Project background and aim
Industrial and urban symbiosis (IUS) is a systems approach and seeks to increase resource productivity by focusing on regional economic systems as a whole. Despite their proven impact, IUS practices remain under-developed and associated benefits under-exploited. Regenerative Businesses, which we define as “entrepreneurial initiatives that adopt value creation from residual resources as a core business” seemingly play important roles in IUS developments, but knowledge on their impact and challenges remain limited. The overarching purpose of this project is to contribute to the development of more sustainable economic systems in Sweden, and beyond, by scaling up IUS practices while also supporting sustainable entrepreneurship. To achieve these, the project aims to co-create and diffuse new knowledge on:
a) the importance of regenerative businesses for advancing industrial and urban symbiosis, and;
b) actions that can foster the growth and impact of regenerative businesses.
More specifically, the research seeks to answer the following questions:
- What is the importance and role of regenerative businesses for scaling up IUS practices, and associated benefits, in Sweden?
- What key challenges hinder effective functioning and further development of regenerative businesses?
- How can the accelerated development of regenerative businesses be supported?
Expected results
Accelerated and successful growth of regenerative businesses are expected to create more sustainable jobs and business activity and scale up IUS practices, which in turn will. These will provide multiple benefits to the businesses, to society, and to natural systems.
