Jesko Schulte

Blekinge Institute of Technology | BTH · Department of Strategic Sustainable Development (ASHU)

In the EU, initiatives with concrete instruments for measuring and storing sustainability-related product data are now introduced in legislation. Based on literature review and semi-structured interviews, this study investigates two EU instruments, the Product Environmental Footprint method and Digital Product Passports, and their potential implica...

Integrating a strategic sustainability perspective in product development requires that decision-makers can connect socio-ecological sustainability aspects to tangible business implications in the short- and long term. Only then will there be the driving forces necessary for adopting sustainable product development practices. A risk management appr...

Society’s transition towards a sustainable state entails rapid and disruptive change in all sectors. This change is the source of profound uncertainty. From a company perspective, it can either pose existential threats if current practices or products enforce unsustainable development, or it can present opportunities if the company can provide solu...

Companies need to strategically develop their portfolio and find the balance between being proactive and passive in relation to sustainability. In this study, a strategic perspective based on backcasting from overarching socio‐ecological sustainability principles was used as a lens to understand how companies might adapt their product portfolios to...

Fire and explosion accidents of oil-filled electrical transformers are leading to negative impacts, not only on the delivery of energy, but also on workplace health and safety as well as the surrounding environment. Such accidents are still being reported, regardless of applying the regular maintenance strategy in the power plants. The purpose of t...

Society's transition towards sustainability comes with radical change, which entails significant threats and opportunities for product development and manufacturing companies, for example related to new legislation, shifting customer preferences, and increasing raw material prices. Smart risk management therefore plays a key role for successfully m...

Companies struggle with identifying relevant sustainability aspects strategically, assessing alternative solutions quantitatively, and making trade-offs. This paper reports results from a prescriptive study with an aerospace company, and presents the Sustainability Criteria And product life-cycle Data Simulation (SCADS) approach. Based on strategic...

This paper reviews the literature on risk management practices and methods in product design and development. Based on an expert workshop by the Risk Management Processes and Methods in Design Special Interest Group within the Design Society and literature review, three key areas are discussed: risk identification, assessment, and mitigation. In ea...

Companies, striving towards an effective and systematic integration of a strategic sustainability perspective in product innovation, need to treat the implementation of necessary processes and tools, as well as their continuous improvement, as a project in itself. An efficient way to measure the current sustainability implementation level in the or...

Many of the most important business and economic risks are directly linked to environmental and social issues. This includes both threats and opportunities, not only in relation to reputation, which is often mentioned in this context, but, even more importantly, in relation to innovation capability and legislative change on inevitably more and more...

Product development (PD) is inherently linked to taking and managing risks. For risk management (RM) to be truly effective, it cannot be treated in product development in isolation. Instead, a holistic perspective is required that recognizes and leverages the communication and connections between RM sub-disciplines across the organizational hierarc...

Electrification of the transport sector has been pointed out as a key factor for tackling some of today's main challenges, such as global warming, air pollution, and eco-system degradation. While numerous studies have investigated the potential of electrifying passenger transport, less focus has been on how road freight transport could be powered i...

The transport sector's dependence on fossil fuels is one of the biggest challenges in a shift towards a climate-neutral and sustainable society. This roadmap report aims to investigate how electric vehicle systems can contribute to a faster transition to sustainable passenger transport in Southeast Sweden, as well as to present a methodology for g...

Numerous examples have shown how environmental and social issues can affect companies at an existential level. In fact, today’s most urgent business risks, e.g., brand value, legislative change, litigation, and supply chain disruptions, are directly linked to sustainability issues. These risks need to be systematically identified and strategically...

Sustainable product innovation has previously been found to be positively correlated to competitiveness. However, in order to build capabilities for sustainability integration one must first understand the current state of companies. The overall aim is therefore to identify common preconditions and challenges for sustainability integration in produ...

Transportsektorns beroende av fossila bränslen är en av de största utmaningarna ien omställning till ett klimatneutralt och hållbart samhälle. Denna färdplansrapport syftar till att undersöka hur elfordonssystem kan bidra tillen snabbomställning till hållbara persontransporter i Småland och Blekinge, samttill att presentera en metodik för vägledni...