsunova and Risto Rajala
Article "Powering sustainable innovations: Strategies for collaborating with deviant partners" won Best Academic Paper at R&D Management Conference 2016, University of Cambridge
Minna Halme, Sara Lindeman and Paula Linna
Article "Innovation for Inclusive Business: Intrapreneurial Bricolage in Multinational Corporations", Journal of Management Studies, 2012 received the Emerald Citations of Excellence for 2015
The latest from SUB
Dive deeper into SUB's work through our blog posts and news articles.
Can circular economy replace collapsing global supply chains? A polycentric governance perspective - Management Studies Insights Blog (external link)
Blog post for Journal of Management Studies by Samuli Patala, Laura Albareda and Minna Halme
The New Sustainability in Business online course strengthens knowledge of sustainable business
How can companies create sustainable value for the economy, the environment and society?
SUB scholars win Business & Society’s 2020 Best Paper Award
SUB scholars Minna Halme, Leena Lankoski and Mika Kuisma have won Business & Society’s 2020 Best Paper Award.
Sustainability in Business (SUB) group awarded funding to research transition risks for low-carbon shipping and aviation
The newly funded T-Risk research project aims to shed light on transition risks in the maritime and aviation sectors, crucial for global trade and transportation.
Jouni Juntunen nominated to Network for Business Sustainability Sustainability Centres Community (SCC) Advisory Board
Jouni Juntunen has been nominated to Network for Business Sustainability Sustainability Centres Community (SCC) Advisory Board for a three year period starting from 2021.
Interesting methodology workshop organized by SUB researchers
The Sustainability in Business research group organized a virtual workshop on conducting field research in methodologically challenging settings.
The World Needs Hands-on Solutions to Wicked Problems
New Global has taken a holistic approach to exploring pathways from poverty to sustainable development. By com-bining interdisciplinary research and education with innovation work in the field, we have studied and experimented with co-innovation across Finland and emerging markets.
Does Corporate Responsibility Deliver? Broken Pathways to Business Sustainability (external link)
Guest blog for Business and Society by Leena Lankoski and Minna Halme.
Millainen liiketoiminta muuttaa maailmaa? (external link)
Perinteinen kapitalistinen ajatus, että yrityksen tehtävänä on ainoastaan tuottaa voittoa osakkeenomistajilleen, tuntuu nykyään suunnilleen yhtä 1900-lukuiselta kuin lankapuhelin.
Kuuluisassa Kasvun rajat –raportissa (Meadows ym., 1972) todettiin jo lähes 50 vuotta sitten, että luonnonvarojen tuhlaileva käyttö ei voi jatkua loputtomiin.
Valitettavasti 2020-luvulle tultaessa on käynyt ilmeiseksi, että ihmiskunta on ollut hidas reagoimaan. Materiaalienkäytön ja päästöjen kasvu kielii siitä, että todellinen radikaali muutos vaatii aikaa. Näinhän se menee. Hammaslääkäriinkin vaivautuu vasta, kun tarpeeksi kivistää.
Onneksi löytyy myös kosolti kestäviä edelläkävijäyrityksiä, joiden innovaatiot ovat parhaillaan tehokasta juurihoitoa luonnonvarojen käytön kasvun kanssa kipuilevalle ihmiskunnalle. Näitä edelläkävijäyrityksiä löytyy tekstiilialalla esimerkiksi vastuullisten yritysten listasta, jota Finix-hankkeen tutkijat kokosivat koronakevään aikana #kestävävaate-kampanjassa.
SUB researchers to present at the virtual Academy of Management conference
From August 7-11, several members of the SUB research group will participate in the 80th annual meeting of the Academy of Management, this year held virtually because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Doctoral dissertation: Innovative entrepreneurship may be a viable solution for reducing poverty
Entrepreneurs need an innovative business idea, access to significant support and an environment that endorses entrepreneurship.
Creative Sustainability included in Financial Times’ list of best practices for sustainability in business schools
School of Business was included among the best practices for sustainability in teaching and student projects.
Kicking off the "Better Business - Better Society" series
Researchers and partners from the Finix sustainable textile system project, co-led by SUB scholars, kicked off the Aalto Business School "Better Business - Better Society" seminar series.
SUB researchers to present at the Academy of Management conference in Boston
From August 9-13, several members of the SUB research group will participate in the 79th annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Boston, USA. They will join scholars from across the world to share and discuss the latest research on the conference theme Understanding the Inclusive Organization, examining how organizations impact communities on many different dimensions, from the psychological to the ecological.
SUB researchers lead new sustainable textiles consortium
Researchers from the Sustainability in Business (SUB) research group are leading one of Aalto’s three consortia funded in the latest round of grants from the Academy of Finland’s Strategic Research Council.
Many Shades of Cocreation: Research Designs for Collaboration
When academics and practitioners work together on research, there’s no standard template to follow. Aalto researchers provide a model.
'The solutions for circular economy are not achieved alone'
A circular economy workshop series develops new collaborations between engineers and business researchers.
How to accelerate the circular economy
It sounds simple — one business’s waste becomes another’s input. But the reality is challenging. Three case studies provide best practices.
Aalto sustainability news
Prices for charging electric cars will change at the Otaniemi campus and Aalto Töölö
The pricing for electric car charging is adjusted, beginning from 14.7.2022. The overall increase in electricity prices affects the charging expenses as well.
Fiskars Group donates EUR 250 000 to the field of arts and design at Aalto University
The donation is part of the long-term collaboration between Fiskars Group and Aalto University. The collaboration includes courses on, for example, sustainable design and materials of the future.
Improvement of the green area in the Korkeakoulu square to begin
Construction work at the green area on Korkeakoulu square will start in late June.
Collaboration between Wärtsilä and Aalto University is expanding - aiming for sustainable future solutions
One key driver of the partnership is the energy transition and the need to develop new zero-emission fuel solutions.Events
The Trees of Pikku Finlandia
This exhibition by Josh Krute at Pikku Finlandia Hall in Töölö features relief prints made from cross sections of the building's unique pine tree pillars.
Re-valuing Wood
How can we use wood resources thoughtfully and preserve our natural forest environment? Six student project teams explored the potential of cascading demolition wood waste, through panels made of this potentially valuable resource.
Who we are
Member of the Sustainability Centres Community
SUB is a member of the Sustainability Centres Community (SCC), hosted by the Network for Business Sustainability (NBS).
Get in touch
Address
Väre, Otaniementie 14
02150 Espoo
Contact
Elizabeth Miller
[email protected]