| Posted July 11, 2024

Supporting Sustainable Business in Africa Through Capacity Building

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are a strong pillar of Africa’s economy. However, many such companies face challenges related to finance, skills, and market access. Through our SteamBioAfrica project we are working closely with MSMEs on capacity-building programmes focusing on sustainable entrepreneurship and financial management, enhancing local capacity, and fostering economic resilience. Africa enjoys one of the highest entrepreneurship rates globally, with micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) playing a crucial role in the continent’s sustainable development*. However, a staggering 80% of African MSMEs fail within their first years, primarily due to limited access to finance, human resources, essential […]

| Posted July 8, 2024

New HOOP Publications Released: How to Transform Urban Biowaste Management

How can cities better manage biowaste and promote circular bioeconomies? The HOOP project provides insights with its recently published National Action Manuals tailored for eight lighthouse cities in Europe. The manuals, which are available in the respective local languages, include guidelines on how to transform urban biowaste into valuable resources. The manuals are tailored to the unique contexts and languages of the respective lighthouse cities. The lighthouse cities serve as circular hubs where novel biowaste valorisation routes and value chains are created and tested. The HOOP project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, aims to transform how cities […]

| Posted June 27, 2024

Take the Lifestyle Test at the “Langer Tisch Festival” on 29 June 2024 in Wuppertal!

The collective sum of our individual lifestyles has a significant impact on the climate. Our Lifestyle Test, developed as part of the PSLifestyles project, supports citizens to take concrete actions for sustainable living in their local contexts. The test is available as a free web app in 9 European countries, including Germany. In June 2024, the project team presented the Lifestyle Test at the Solingen Sustainability Festival and engaged with citizens to raise awareness on the importance of endorsing sustainable lifestyles. Among the citizens who took the test in Solingen, Germany popular impactful lifestyle changes included endorsing a vegetarian diet, discovering […]

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Accelerating Next Food: Stakeholder Recommendations to Drive the Adoption of Alternative Proteins Across Europe

To date, the adoption on a large scale of plant-, insect- or fungi-based protein sources has been slow, calling for a better understanding of key factors at the consumer and broader infrastructural level. The EU-funded LIKE-A-PRO project is on a mission to accelerate the adoption of alternative proteins by considering how to increase their availability, accessibility and consumption. The project explores this opportunity by supporting the development of new products, understanding consumer acceptance and supporting relevant stakeholders in their efforts to accelerate their adoption. As part of the project, a series of studies have been conducted to better understand the […]

| Posted June 26, 2024

“An Invitation to Change the Mindset”

Ashley Scarborough is a Berlin-based system change designer. As part of her co-working experience at the CSCP in spring 2024, we explored ways how to use design as a form of creative problem-solving to address major sustainability challenges of today. In this interview, she shares how pairing design with systems thinking can help shape a better future. In your work, you combine design and systems thinking – how does this approach look like in practice? Design is creative problem solving, and a big part of system thinking is about uncovering all the layers of the problem at very deep, interconnected […]

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New CSCP Research Looks into Indicators for Sustainable Chemicals Management

Chemical substances in products can either enable or hinder circularity, thus playing a major role on the sustainability performance of the products in question. A new study published as part of the CSCP research project Sustainable Management of Chemicals looks into indicators for sustainable management of chemicals as well as criteria to ensure the quality of the indicators. The research was commissioned by the German Environmental Agency as part of the German Focal Point contribution to the fifth International Conference on Chemicals (ICCM5). In September 2023, the ICCM5 introduced the Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC), following up on the earlier […]

| Posted June 25, 2024

Empowering Consumers & Enabling Companies: Unravelling the Potential of the EU Green Claims

The number of labels and claims on sustainability advantages of products and services marketed in the European Union is at an all-time high. But, does this mean that consumers are truly empowered and enabled to make informed decisions? The European Commission thinks they aren’t. According to the European Commission, over 50% of green claims are misleading or unfounded and 40% do not have supporting evidence. From the 230 sustainability labels currently registered in the EU, at least half offer weak or non-existent verification. Due to the lack of strict criteria and transparency, consumers are often overwhelmed and misled instead of […]

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Klaus Töpfer: The Legacy of a Visionary

Former German Federal Minister, Head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and CSCP co-founder, Klaus Töpfer passed away in June 2024 at the age of 85. His visionary, uncompromised, lifelong commitment to a sustainable future where everyone can live a fulfilling life remains a strong legacy for generations to come. After serving as Minister for the Environment at the German Federal Government (1987-1984), Klaus Töpfer came into international prominence as the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, which he led for eight years (1998-2006). Under his tenure, the UNEP reached remarkable milestones, from signing breakthrough international agreements […]

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“No Company Can Afford to Preserve the Status Quo”

As head of Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship at the CSCP, Alexander Mannweiler has a good understanding of the challenges businesses face today. He believes that companies that are able to integrate sustainability into their management systems increase their innovation potential and become more competitive. The co-do lab was born out the urgency to scale transformation. If you are, say a small or medium-sized enterprise and business is going well at the moment, why do you need to transform? No company of any size can afford to stand still and preserve the status-quo. The times are too dynamic and the challenges […]

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Lifestyle Test Success: Germany Embraces Sustainable Living with Innovative Carbon Footprint Tool

Nine months after the launch of the Lifestyle Test in Germany, over three thousand German residents have been reached. Additionally, extensive data on key lifestyle hotspots as well as barriers and opportunities for adopting more sustainable lifestyles have been gathered. The Lifestyle Test is a carbon footprint calculator available as a free browser app. It allows individuals to assess their daily environmental impact through a brief test and then offers tailored tips and actions to help them reduce it. The app also supports users in tracking their progress, including the implementation of tips and the reduction of their carbon footprint. […]

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