In our RDI strategy, we aim to support companies to develop service business that provide their customers with unique personalized experience, with added-value in a sustainable and economically feasible way. At Laurea we see that transition to circular economy is the way to achieve above aims.  

Laurea efficiently involves and connects different actors and ecosystems in the region and globally (students, innovative start-ups and businesses, end-users, public authorities and organizations, regional policymakers and HEIs) in order to co-create service business and social innovations that advance sustainable development and circular economy with its stakeholders. Laurea Living Lab(s) includes development environments, labs and test beds to co-create and validate the developed services with actual end-users.

Service Business and Circular Economy Research programme

• utilizes and develops new service design methods, techniques and tools to improve, innovate, and visualise the service offering, processes, and organization.
• develops sustainable business models to promote scalable solutions.
• co-creates and validates solutions with actual end-users in real environments.
• helps to innovate (create new) or improve (existing) services to make them more useful, usable, desirable for customers and efficient as well as effective for the organization.

Laurea is actively involved in several service business and service design networks, such as the Finnish Service Alliance, Service Design Network and European Network of Living Labs, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 

Some examples of past and ongoing research projects: 

• CCO - Co-creation Orchestration
  • At Co-creation Orchestration, we are building a model that is helping companies, public sector, academia, and citizens to co-create better health and wellbeing services in the most innovative region in Europe, Helsinki-Uusimaa region. Our aim is to make innovation more open, inclusive, and collaborative.
• From Overtourism to Innovating Sustainable Solutions in the EU
  • The project MOTION is a three-year Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships project. MOTION focuses on developing sustainable solutions in tourism with SMEs. The project is coordinated by Laurea and the partners are: Klaipeda University, Lithuania; Kiel University of Applied Sciences, Germany; Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland; University of Granada, Spain as well as the town of Monachil, Spain.
• A circular economy approach for lifecycles of products and services, Circ4Life
  • CIRC4Life is an international collaborative innovation project supported by the European Commission’s H2020 Circular Economy programme. 
  • Project aims to develop and implement a circular economy approach for sustainable products and services through their value and supply chains.
  • The new circular economy business models will be demonstrated at a large scale in four industrial areas: Domestic and industrial lighting products, Vegetable farming and food, Meat supply chain, and Recycling and reuse of computer tablets
• Mission Zero Footprint
  • Main goal of the project is to renew the business of small restaurants by developing model and smart solutions that promote carbon neutrality. This goal is achieved through co-creation and pilots together with restaurants and other stakeholders in the Helsinki region.  

Laurea is actively involved in several service business and service design networks, such as the Finnish Service Alliance, Service Design Network and European Network of Living Labs

Read more about our ongoing research projects

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