From Innovation to Eco-Innovation: Co-Created Training Materials as a Change Driver for Research and Technology Organisations

The concept of the circular economy has been a major driver in establishing new perspectives in innovation, product design and in technology management. Technological innovation in the context of a circular economy has become a factor of competitiveness, of success in national and European calls for projects, as well as a source of attractiveness for employees. A transition management is operating today in worldwide organisations from innovation intended to only provide additional economic incomes, to innovations that are willing to be sustainable by staying under the planetary boundaries limits and by satisfying some targeted societal needs. The term "eco-innovation" is among the most cited design for sustainability methods associated with this transformation. The required paradigm shift is a new challenge that technology-intensive organisations must handle with the companies and industries included in this socio-technical system. Such a paradigm shift cannot be achieved without adapting the innovation processes. Moreover, the concept and implementation of eco-innovation remain unclear, lacks in the validation and the experimentation processes are frequent. The overall approach therefore needs to be supported by practical tools and methods for design engineers and applied researchers. This article provides feedback on a project collaboration between a large public-funded research organisation (CEA: Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and academic researchers from university (Grenoble Institute of Technology), with the aim of formalising an approach needed to conduct eco-innovation R&D projects. One of the levers in this perspective is the dissemination of applied knowledge (known-how) by providing training materials in order to make R&D engineers aware of the importance of innovation within the circular economy framework. This paper presents the process of development of such educational training conducted in a collaborative way. This training content has the ambition to empower engineers in developing a systemic vision and practical insights in four main topics: sustainability challenges, environmental impact assessment, circular economy vision, and eco-innovation methods. It was tested during pilot workshops and then transformed into an online format.