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"Oh no, it's broken!" - how product functionality limits lifespan
Full text linkToday a large variety of products with various features and designs are available for consumers. In addition to the main functions of a product, there are more and more additional functions, especially for electrical and electronic appliances. This means that looking for the right product may require extensive research by consumers and does not always lead to a sense of making an informed purchase decision. The wide variety of designs and functions can overwhelm consumers. This creates uncertainty and might lead to overrate products functionality and thus significantly shorten the service lifetime of appliances. Furthermore, the environmental impact of such functions is usually unclear, and can vary depending on the actual usage scenario. In this study, a survey was carried out in order to better understand consumers perceptions and experiences related to additional functions of products, with specific focus on domestic hobs, household refrigerating appliances and televisions. The results confirm the large number of additional functions and their overwhelming effect for consumers. Consumers purchase devices with more features than desired, or replaced them prematurely because an extra feature fails while the main function is still available. The findings of the study can be used to better inform consumers and support them to make environmentally sustainable purchasing decisions
Analyzing the enabling factors to implement MaaS in Asian, African and Latin American cities
Full text linkThe EU-funded SOLUTIONSplus project, which aims at kick starting urban e-mobility in developing countries, included the provision of a white label app customizable to the needs of the cities as part of its offer to its 7 demonstration cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Despite having the possibility of testing the customized app free of charge for the duration of the project, only 2 out of 7 cities, Quito (Ecuador) and Kigali (Rwanda), started and continued the process. Yet, only Quito was able to test the customized app in real operations. Thus, the paper analyzes the MaaS level and implementation barriers of the 7 cities and conducts an in-depth expert assessment of the technology, organization and environment enabling factors (TOE) to implement the MaaS concept in Quito, Kathmandu and Kigali. The results show that despite some progress towards an intelligent and integrated transport system in the analyzed cities, an important number of conditions that are a given in the Global North (e.g.: formality and integration of PT system), still need to be met in cities in developing countries before MaaS could be realized
Dimensionen wissenschaftlicher Wirkungen transdisziplinärer und partizipativer Forschung : Impuls für ein breites Wirkungsverständnis
No full textNeues Lernen zu Nachhaltigkeitstransformation : Entwicklung von wegweisenden Lernmodulen für die Privatwirtschaft, den öffentlichen Sektor und für Non-Profit Organisationen ; Abschlussbericht
No full textVoraussetzungen für eine erfolgreiche Implementierung von CCU, CCS und CDR : Handlungsempfehlungen für die Carbon-Management-Strategie des Bundes
Full text linkIn diesem Zukunftsimpuls beleuchten Forschende des Wuppertal Instituts das geplante Kohlenstoffmanagement in Deutschland umfassend und praxisnah: Nach einer kompakten Einführung in das Thema - inklusive Lessons Learned aus früheren Debatten - legen sie eine grundlegende Einschätzung relevanter Aspekte rund um den CMS-Prozess vor. Im Hauptteil ihrer Arbeit formulieren sie Handlungsempfehlungen für fünf aus Sicht des Wuppertal Instituts zentrale Bereiche des Carbon Managements: die Entwicklung der CO2-Infrastruktur, das Erschließen von sicheren CO2-Speichern, die Anwendung von CCU (Carbon Capture and Use) als ergänzende Option zu CCS, die Akzeptanz von CCS in der Gesellschaft sowie die Verknüpfung der CMS mit der Langfriststrategie Negativemissionen. Für jeden der fünf Bereiche beschreiben sie die jeweilige Ausgangslage sowie spezifische Herausforderungen und Hemmnisse. Auf dieser Basis formulieren sie konkrete Empfehlungen an die Politik, die bei der Umsetzung der CMS zwingend berücksichtigt werden sollten
Breaking down societal challenges : an exploration of relations between problems and solutions in mission-oriented policies
No full textMission-oriented policies aim to address societal challenges by catalysing innovation and sectoral policies towards defined goals. However, literature remains vague on the structures within societal challenges and how they can be broken down into manageable issues. We argue that especially the hierarchical dimension of problems and solutions remains understudied, creating difficulties to analyse the directionality of missions. Based on the concept of the problem-solution space, we propose a novel analytical framework, the "mission firmament", as an attempt to map the complex relationships between problems and solutions in the context of societal challenges. It contains hierarchies of debated issues, shows how societal views converge or diverge on certain aspects, considers temporality of debates, and emphasizes potential leverage points for missions to maximize their contributions to solving societal challenges. We illustrate our framework with the case of the national strategy for circular economy in Germany
Shifting discussions to the supranational level : a narrative discourse analysis on nuclear energy sustainability and the EU taxonomy
Full text linkBackground: While discussions on nuclear energy mostly took place at the national level and the respective media arenas in the past, the questions of regulating sustainability and financing have now moved up to the supranational EU level. In this light, this article analyses the discussions and processes around the inclusion of nuclear energy into the EU Taxonomy, which aims at guiding financial means towards sustainable economic activities.
