Moving from cross-system interaction to cross-system collaboration?
This document discusses sustainability transitions in food packaging from the perspective of companies. It defines sustainability transitions as long-term transformations to more sustainable production and consumption. For food packaging, this involves innovations that meet changing societal values around policy, media, consumer and supply chain demands. However, barriers like complexity, uncertainty and competition exist. Collaboration is seen as key to overcoming barriers by creating shared understanding and multi-party problem solving. Currently, companies collaborate through associations, but different roles in relation to change exist, from maintaining the status quo to facilitating change. Ongoing and upcoming facilitated dialogues and the PackageHeroes transition arena aim to further cross-system collaboration for deciding concrete transition pathways.
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Moving from cross-system interaction to cross-system collaboration?
- 1. Moving from cross-system interaction to cross-system collaboration? Packto the Future, PackageHeroes Stakeholder seminar, 15.2.2022 Sanne Bor Post-doctoral researcher, LUT-University with insights also from Greg O’Shea (LUT), Maria Åkerman (VTT) and Henna Sundqvist-Andberg (VTT)
- 2. THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONIN FOOD PACKAGING – STUDIED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF COMPANIES What are sustainability transitions? “long-term, multi- dimensional and fundamental transformation processes through which established socio-technical systems shift to more sustainable modes of production and consumption” (Markard et al., 2012, p.958). Picture: Geels, 2002, p.110; Geels, 2004, p.915.
- 3. WHAT IS EXPECTEDTO HAPPEN IN SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONS, AND WHAT DO WE SEE IN FOOD PACKAGING? • Availability or push for innovations, able to break through, finding enough system support • Changing societal values and expectations which lead to – Changing policy and regulation – Changing media coverage & discourse – Changing consumer demands & behaviours – Changing supply chain demands & behaviours
- 4. CHANGING SUPPLY CHAINDEMANDS & BEHAVIOURS? Yes, our research shows, for example, that food producers are (1) Signalling need for change (2) Supporting change (3) Driving co-innovation (4) Buying differently (5) Developing own material/packaging innovation capacity
- 5. WHICH KEY BARRIERSHAVE WE IDENTIFIED? High complexity High uncertainty High interdependence High investment need High competition See Package Heroes policy recommendation: https://www.packageheroes.fi/suositukset/ (Finnish) https://www.packageheroes.fi/en/2021/04/14/sustainability-criteria/ (English)
- 6. TO OVERCOME BARRIERS,WE NEED COLLABORATION Collaboration is seen as essential • To get on the same page, create a common language • To solve complex sustainability issues – Multi-party perspectives and knowledge is needed – One cannot act alone • To speed up the transition – moving from an emergent change process to decided change process • To increase predictability in the change process – Understanding what will happen: agreeing on what steps need to be taking, and who needs to do what and when
- 7. COLLABORATION DOES TAKEPLACE ALREADY … Companies in the food packaging value chain are collaborating through different associations, alliances, and other structures.
- 8. THESE COLLABORATIONS PLAYDIFFERENT ROLES IN RELATION TO CHANGE • Member Harmoniser: works to maintain the status quo by ensuring members remain “united” against change • Change Protector: works to maintain status quo through their influence on the environment of the members (influencing perceptions, ideas, policy suggestions, etc.) • Innovation Supporter: works to promote change by supporting their member organisations to co-innovate, help them cope and function better in the changing environment • Change Facilitator: works to promote change by involving members and non- members in dialogue, strategic planning and innovation.
- 9. WHAT DO WESTILL NEED? WHAT DO WE KNOW IS ONGOING/COMING? • Facilitated dialogues and negotiation ongoing – Green deal implementation of SUP-directive – Renewal of MATSIT – Renewal of Producer responsibility organizations – But also, externally organized, e.g. Package Heroes’ Perjantai pakettiin conversation series • Package Heroes: takes on a change facilitator role (WP1, in collaboration with all other WPs): – Organizing a Transition Arena – aiming to produce transition pathways - by deciding where we want to be concretely and then planning how we will get there and what each actor needs to do on the way.
