Sustainable business development

Increasing demands to actively work on sustainability

The demands to work actively with sustainability and towards the goals of the 2030 Agenda are increasing from all actors in society such as financiers, investors and customers. Given the business sector’s major impact on the three sustainability criteria and as a partial educator of the entrepreneurs and business leaders of the future, it is of the utmost importance that incubators and science parks work actively and in a structured manner on these issues. Developments in sustainability in society at large are taking place at an extremely rapid pace and it is of the utmost importance for incubators and science parks to keep up with this development so that we can best contribute to the development of new sustainable companies.

With the support of VINNOVA, SISP is conducting a feasibility study to identify the tools available to help companies, particularly those in the early stages of development, to work with sustainability. Through surveys and interviews, a basis is created for developing the tools and KPIs that are missing. We believe we are on to something unique and hope that as many people as possible want to contribute, so that together we create a systematic sustainability work that is an integral part of the business development process. The survey and interviews will be conducted in January and February. The results will be compiled in March.

The pre-study is expected to lead to a clear picture of what existing methods and tools are available within each level of the SRL (Sustainability Readiness Level) and where the gaps and the need for supplementation / development exist. It will also lead to a mapped picture of the need for common KPIs and metrics for sustainability work along the SRL scale, as well as identification of which common KPIs are relevant and value-creating in the innovation system. The feasibility study thus creates a basis for a development project aimed at developing and testing/validating tools and methods where gaps exist and implementing common KPIs in sustainability in the Swedish innovation system.

Do you have thoughts and ideas about sustainability work that you would like to contribute? You are welcome to contact project manager Frida Vikström, frida.vikstrom@dalarnasciencepark.se

Project partners

Dalarna Science Park (project owner), LEAD, Innovatum Science Park, KTH Innovation, Movexum and SISP.

Project manager