TY - JOUR

T1 - Safe-and-sustainable-by-design roadmap

T2 - identifying research, competencies, and knowledge sharing needs

AU - Apel, Christina

AU - Sudheshwar, Akshat

AU - Kümmerer, Klaus

AU - Nowack, Bernd

AU - Midander, Klara

AU - Strömberg, Emma

AU - Soeteman-Hernández, Lya G.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 RSC

PY - 2024/8/19

Y1 - 2024/8/19

N2 - The European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability introduces the Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) concept. It goes beyond current regulatory compliance and aims to ensure the safety and sustainability of (novel) chemicals, materials, products, and processes. It starts at early-innovation stages and follows the chemicals and materials throughout their entire lifecycle. This perspective paper presents an SSbD roadmap that explores current needs and gives recommendations for the practical operationalization of SSbD in industrial operations and processes. This roadmap was co-created including different SSbD stakeholders and encompasses three interlinked agendas on (i) research needs, (ii) skills, competencies, and education needs, and (iii) knowledge and information sharing needs. An overarching need is the development of a common understanding of SSbD with clear definitions, terminology, and criteria. In addition, SSbD operationalisation needs to be pragmatic and applied as early as possible in the innovation process. From a research needs perspective, it is essential to integrate the different fields of innovation, safety, and sustainability. From a skills, competencies and education perspective, targeted training is needed that balances the depth and breadth of SSbD required for a specific audience. These trainings should not only convey hard/technical skills, but also soft/social skills to support more sustainability-oriented decisions on all levels. From a knowledge and information sharing perspective, a strategic plan and a trusted environment are needed to support dialogue between all SSbD stakeholders while at the same time protecting intellectual property (IP). The roadmap should help to coordinate planning for the implementation of SSbD at industrial, academic, policy, and regulatory level by defining actions and raise strategic efforts.

AB - The European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability introduces the Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) concept. It goes beyond current regulatory compliance and aims to ensure the safety and sustainability of (novel) chemicals, materials, products, and processes. It starts at early-innovation stages and follows the chemicals and materials throughout their entire lifecycle. This perspective paper presents an SSbD roadmap that explores current needs and gives recommendations for the practical operationalization of SSbD in industrial operations and processes. This roadmap was co-created including different SSbD stakeholders and encompasses three interlinked agendas on (i) research needs, (ii) skills, competencies, and education needs, and (iii) knowledge and information sharing needs. An overarching need is the development of a common understanding of SSbD with clear definitions, terminology, and criteria. In addition, SSbD operationalisation needs to be pragmatic and applied as early as possible in the innovation process. From a research needs perspective, it is essential to integrate the different fields of innovation, safety, and sustainability. From a skills, competencies and education perspective, targeted training is needed that balances the depth and breadth of SSbD required for a specific audience. These trainings should not only convey hard/technical skills, but also soft/social skills to support more sustainability-oriented decisions on all levels. From a knowledge and information sharing perspective, a strategic plan and a trusted environment are needed to support dialogue between all SSbD stakeholders while at the same time protecting intellectual property (IP). The roadmap should help to coordinate planning for the implementation of SSbD at industrial, academic, policy, and regulatory level by defining actions and raise strategic efforts.

KW - Sustainability Science

KW - Sustainability sciences, Communication

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85203556297&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/89af3f1a-34bb-326d-89be-cb523eca4cb2/

U2 - 10.1039/d4su00310a

DO - 10.1039/d4su00310a

M3 - Scientific review articles

AN - SCOPUS:85203556297

VL - 2

SP - 2833

EP - 2838

JO - RSC Sustainability

JF - RSC Sustainability

SN - 2753-8125

IS - 10

ER -