Background: The agro-food sector faces several sustainability challenges and is in clear need of transitions to become more sustainable. A transition in food production, consumption and supply chains that demand fewer resources and fewer animal products is required to attain sustainability in the agro-food sector. This transition can be done by consuming more plant-based food and providing an alternate option to animal protein by substituting it with plant protein. Purpose: This study aims to understand the technological innovation system shaping around the value chain of Swedish legumes. To investigate the above aim, this research intends to address the following questions: RQ1: How is the innovation system built up, and how do the functions of the innovation system perform around the value chain of Swedish legumes? RQ2: What are the barriers connected to the innovation system that hinders the development of the value chain of Swedish legumes? Method: The methodology used was a qualitative case study with an abductive approach. The data was collected from 8 semi-structured interviews and a literature review of relevant articles. The empirical findings were then analysed using a framework based on Technology Innovation System (TIS). Implications: This research study describes the structural causes that form functional barriers in the innovation system that hinders the development of a value chain for Swedish legumes. The findings of this study provides an excellent opportunity for government agencies and policymakers to guide plans and actions through policies to provide incentives for farmers and research projects in favour of a sustainable transition towards more plant-based food. Also, our study contributes to an understanding of sustainability transitions in the Swedish agro-food sector by analysing how the TIS functions perform around the value chain of Swedish legumes.

Sustainability labels play an important role as information providers in the food sector. They serve consumers with information regarding a product’s sustainability performance and shows whether the product is compliant with certain rules and regulations. Consumers of today do however find it difficult to orient among the multitude of label alternatives and there are difficulties knowing exactly what the labels stand for. Additionally, the complex concept of sustainability is not fully portrayed through existing labels, as they communicate a one-dimensional viewpoint and lack transparency regarding its sustainability assessment criteria of the product. This lack of transparency creates information asymmetry between consumers and producers, which in turn prevents consumers from making an informed choice. To decrease the prevailing information asymmetry, multidimensional sustainability labels can be an alternative. This since they communicate multiple dimensions of sustainability in a simplified and objective manner. The main aim of the study is to examine whether different consumer attributes correlate with the perception of a multidimensional label. Further, the study aims to evaluate a multidimensional label’s potential to decrease the information asymmetry within the food sector. This was investigated through an online survey with 879 respondents. The results showed that (i) the only customer attribute that correlates with the perception of a multidimensional label is the respondent’s sustainability profile, (ii) the multidimensional label is considered necessary and complementary to existing labels as it clarifies a product’s sustainability performance, and (iii) further research is needed, e.g. regarding what design is easiest to comprehend, to successfully introduce it to the food sector. / Hållbarhetsmärkningar utgör en viktig roll som informationsspridare inom livsmedelsindustrin. De förser konsumenter med information angående hur hållbar en produkt är samt visar huruvida produkten lever upp till vissa regler och förordningar. Dagens konsumenter upplever dock att det är svårt att orientera sig bland alla hållbarhetsmärkningar och att det är svårt att veta vad respektive märkning står för. Dessutom skildrar befintliga hållbarhetsmärkningar inte det komplexa begreppet hållbarhet på ett tillfredsställande sätt, då de kommunicerar en endimensionell bild där märkningens bedömningskriterier inte beskrivs. Denna avsaknad av transparens skapar informationsasymmetri mellan konsumenter och producenter, vilket i sin tur begränsar konsumenternas förmåga att göra ett informerat val. För att minska den rådande informationsasymmetrin kan multidimensionella hållbarhetsmärkningar vara ett alternativ. Detta då de kommunicerar flera dimensioner av hållbarhet på ett förenklat och objektivt sätt. Det huvudsakliga syftet för denna studie är att undersöka huruvida olika konsumenters egenskaper korrelerar med uppfattningen av en flerdimensionell hållbarhetsmärkning. Studien syftar även till att undersöka den flerdimensionella hållbarhetsmärkningens potential att bidra till en minskad informationsasymmetri inom livsmedelsindustrin. Detta undersöktes med hjälp av en nätbaserad enkät med 879 respondenter. Studiens resultat visade att (i) en konsuments hållbarhetsprofil påverkar uppfattningen av en flerdimensionell hållbarhetsmärkning, (ii) den flerdimensionella hållbarhetsmärkningen anses nödvändig och kompletterande till befintliga hållbarhetsmärkningar då den förtydligar hur hållbar en produkt är samt (iii) att vidare studier är nödvändiga för att framgångsrikt introducera hållbarhetsmärkningen till livsmedelsindustrin, exempelvis angående vilken design som är enklast att förstå.

