This article will explore the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) framework for urban environments, focusing on the perception, utilization and maintenance of parks. The case study explores the perception of urban flora and the value of greenery in everyday life in The Netherlands. The reflection section addresses the difference between conventional and C2C approaches to greenery on the one hand and current green management policies and public opinion on the other hand. The author reflects on how urban planning policies can be better geared towards public awareness of C2C, and towards the implementation of ecologically benign management of urban flora. It is proposed that an implementation of urban green management consistent with C2C is feasible and desirable. It is feasible given the favorable shifts in public opinion in relation to urban sustainability, and it is desirable due to the basic cost-benefit analysis and increased need for urban sustainability. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Urban Ecosystems. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-015-0468-2 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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Increasingly, entrepreneurial growth is discussed in relation to business sustainability and the wider questions of ‘growth’ – economic, green, or sustainable. This chapter will discuss the challenges and opportunities of teaching circular economy and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) models of sustainable production. The course applying circular economy theory to corporate case studies at the liberal arts college in The Netherlands will be discussed. Students were given the assignment to advise an existing company how to make a transition from a linear to circular economy model. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78714-501-620171028 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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This article addresses European energy policy through conventional and transformative sustainability approaches. The reader is guided towards an understanding of different renewable energy options that are available on the policy making table and how the policy choices have been shaped. In arguing that so far, European energy policy has been guided by conventional sustainability framework that focuses on eco-efficiency and ‘energy mix’, this article proposes greater reliance on circular economy (CE) and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) frameworks. Exploring the current European reliance on biofuels as a source of renewable energy, this article will provide recommendations for transition to transformative energy choices. http://dx.doi.org/10.13135/2384-8677/2331 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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This chapter will introduce the circular economy (CE) and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) models of sustainable production. It will reflect on the key blockages to a meaningful sustainable production and how these could be overcome, particularly in the context of business education. The case study of the course for bachelor’s students within International Business Management Studies (IBMS), and at University College in The Netherlands will be discussed. These case studies will illustrate the opportunities as well as potential pitfalls of the closed loop production models. The results of case studies’ analysis show that there was a mismatch between expectations of the sponsor companies and those of students on the one hand and a mismatch between theory and practice on the other hand. Helpful directions for future research and teaching practice are outlined. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319713113#aboutBook https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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This article will discuss philosophical debates on economic growth and environmental sustainability, the role of management responsibility, and the risk of subversion to business as usual. This discussion will be framed using the concepts of Cradle to Cradle (C2C) and Circular Economy about sustainable production. The case study illustrating the danger of subversion of these progressive models discussed here is based on the assignments submitted by Masters students as part of a course related to sustainable production and consumption at Leiden University. The evaluation of the supposedly best practice cases placed on the website of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation or those awarded Cradle to Cradle certificate has led some students to conclude that these cases illustrated green-washing. Larger implications of identified cases of green-washing for the field of sustainable business and ecological management are discussed. “This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in 'Philosophy of Management'. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-019-00108-x LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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The primary purpose of this chapter is to provide insights into the body of scholarly literature on the question of magazines and sustainability—in both production and editorial content. This chapter will also discuss production-side issues for business decision-making and policy, as well as editorial-side, within publishing organizations. Drawing on recent literature on the environmental impact of both information and communication technologies, with the Internet on the one hand and digitalization of media on the other, this chapter will identify a number of important effects of new magazine production and issues of sustainability with a primary focus on reviewing the emerging body of scholarly literature that relates to the question. The sociological and anthropological literature will be examined and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) theory will be introduced, in order to lead to the discussion of research arising from these perspectives as well as methods being used to explore these questions. This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge/CRC Press in "The Routledge Handbook of Magazine Research: The Future of the Magazine Form" in June 2015 available online: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315722283 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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Sustainable consumption is interlinked with sustainable production. This chapter will introduce the closed-loop production, the circular economy, the steady state economy, and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) models of production. It will reflect on the key blockages to a meaningful sustainable production and how these could be overcome, particularly in the context of business education. The case study of the course for bachelor’s students within International Business Management Studies (IBMS) program at three Universities of Applied Science (vocational schools), and at Leiden University College in The Netherlands will be discussed. Student teams from these schools were given the assignment to make a business plan for a selected sponsor company in order to advise them how to make a transition from a linear to circular economy model. These case studies will illustrate the opportunities as well as potential pitfalls of the closed loop production models. The results of case studies’ analysis show that there was a mismatch between expectations of the sponsor companies and those of students on the one hand and a mismatch between theory and practice on the other hand. The former mismatch is explained by the fact that the sponsor companies have experienced a number of practical constraints when confronted with the need for the radical overhaul of established practices within the entire supply chain and students have rarely considered the financial viability of the "ideal scenarios" of linear-circular transitions. The latter mismatch applies to what students had learned about macro-economic theory and the application through micro-economic scenarios in small companies. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319656076 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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The sharing economy holds promise for the way we consume, work, and interact. However, consuming in the sharing economy is not without risk, as institutional trust measures (e.g. contracts, regulations, guarantees) are often absent. Trust between sellers and buyers is therefore crucial to complete transactions successfully. From a buyer ́s perspective, a seller ́s profile is an important source of information for judging trustworthiness, because it contains multiple trust cues such as a reputation score, a profile picture, and a textual self-description. The effect of a seller’s self-description on perceived trustworthiness is still poorly understood. We examine how the linguistic features of a seller’s self-description predict perceived trustworthiness. To determine the perceived trustworthiness of 259 profiles, 189 real buyers on a Dutch sharing platform rated their trustworthiness. The results show that profiles were perceived as more trustworthy if they contained more words (which could be an indicator of uncertainty reduction), more words related to cooking (indicator of expertise), and more words related to positive emotions (indicator of enthusiasm). Also, a profile’s perceived trustworthiness score correlated positively with the seller’s actual sales performance. These findings indicate that a seller’s self-description is a relevant signal to buyers, eventhough it is cheap talk (i.e. easy to produce). The results can guide sellers on how to self-present themselves on sharing platforms and inform platform owners on how to design their platform so that it enhances trust between platform users.
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This article describes how Circular Economy (CE) and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) can be used in university teaching to address these frameworks’ strengths and weaknesses in practice. The advantages of these frameworks for radical change are outlined, including their emphasis on upcycling rather than recycling (downcycling). This article discusses how students apply their understanding of transformative production frameworks to three case studies of products or materials. The student projects evaluating existing products in terms of their circularity value outline a number of practical as well as theoretical challenges. The case studies demonstrate that some products still have a long way to go to fully cycle materials within a closed system. Aside from illustrating the dangers of subversion of circular frameworks to the ‘business-as-usual’ scenarios, the assignments are instructive in showing how CE/C2C can be successfully taught. This article recommends pedagogical strategies involving both theory of sustainable production and sustainability and practical research into company’s operations in order to develop the students’ ability to meaningfully engage with CE/C2C models. https://doi.org/10.1080/1943815X.2018.1471724 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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