The new LOOP Research Center, Management for Circular Economy and Sustainability, officially launches.
Loop was born as a place of scientific study within the Department of Management (DIMA) of the University of Verona, thanks to two-year funding from the Veneto Region.
This Research Center has as its key objective the experimentation and implementation of new strategies and practices to support innovative circular and sustainable business models. Activities include creating best practices and reviewing business processes that enable Veneto companies to close, slow down, intensify, shrink and dematerialize resource cycles, minimizing their use and the production of emissions and waste.
The inaugural event, to be held on Friday, November 15, 2024 starting at 09:30 a.m. at the University of Verona's Santa Marta Campus, will serve to present the research project and activity plan of the three labs that form the Center, with the aim of spreading knowledge and promoting understanding of the key themes developed by the Center to companies interested in collaborating. An increasingly concrete and experimental approach will be able to actively involve companies in the Loop's research projects.
Specifically, the three Labs consist of the following:
Circular supply chain management lab: the objectives of the lab include the implementation of strategies and practices related to the activation of circular models along supply chains and their processes, working on the different loops of the circular economy. Particular attention is paid to the construction of measurement systems that contribute to the transition to more circular organizational and management processes. Businesses and the collaborations between them are LAB's units of analysis and research and include upstream suppliers in the supply chain, manufacturers, distributors, logistics operators up to organized distribution and the end consumer for the realization of increasingly circular processes.
Circular products & services lab: the aim of the lab is to foster the development and dissemination of circular products and services. To this end, the decision-making processes of end consumers and corporate buyers are studied to identify the barriers and drivers for purchasing choices of circular and more sustainable products, or parts thereof. Particular attention is paid to identifying which product and service features confer value and the type of stimuli that most encourage purchases of these products and services, also in order to support effective market positioning and communication by companies.
Sustainability Governance lab: the aim of the lab is to foster the development of best practices in corporate sustainability governance, planning, measurement and reporting. Studies and research in the lab therefore focus on the analysis of decision-making processes in companies, governance and management roles dedicated to sustainability, and the relationships between strategy and implementation. Tools for strategic goal setting, business model analysis, performance measurement and internal and external reporting are analyzed and proposed to enable informed adoption of sustainability and effective response to regulatory requirements.
An update of current research projects and new project proposals will be presented during the Workshop.
We will have an opportunity to discuss in a panel discussion with key players from the three Labs about the goals and challenges of the coming months.
It will be an opportunity for companies to get to know the Research Center and to be an active part of it through research projects declined on different business realities.
The program is available at the following link.
Registration is required to attend using the following link. (subject to availability)
The event is free.