Results: The research question as to why nuclear energy has become sustainable is examined by applying a narrative discourse analysis. To account for the identified challenges for media-based discourse analysis regarding nuclear energy, an analysis was conducted alongside key events relying on media articles and expert interviews, following the institutional structure of the implementation process. The article contributes to the limited body of literature on sustainability regulation, particularly from a social science perspective. By delving into the specific dimensions of the regulatory process on nuclear energy, it provides a nuanced understanding that enriches existing academic discourse in this emerging field.
Conclusions: In the article, it is argued that four factors contributed mainly to the decision to label nuclear energy sustainable: the delegated act, combined with the decision to connect nuclear energy and gas (1), the publication of the report by the Joint Research Centre (2), the implicit compromise between Germany (gas) and France (nuclear energy) (3) and finally, the Russian war against Ukraine (4). Although narrative discourse analysis still offers valuable insights into ongoing policy processes at the EU level, the different implementation process in the EU by means of the delegated act shapes its explanatory power compared to the national context
Tracing food packaging waste : the emergence of a configuration
No full textThe mid-twentieth century marks the proposed beginning of the Anthropocene, wherein human activities have irreversibly changed the environment, partly due to the accumulation of plastics from food packaging. Practice theories have contributed to understanding these activities, with some studies shifting the focus from isolated practices to the configurations they form to explain such significant social phenomena. This article uses the rise of packaging foods as an example to investigate how practices emerge as part of a configuration. Based on archival issues of the magazine Neue Verpackung (1948-1958) - pioneering magazine of the German packaging industry - I elaborate how the paradigm of rationalization orchestrated formerly separate practices toward converging and aligning, forming a configuration of densely interconnected and interdependent practices that eventually established food packaging as an essential component of transportation and retail sale. Insights into the emergence of a past configuration that remains relevant today can help transform current configurations, leading to the reduction of packaging waste
IN4climate.RR Projektstand 12/2024
Full text linkDas Projekt IN4climate.RR zielt darauf ab, die Industrie im Rheinischen Revier bei der Transformation zur Klimaneutralität zu unterstützen. Die Beendigung des Braunkohlebergbaus und der -verstromung bis 2030 ist gesetzlich fixiert, was direkte Auswirkungen auf die ansässige Industrie hat. Das Projekt ist langfristig angelegt, zunächst für zehn Jahre, von denen die erste Förderphase (2021-2025) bewilligt wurde und derzeit läuft. Die zweite Förderphase (ab November 2025) wird in Kürze von den Projektpartnern beantragt. IN4climate.RR schafft einen Rahmen für die Entwicklung und Umsetzung von Technologien für eine klimaneutrale Industrie und harmonisiert die Interessen verschiedener Akteure aus Wirtschaft, Forschung und Politik im Sinne einer erfolgreichen Transformation, die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Klimaschutz vereint. Inhaltliche Schwerpunkte des Projekts liegen auf der industriellen Wasserstoffwirtschaft, der zirkulären Wertschöpfung und der nachhaltigen Kohlenstoffwirtschaft