Manufacturing gives us the products, infrastructure and technologies on which modern life depends. It creates economic value, meaningful work and capabilities that contribute to wellbeing throughout society. At the same time, manufacturing drives greenhouse gas emissions, resource consumption and environmental degradation. My overarching research question is therefore: How can manufacturing continue to create essential value and human wellbeing while operating within planetary boundaries?
I approach this question from two complementary directions.
- The first is pragmatic and industry-facing. I collaborate with manufacturing companies and other actors in electronics, machinery, healthcare, textiles and the built environment. Together, we investigate how circular business models, product-service systems, reverse logistics, reuse, remanufacturing and lifecycle-oriented design can improve resource efficiency, resilience and progress toward net zero.
- The second direction is more fundamental. I examine whether circular economy strategies and efficiency improvements alone can achieve change at the scale required. My research explores how sufficiency, post-growth thinking and a stronger focus on human and societal wellbeing could change the purpose, organization and evaluation of manufacturing.
These directions belong together. Industry needs workable approaches that reduce environmental impacts now. It also needs a credible understanding of where those approaches should ultimately lead. My aim is to connect practical industrial transformation with the larger question of what manufacturing is for.
My academic background is in mechanical engineering and environmental technology and management. I am an Associate Professor and Head of the Product-Service Innovation Unit at Linköping University. Find my most recent publications on Google Scholar, and connect with me on LinkedIn.
