Abstract

To rephrase an old saying for the topic we are dealing with here: "The future of business will be sustainable or it won't be!" Achieving sustainable economic activity within our unsustainable societies requires comprehensive changes, i.e. a transformation. The transformation to a sustainable economy is proving to be an urgent, yet extremely ambitious and controversial endeavour. So far, development towards this goal has not made sufficient progress, with too many inertias and obstacles standing in the way. The question will therefore be discussed here and a rudimentary answer provided: How can the inadequate transformation towards a sustainable economy be explained, and following on from this: how can the change be accelerated or how can a transformation, i.e. a change of path, take place?

As part of the BMBF-funded Evolution2Green project, which is being carried out by the IZT in cooperation with adelphi and borderstep, the extension of the useful life of products was identified as an important transformation area for sustainable management. Reducing the rapid consumption of consumer goods by using products for longer is a key strategy for an ecological transformation to a green economy. In the following, we will show which forces and factors stabilise the current path and how and what needs to be done by whom to enable a change of path. The analysis is based on case analyses and expert interviews as well as a future workshop held by the IZT in Berlin on 8 June 2017.

Authors