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This paper aims at explaining the design process of a learning model targeting potential entrepreneurs with no technical or business expertise aiming to develop sustainable business models in deprived areas. The case that the paper explores focuses on experiential learning and learning in adulthood to design a learning model that considers context and socio-demographic characteristics, makes clear the interconnections between sustainability principles, entrepreneurship rationale and design methodologies and includes actions and processes of reflection and contextual interaction.

Following a recursive argument, the paper applies design research methodology (DRM) to systematically design the “transformative innovation model” that Product Co Creation Centers (PC3) from the University of Twente (The Netherlands) has developed.

Building on Kolb’s cycle of experiential learning, the result of applying DRM is a learning cycle of confrontation, observation, practice and application. The proposed learning model is applied to a specific setting in Colombia, allowing to verify and validate whether the learning model leads to the expected outcomes. It is argued that an interdisciplinary approach, a focus on feedback loops and the consideration of the context are important elements for addressing and transforming complex problems related to sustainable development from the bottom-up.

This paper contributes to academic research in management emphasizing a solution-finding approach based on a prescription-driven research process, informed by design science research.

This paper aims to identify managerial implications for multinational corporations (MNCs) with regard to circular economy (CE) by using data on corporate social responsibility (CSR) perception in different types of market economies owing to diverse institutional contexts. These managerial implications can contribute to the linking of CSR and CE strategies for MNCs.

This is an empirical study with a mixed-methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative research elements. The varieties of capitalism (VOC) approach with its two kinds of market economies – liberal market economy (LME) and coordinated market economy (CME) – builds the theoretical foundation.

All three guiding hypotheses of the quantitative research part are confirmed, which are: there is a differing perception of CSR in the two kinds of VOC; LME corporations adopt a shareholder value perspective; and CME corporations adopt a stakeholder values perspective. Furthermore, the qualitative research part has identified several key success factors for strategically conducting CSR in nexus with CE.

The mentioned key success factors become managerial implications for MNCs aiming at strategically conducting CSR. Due to several crossing points between (strategic) CSR and CE, those implications are largely also eligible for CE.

The paper helps to propel empirical findings into a more up-to-date discourse of debate. By emphasizing that the institutional background is likely to have an effect on how CSR is perceived in different kinds of market economies, the research offers a proposition how to use CSR perception as a signpost for CE and fuel future research into this direction.

This paper presents an analysis of the influence of “Joint Environmental Policy-making” (JEP) in the operation of the company Smurfit Kappa (SK) in The Netherlands, Austria and Denmark (NL&AD). The paper aims to answer the question: to what extend has different levels of jointness and voluntariness of cardboard packaging-chain agreements between federal, governmental and business actors led to different recycling performances within the same company?

JEP's analysis was framed under the model described by Mol, Volkmar and Liefferink by using information from mixed-methods throughout a semi-structured questionnaire for interviews and revision of relevant secondary data. This is a case of cross-national comparison for which origin and implementation level of JEPs were described per country, in accordance with those stages of the cardboard production chain.

Jointness and voluntariness amongst other actors from governmental areas and business ranked high for the Dutch packaging-chain agreements with a visible impact in SK's recycling rates. SK in Austria and in Denmark, in this order, had a lower implementation level of JEPs which could be reflected in a lower recycling performance than in the Dutch SK subsidiaries. The context matters, including both political and social conditions. In particular, the role of householders as a last link in the recycling chain. Based on this, the selected countries share some societal characteristics associated with the environmental public awareness and active social participation.

This paper fulfills an analysis of how environmental policy making is affected by the country context within the same company.

The paper suggested a sustainability indicators framework for industrial parks in contexts where information is weakly reliable or insufficient. The authors tried to cover those gaps and construct an indicators framework by answering the following research questions: can a combination of “adopted international” certifications be locally implemented in the Mexican context to reflect the level of regional sustainability of clusters of companies? How sustainable individual performance can be extended to a cluster of companies through collaborative strategies? What is the level of agreement on key success factors for implementing voluntary certification scheme in Mexican Industrial Parks? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In order to provide a more realistic set of sustainability indicators for Mexican Industrial Parks, the authors first carried out an analysis of secondary information sources for matching sustainability indicators with available related data which is reported by companies along their certification processes. The main purpose of doing this was to construct the indicator framework, which was explored empirically in the second phase of this research. During such phase, the authors validated the indicators framework by means of surveys and interviews to gather the perceptions of Mexican business managers selected from United Nations indicators which were coupled to available certifications in Mexico.