The aim of the dissertation is to examine the mechanisms at work when networks are formed and risk constructions made as bodies encounter frontline technology within the food sector. The concept of technoscience TS, is the link uniting the escalating technology of risk society, rebellious nature and the insidious threats of substances absorbed straight into the metabolism of our bodies through the food that we eat. The TS viewpoint is complemented by a short overview of Beck’s theory about the risk society, in order to explain how research creates risks rather than removing them. The four case studies are all concrete manifestations of technoscience. They are: 1) a study of the alliance between a research company and a bacteria culture, 2) the section about the Gaio controversy and the creation of scientific facts, 3) the case of the scientist and high-ranking official who was sued for defamation of the Danish pig, 4) and finally the scandal of the meat-eating cows. We can observe, aided by Bruno Latour, how particularly in the first two stories, the importance of networks becomes apparent. How network analysis can be a tool for understanding the high-tech development of the food industry in the late 20th century as stories of how scientific claims – or “truths” – are reconstituted and transformed. We are also able to observe how truth is dependent on our own viewpoint, in Donna Haraway’s word it is “situated” or context dependent. The case studies are also examples of the links between body, technology and risk. Because they deal with the food product trade, the link to the body becomes obvious as dangerous food products are absorbed into the body through the food and is spread through the metabolism. The thing that sets risk construction in the use of high-tech production methods in the food trade apart from other areas is the meeting or confrontation between the man-made advanced technology and the limits determined by “nature” through the body. The linking of technology and the human body becomes particularly exciting as we notice that no matter how advanced the technology that has been used to produce a food product, it is still there to be eaten and absorbed by the metabolism of our bodies. In this area of uncertainty the dividing line between the possible and the impossible is fuzzy and changing.

Increasingly, firms like Patagonia, IKEA, General Mills, or Barilla actively seek to understand their interdependence with nature, build innovative capabilities, and generate more radical shifts toward sustainability. This creates exciting opportunities to investigate exactly how these companies obtain knowledge about ecosystem dynamics and processes and how they use it both to cope with climate change or declining ecosystem resilience and contribute to maintain or even strengthen ecosystems. Despite the considerable potential to advance research on organizational strategy and corporate sustainability, the notion of ‘ecological knowledge’ has yet to enter the scholarly work of management and business organization in a substantive manner. At present, we know almost nothing about the processes, mechanisms, and routines that enable an organization to, first, recognize the value of such knowledge and to, then, systematically access, co-create, integrate and utilize such knowledge into its broader knowledge and resource base. My dissertation attempts to fill this gap and opens up new directions for research on the role of ecological knowledge in corporate sustainability management. More specifically, I ask: What are the processes through which organizations can effectively access, co-create, integrate and utilize ecological knowledge with current organizational knowledge and strategies? I link strategic and organization-focused concepts of knowledge and the perspective of absorptive capacity with the notion of ecological knowledge from modern ecology, especially from the social-ecological systems literature, to shed light on the processes through which organizations can effectively access, co-create, integrate and utilize new ecological knowledge into their operational and strategic decision making. I adopt a qualitative, emergent, and inductive strategy drawing on a grounded research approach to gain an in-depth, cross-validated, and processual understanding of the mechanisms through which organizations can promote and enhance ecosystem health including biodiversity. I undertook my study on the organic agriculture sector, a sub-sector of the modern agriculture and agri-food industry. I collected data from nineteen agriculture and agri-food organizations based in British Columbia (BC), the westernmost province of Canada, using multiple data sources including in-depth interviews, observations, company documents, reports, newspaper articles and field reports. Based on my analysis, I develop a grounded theory about the processes through which organizations can successfully deepen their ecological knowledge and then utilize this knowledge to more sustainably manage their relationships with nature and contribute to protecting or even strengthening ecosystem functionality. With my dissertation, I address the call from scholars in Organization and the Natural Environment (ONE) and Corporate Sustainability for more transdisciplinary cross-fertilization as an essential approach to building compelling new theory and models in the field. First, my analysis offers a more fine-grained understanding of the types, components, dimensions, and characteristics of ecological knowledge. Second, my analysis uncovers a micro-level account of the processes by which individuals as critical actors identify, evaluate and make sense of the organization-environment interrelationships