The challenges of eco-innovation

EcoSD network is a French association whose main objective is to encourage collaboration between academic and industrial researchers so they may create and spread advanced and multidisciplinary knowledge in the eco-design fields at national and international levels. Several actions are proposed by the EcoSD network with the support from the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), from the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research as well as the Ministry of Industry:

• Structuring EcoSD research activities in France to take advantage of the expertise from more than 200 members of this research network,
• Developing knowledge among researchers regarding the field of eco-design, particularly better training of PhD students by organizing relevant training courses over different themes in eco-design,
• Elaborating new methods, new tools and new databases to achieve complex systems design, compatible with the principle of sustainable development,
• Initiating the EcoSD label to acknowledge the quality and inclusion of sustainable development in trainings, research programs, research projects and symposiums,
• Helping interactive collaboration between researchers and industrial partners through the organization of quarterly research seminars in Paris and an annual workshop.

The objective of the EcoSD annual workshop 2015 was to present a scientific approach of eco-innovation concept and to underline how eco-innovation can propose sustainable alternatives to existing production and consumption systems.

This event was articulated around keynote sessions by international researchers, short sessions and discussions with EcoSD researchers, as well as a round table including industrial and institutional experts.

Around 70 participants from industry, academia and governmental institutions participated in the workshop and had the opportunity to exchange with experts.