- 10. Thank you for yourattention. Questions? For more information contact: Sanne.Bor@lut.fi
Editor's Notes
- #2 WP2: Business Overall story of the presentation: The sustainability transition and its challenges in food packaging - studied from the perspective of companies Barriers in the sustainability transition High uncertainty: relatively fast changing customer demands, policy and regulation High complexity: multiple, sometimes contradicting/hard to combine demands High interdependence: multiple systems (food, packaging, materials), and thus multiple regulatory frames, different priorities, etc. High investment needs to innovate, to implement new pack. solutions, but unclear what solution to invest in Sustainable solutions being seen as competitive advantage no collective solution building What is being done to still move into the direction of sustainable food packaging: the actions food companies take which communicates their direction/future needs 5 important is to highlight that cross-system collaboration so far leads to “exclusive” solutions, not broad what meta-organizations (company associations) do in the field to help their members Protective actions? Promotive actions? The key solutions are found in collaboration by by researchers – mid-term planning (Hyysalo) facilitated processes by MMM/YM, transition arena work by PH? Thus,, among firms in different fora /policy, self-regulation, etc. -
- #3 The work I have been involved in focuses on understanding the sustainability transition in Food packaging, and we particularly are interested in looking at this transition from the perspective of companies So what, what is a sustainability transition? It is a “long-term, multi-dimensional and fundamental transformation processes through which established socio-technical systems shift to more sustainable modes of production and consumption And it is argued that this change process is influenced both by the exogenous context, the landscape, and the innovations that are essential to the change. Note, that the change process we look at is both a social change and a technological change and that it is seen as intertwined, which means that culture, consumers, companies, policy ect all are involved in this change process to more sustainable modes of production and consumption. Then, what is happening in food packaging? NEXT SLIDE
- #4 In Food packaging we see: Availability /push for innovation There is search for different materials (especially, bio-based materials, bio-degradable materials & coatings, better recyclable materials); search for different packaging solutions used for particular products (for example minced meat into a sleeve instead of b- check term); search for different business models – e.g. reuse, etc. Changing policy and regulation: Main emphasis is on reducing packaging waste and pollution by promoting circular economy (packaging recycling and reuse) Plastics strategy for CE Circular Economy Action Plan, including Sustainable products initiative SUP directive Update of Packaging and packaging waste directive Challenging role of biodegradable and bio-based plastics Regulatory framework for biodegradable and bio-based plastics (in progress) Role of recycled plastics Revision of food contact material legislation Limited focus on food packaging in relation to food waste prevention: Farm to fork strategy Changing media coverage & discourse: The heavy attention on plastics in the ocean, fear of microplastics which is found in all kinds of places. And then there is the heavy attention to climate change and the actions needed by all. Changing consumer demands & behaviours Many companies when doing research on their consumers note that sustainability, and the sustainability of packaging material are a concern. Changing supply chain demands & behaviours See next slide
- #5 (1) Signalling need for change: Setting sustainability targets (2) Supporting change: Acting as a testbed for potential innovations (3) Driving co-innovation: initiating new package solution projects (4) Buying differently: reducing plastics, materials that are recyclable (5) Developing their own material/packaging innovation capacity Thus, we see movement in food packaging, whereby the stable system that existed is being shaken, but we also recognize that we are not yet at the end of this transformation process. For business these change processes are both a challenge and an opportunity, but most often it is seen beneficial to come to a more stable situation. In our research we have identified (NEXT SLIDE) a few central interconnecting barriers for getting to a more stable situation.
- #6 In our research we have identified (NEXT SLIDE) a few central interconnecting barriers for getting to a more stable situation. Why are we still not there? In food packaging we have a number of specific circumstances which are forming barriers in the transition to more sustainable modes of production and consumption High complexity: Multiple, sometimes contradicting/hard to combine demands In Package Heroes’ policy recommendation, where this picture is from, we highlight that food packaging, due to is multiple functions, needs to deal with multiple sustainability demands simultaneously. Such as the prevention of food waste and material efficiency, carbon neutrality, circularity, and so on. High uncertainty: This as such is already problematic, but what we in addition see is that changing customer demands, societal views, and policy and regulation create high uncertainty In addition these barriers in the environment, also the nature of food packaging business creates its own barriers, or challenges. High interdependence: Multiple systems (food, packaging, materials), and thus multiple regulatory frames, different priorities, etc. High investment need – but in a very uncertain environment the Return on the Investment remains more uncertain. To innovate, to implement new pack. solutions, but unclear what solution to invest in High competition Sustainable solutions being seen as competitive advantage which means there is little active collective solution building
- #7 The barriers highlighted: High complexity, high uncertainty, high interdependence, high investment needs and high competition can not be tackled by individual companies, they call for collaboration. Collaboration is seen as essential So, what kinds of collaboration structures are there?
- #8 So Meta-organizations are understood as aiming to protect members from destructive influences from their environment Some meta-organisations do actively promote and support members to change They have their own agenda – and power. Refer to the title – All these structures are supporting interaction, knowledge chairing – but action is left to individual companies. Collaboration in goal settitng Collaboration in collective action
- #9 But collaboration, does not, of course, mean that this leads to change automatically. Based on our study of the roles played by collaborative structures we identified four different roles. While some of the collaborations focus mainly on one of these roles, though often roles are combined – for instance trying to maintain status quo, while still helping members to prepare for change. Our research showed that in the food packaging transition, we particularly lack or miss the change facilitator. That is, helping the whole value chain to define where to go, how fast and how to solve the barriers on the road. So, to manage and implement the transition in food packaging more quickly, more interaction among these sectors is needed, aimed at envisioning the future together, as well as the pathways in through which to travel to such a future The different associations highlight the need for change facilitation, but they also indicate that it is not “their” role to take.
- #10 The kind of collaboration that we identified as still needed is focused on finding shared solutions to the barriers - active work of ensuring a common frame for change – a shared idea of the change pace, and how to collectively solve the obstacles in the change process – the point here is that we need companies to work together to find industry wide solutions and food product specific solutions. In our continuation of the package heroes project, we specifically will work on understanding how we can deal with competition law, and solving barriers created by competition. Thus, moving from emergent to decided changes – and moving from discussion and information exchange to shared solutions and decisions. Making the environment less uncertain and helping to