across various scales of time and space. I also identify the multiple personal characteristics of individual actors that influence these processes in various stages and circumstances. Third, my study offers insights into the factors that can strengthen an organization’s relational capacity to build mutual trust and collaboration with holders of ecological knowledge. Fourth, it sheds light on how firms engage with and motivate multiple community stakeholders in building a collaborative process of mutual learning, knowledge sharing, and knowledge co-creation to build joint capacity for coping successfully with many complex challenges of sustainability, thus contributing to the wellbeing of the entire social-ecological system. Collectively, these contributions provide a deeper and more holistic understanding of the processes of acquiring and co-creating ecological knowledge that can allow an organization to transition successfully towards greater ecological sustainability. My dissertation also offers numerous practically relevant insights for businesses facing the challenges of economic, social and environmental sustainability, as well as specific guidance on how companies can protect or enhance their supply of natural capital and contribute toward greater stability of the broader human-nature systems in which they are embedded. / Graduate / 2023-11-15

La tesi si prepone di analizzare il significato di design nel contesto dell’industria agro-alimentare in Italia, con particolare riferimento alle teorie dell’innovazione tramite servizi (Miles et al., 1995; Tether et al., 2001). Precedenti studi sulla professionalizzazione di una disciplina hanno supportato una prima fase di ricerca, durante la quale si è cercato di valutare se si sta sviluppando una disciplina del design agro-alimentare (Hodgson, 2002). Successivamente, la ricerca ha analizzato come le imprese del settore abbiano sviluppato ed integrato specifiche competenze mirate a fare del design uno strumento di crescita innovativa (Jennings e Wood, 1994, Meroni, 2000, Miele e Murdoch, 2002). La metodologia si basa su casi studio tratti da dati di fonte primaria e secondaria. Un primo risultato ha evidenziato l’importanza dell’innovazione di tipo organizzativo, in particolare il lavoro di progetto ed un rapporto frequente con il cliente. Lo studio enfatizza inoltre che le aziende agro-alimentari debbano considerare aspetti legati all’innovazione in concomitanza a quelli legati all’estetica. Nei casi in cui il prodotto non rappresenti l'unica interfaccia col cliente (es. settore vinicolo), la ricerca suggerisce che la funzione di servizio del design emerge come preminente. / This thesis unveils the meaning of design in the context of the agro-food industry in Italy from a service innovation perspective (Miles et al., 1995; Tether et al., 2001). Different theoretical underpinnings have been called: previous studies on the professionalisation of a discipline have helped to assess the extent to which a discipline of agro-food design is emerging (Hodgson, 2002). Additional insight is provided by the analysis of firms and sectors that have integrated design-related expertise into their activities and, consequently, contributed to further our understanding on this matter (Jennings and Wood, 1994, Meroni, 2000, Miele and Murdoch, 2002). A qualitative approach has combined both primary- and secondary-source data. The study indicates that organisational innovations are crucial for the competitiveness of Italian design firms, project-based activity and close relationship with client firms in particular. Case studies on medium and large agro-food firms point to a blurring line between design and marketing. The study emphasises that both the innovation and aesthetic components must be considered. In cases where the product is not the only interface with the client (e.g. winemaking sector), the research suggests that the service trait of the design activity is becoming increasingly relevant.

No description available.

[ES] La presente tesis doctoral se plantea sobre la necesidad de buscar alternativas a los medios de pago y cobros internacionales en el sector agroalimentario y su viabilidad normativa, que permitan automatizar las operaciones de comercio internacional y reúnan todos los beneficios mitigantes del riesgo y de la falta de seguridad de cobro para las partes. La acelerada revolución tecnológica en el campo de las telecomunicaciones y de la informática, se ha empleado como instrumento en el comercio internacional agroalimentario, no sólo en la fase de negociación y elaboración del contrato de compraventa internacional, sino, en la forma de pago. Por ello, se hace necesario considerar y valorar la viabilidad jurídica que ofrecen los nuevos instrumentos tecnológicos en las transacciones comerciales internacionales. La reciente aparición de la tecnología denominada cadena de bloques (blockchains) y los contratos inteligentes (smart contracts) ofrecen una alternativa sostenible en el sector primario y es por ello que, despierta un creciente interés objeto de nuestro estudio. Desde este objetivo, y tras no pocas dudas, se presenta una revisión de ambos conceptos y su relación con el uso de nuevos medios de pago virtuales (criptomonedas). En este sentido, dichos conceptos toman relevancia en la investigación en virtud de la propuesta de un novedoso crédito documentario automatizado en la red blockchain como mecanismo de pago internacional y cuya moneda de pago es la criptomoneda. Ello proporciona a los agentes comerciales, la posibilidad de realizar pagos jurídicamente válidos, eficaces y automáticos, sin la intervención de ninguna autoridad bancaria central o institución de crédito. La investigación trata temas