It has been observed that the sustainability indicators framework can be adopted from international structures to the local/regional situation when companies have framed their performance under international certifications allowing to count with a minimum of indicators to be used for sustainability development tracking.

Sustainability indicators in industrial parks is not an addressed topic in Latin America. Mexico can be taken as an example for the other Latin American countries in sustainability trends and shows the current context of the use of this tool for measurement.

The paper aims to address regulator-management interactions in environmental policy with reference to direct regulations, social regulations and market-based regulation.

Revision of literature to identify the European Union regulations for companies producing polymers. Expert groups consultation to enrich the information and testing of the expert system (software).

Interactions between actors dealing with environmental policy from government and business sectors cause high and growing transaction costs; in The Netherlands during 1990-2007, they represented an increase from 17 to 21 percent of all environment protection costs. Rapid, 14 percent average annual growth followed the shift from the direct to social regulations in the 1990s. Instead of the shift, better interactions management could have saved nearly four billion euro a year in the EU. In support of this, a web-based expert system is developed in a consortium of small and medium size enterprises and expert centers from seven European countries.

The system, Environmentor, contains checklists with exemplary inputs, outputs, environmental standards and technologies for permits, process for implementation of environmental management systems, as well as an administrative model and auction for the EU emission trading.

This paper aims to assess the biodiesel value chain produced by the State of Chiapas and, through a financial model, determines its profitability and feasibility as a business.

The literature review was based on searching in journal databases and in official web sites. To quantify value chain activities, a questionnaire was used to interview project leader. Besley's methodology was used to create the financial model and determine the net present value (NPV). Finally, the SWOT model summarized the analysis based on the results obtained.

All the costs of the value chain were calculated and the results show that the greatest cost corresponds to the “internal logistical activity,” with 74 percent of the total cost/liter. The NPV of the project was positive and the project was thus considered financially feasible.

Biodiesel production plants must know the real costs of raw material (sewing and harvesting the seed) as well as extraction by farmers and regional producers in order to calculate their real profit margin and set competitive prices.

The research responds to a specific demand by the State of Chiapas to assess the feasibility of its value chain by identifying the activities that do not create value.

Sustainable regional development is often accompanied by the introduction and gradual implementation of innovative concepts, like, e.g. “integrated natural resources management” or “sustainable tourism”. From a managerial perspective, in order to contribute to improved sustainable regional development, the innovative concepts need to become rooted in everyday policy practice in such a way that they enable rather than hinder collective action. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Enabling collective action is a managerial challenge that is partly dependent on the presence of a sufficient degree of integration in the governance system that forms a context for the action. This challenge can be studied with the help of the concept of boundary judgments. Boundary judgments are normative and cognitive perceptions of actors on the relevancy of specific actors, factors, issues, etc. for their domain of action (what is “fit”, what is acceptable, what is needed?). The paper illustrates the importance of boundary judgments through two empirical studies in The Netherlands.

Divergent boundary judgments hamper the inclusion of the innovative concept in everyday actions for improving sustainable regional development. However, managers avoiding this complexity by relying on old definitions of their tasks also block the possible innovation. The challenge is to keep the balance between these two extremes.

The paper explains and illustrates the concept of “boundary judgments” and their importance for different types of managers (project leaders and policy makers) to take them into account, alongside the more obvious variation of values and interests among stakeholders.

Given the importance of multi-stakeholder processes in managing water resources, this paper aims to shed light on various project management strategies being used in The Netherlands to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of implementing multifunctional water projects.

Using two sub-projects of the restoration of the Regge River as a case study, ten strategies used by project managers are uncovered through interviewing involved actors and analysing the results according to contextual interaction theory.

These strategies support local sustainable development through the overlapping of various local goals of different stakeholders and reducing risk of failed projects. Co-management can thus be used as a strategic way to achieve goal alignment, increased information and resources and trust.

Given the pressures related to adaptation for climate change, these lessons can be used to support increasing both the natural buffering capacity of river resources in a way that also improve the economic and social values associated with the river basins.