actuales como lo son la compraventa internacional, los medios de pago internacionales, con base en el crédito documentario y los nuevos desafíos tecnológicos, evidenciando la importancia de la Comisión de las Naciones Unidas para el Derecho Mercantil Internacional (UNCITRAL) como fuente reguladora del Derecho Comercial Internacional. Con el estudio se concluye la posibilidad de uso del dinero electrónico y las monedas virtuales para una operación de compraventa internacional en el sector primario como alternativa a los mecanismos tradicionales, dotando a ésta de la funcionalidad y la seguridad jurídica con el uso de un crédito documentario en la red Blockchain en formatos estandarizados y automatizados de contratación, a pesar de su escasa o nula regulación internacional. / [CA] La presente tesis doctoral se plantea sobre la necesidad de buscar alternativas a los medios de pago y cobros internacionales en el sector agroalimentario y su viabilidad normativa, que permitan automatizar las operaciones de comercio internacional y reúnan todos los beneficios mitigantes del riesgo y de la falta de seguridad de cobro para las partes. La acelerada revolución tecnológica en el campo de las telecomunicaciones y de la informática, se ha empleado como instrumento en el comercio internacional agroalimentario, no sólo en la fase de negociación y elaboración del contrato de compraventa internacional, sino, en la forma de pago. Por ello, se hace necesario considerar y valorar la viabilidad jurídica que ofrecen los nuevos instrumentos tecnológicos en las transacciones comerciales internacionales. La reciente aparición de la tecnología denominada cadena de bloques (blockchains) y los contratos inteligentes (smart contracts) ofrecen una alternativa sostenible en el sector primario y es por ello que, despierta un creciente interés objeto de nuestro estudio. Desde este objetivo, y tras no pocas dudas, se presenta una revisión de ambos conceptos y su relación con el uso de nuevos medios de pago virtuales (criptomonedas). En este sentido, dichos conceptos toman relevancia en la investigación en virtud de la propuesta de un novedoso crédito documentario automatizado en la red blockchain como mecanismo de pago internacional y cuya moneda de pago es la criptomoneda. Ello proporciona a los agentes comerciales, la posibilidad de realizar pagos jurídicamente válidos, eficaces y automáticos, sin la intervención de ninguna autoridad bancaria central o institución de crédito. La investigación trata temas actuales como lo son la compraventa internacional, los medios de pago internacionales, con base en el crédito documentario y los nuevos desafíos tecnológicos, evidenciando la importancia de la Comisión de las Naciones Unidas para el Derecho Mercantil Internacional (UNCITRAL) como fuente reguladora del Derecho Comercial Internacional. Con el estudio se concluye la posibilidad de uso del dinero electrónico y las monedas virtuales para una operación de compraventa internacional en el sector primario como alternativa a los mecanismos tradicionales, dotando a ésta de la funcionalidad y la seguridad jurídica con el uso de un crédito documentario en la red Blockchain en formatos estandarizados y automatizados de contratación, a pesar de su escasa o nula regulación internacional. / [EN] This doctoral thesis is based on the need to seek alternatives to international payment and collection methods in the agri-food sector and its regulatory feasibility, which allow automating international trade operations and bring together all the mitigating benefits of risk and the lack of collection security for the parties. The accelerated technological revolution in the field of telecommunications and information technology has been used as an instrument in international agri-food trade, not only in the negotiation and preparation phase of the international sales contract, but also in the form of payment. For this reason, it is necessary to consider and assess the legal viability offered by the new technological instruments in international commercial transactions. The recent appearance of the technology called blockchain and smart contracts offer a sustainable alternative in the primary sector and that is why it arouses a growing interest in our study. From this objective, and after many doubts, a review of both concepts and their relationship with the use of new virtual means of payment (cryptocurrencies) is presented. In this sense, these concepts become relevant in the investigation by virtue of the proposal of a novel automated documentary credit in the blockchain network as an international payment mechanism and whose payment currency is cryptocurrency. This provides commercial agents with the possibility of making legally valid, efficient and automatic payments, without the intervention of any central banking authority or credit institution. The research deals with current issues such as international sales, international means of payment, based on documentary credit and new technological challenges, evidencing the importance of UNCITRAL as a regulatory source of International Commercial Law. The study concludes the possibility of using electronic money and virtual currencies for an international sale operation in the primary sector as an alternative to traditional mechanisms, providing it with functionality and legal security with the use of a documentary credit in the Blockchain network in standardized and automated contracting formats, despite its little or no international regulation. / Bonet Juan, MA. (2022). Aplicación del derecho internacional en los mecanismos de medios de cobro y pago e ítems relacionados con el comercio internacional [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/186004