Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Sustainable ProducteService Systems (S.PSS) carry great potential to deliver social well-being and
Received 20 February 2015 economic prosperity while operating within the limits of our planet. They can however be complex to
Accepted 20 February 2015 design, test, implement and bring to the mainstream. To increase our understanding of the potential
Available online xxx
benefits, drivers and barriers in S.PSS design, the research community has been inspired to collect and
analyse an extensive number of cases in diverse sectors and to develop and test several design methods
Keywords:
and tools. This Special Volume on “New Design Challenges to Widely Implement ‘Sustainable Product
Sustainable ProducteService Systems
eService Systems’” presents results of key studies in the following areas: user satisfaction and accep-
Design for sustainability
System innovation
tance of S.PSS solutions, how industrial partnerships and stakeholder interactions can be designed for
environmental and socio-ethical benefits, how knowledge of socio-technical change and transition
management feeds S.PSS design processes, and the role of policy instruments to foster their imple-
mentation and scale-up. This Introduction reviews the current state of research and summarises the
articles presented. The articles demonstrate increasing confidence in integrating approaches and theo-
retical frameworks from other arenas. These approaches include sociological practice theory, to shed new
light on consumer practices in S.PSS configurations, and strategic niche management, to foster a suitable
design and experimentation milieu. Experimentation, iteration and cyclical design processes were also
seen by many authors as crucial to implementing and stabilising S.PSS solutions, but also their
continuous sustainability evaluation. Several articles highlight the importance of local authorities, in
developing S.PSS-enabling policies as well as supporting novel networks of stakeholders in the
co-production of value. Finally this Introduction highlights key issues for a design research agenda,
including but not limited to the development of new knowledge to support S.PSS designers (such as S.PSS
design in low and middle-income contexts) and the role of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the
diffusion of knowledge and know-how to companies. Together, the papers in this special volume provide
insight into the promise of the S.PSS concept for understanding, advancing and accelerating
sustainability.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Sustainable ProducteService Systems: a promising model gone from relying upon end-of-pipe pollution control approaches
not widely implemented to cleaner production to eco-design and product Life Cycle Design.
Although these types of interventions are fundamental and
In the last few decades, the reaction of humankind to sustain- necessary, the improvements they can provide are often more than
ability problems has produced a series of approaches that have offset by the pace and scale of population growth and increasing
consumption levels. There is an urgent need not only to address
production processes, products and provision of services, but to
*
also redesign the patterns of consumption (“lifestyles”), as well as
LeNS, the Learning Network on Sustainability, www.lens.polimi.it.
* Corresponding author.
the institutions that underpin them e and to learn how all of them
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (C. Vezzoli), fabrizio.ceschin@brunel. can be addressed simultaneously, to make the transformation to
ac.uk (F. Ceschin), [email protected] (J.C. Diehl), cindy.kohtala@aalto.fi (C. Kohtala). sustainable societal processes. In the current economic and social

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
0959-6526/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
2 C. Vezzoli et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12

crises, we are facing rising prices, unstable supply chains, global components to save on landfilling costs and new component
food crises, inflation, recession, rising unemployment, credit crises manufacturing. Furthermore, the producer will be economically
and citizens' lack of confidence in government, the financial system motivated to look into other ways to extend material life, such as
and in many other societal institutions. These crises can and must by updating, repairing, remanufacturing, recycling, energy recov-
be transformed into opportunities, and the current challenging and ery or composting.
ever-changing context can help drive the change. But do we have The benefits for the customer/user arise from the fact that
the will, know-how and persistence to identify and seize the S.PSSs cut initial investment and running costs. The benefits that
opportunities as they arise? Are there models capable of creating accrue are not only economic, but also more widely socio-ethical,
equitable and sustainable economic and social values that are as S.PSSs can broaden access to useful goods and services to lower
decoupled from material and energy consumption and which are income strata (Vezzoli et al., 2014). In other words, S.PSS offers are
socially and ecologically sustainable? focused on access rather than ownership: they lower or allow
A promising way to begin to address the challenges is via the users to avoid the initial investment (e.g. people with low incomes
Sustainable ProducteService System (S.PSS) approach, which has do not need to purchase a solar panel outright) as well as the
been studied since the end of the 1990s (Goedkoop et al., 1999; running costs (e.g. if the solar panel breaks accidentally there is no
Brezet et al., 2001; Charter and Tischner, 2001; Manzini and direct cost for repair). In addition, S.PSS offers are more focused on
Vezzoli, 2001). Various research projects have been funded by the the context of use, because they do not only sell products: they
European Union (EU) and by the United Nations Environment open (and/or lengthen) relationships with the end user. This
Programme (UNEP) over the past decade with the aim of devel- should trigger a greater involvement of (more competent) local,
oping and testing methods and tools for S.PSS design, the main rather than global, stakeholders, thus fostering and facilitating the
ones being SusHouse,1 ProSecCo,2 HiCS,3 MEPSS,4 SusProNet5 and reinforcement and prosperity of the local economy. Finally, since
D4S.6 The most recent is the LeNS project (www.lens.polimi.it S.PSSs are more labour and relationship intensive, they can also
www.lens.polimi.lens.it), which was designed to integrate and lead to an increase in local employment and a consequent
update what was produced in the projects referred to in the pre- dissemination of skills.
vious sentence and to make the findings and knowledge widely and Apart from the sustainability advantages, benefits for the
easily available free of charge on the Internet. customer/user and the producer/supplier include the following:
We defined S.PSS as “an offer model providing an integrated mix of For the customer, an S.PSS is seen to provide value through more
products and services that are together able to fulfil a particular customisation and higher quality. The service component, being
customer demand (to deliver a ‘unit of satisfaction’), based on inno- flexible, can also deliver new functionality better suited to
vative interactions between the stakeholders of the value production customer needs and is often described as removing administrative
system (satisfaction system), where the economic and competitive or monitoring tasks away from the customer and back to the
interest of the providers continuously seeks environmentally and manufacturer (Baines et al., 2007). Business-to-business (B2B)
socio-ethically beneficial new solutions” (Vezzoli et al., 2014). customers tend to outsource secondary tasks at any rate, and here
Compared to the traditional product sales model, within an they can concentrate on their core competences (Meier et al., 2010).
S.PSS model a company can improve revenues if it can meet the Individual users (in business-to-consumer sectors, B2C) are also
same demand by providing a less resource-intensive product and freed from the burden of responsibilities that do not relate to
related service mix. Cost savings for the producer/service-provider satisfying the particular need in question. For example, they are
result from reduced quantities of product materials, streamlined freed from caring about washing machine maintenance and
managerial costs and reduced costs from prolonged responsibility end-of-life procedures, when the need is to have clean clothes.
for the product, throughout its use and disposal. In other words, The advantage on the customer side is a higher level of
compared to a traditional product sales offer, in an S.PSS approach it productivity because of better use of the product's performance
is in the economic and competitive interest of the producer/pro- and the longer operation possibility. For most S.PSS cases, the
vider to foster continuous innovation in reducing the environ- customer receives value in a form that is close to current need and/
mental impacts and improving social equity and cohesion. or want (“unit of satisfaction”).
During the use phase, the producer has a potential economic The S.PSS benefits for companies result from improved strategic
interest to reduce the amount of resources consumed, because positioning (UNEP, 2002), which is tied to the potential added value
profit is dependent on the cost per unit of service provided to the perceived by clients. By focussing on the utility delivered from a
customer. Furthermore, since the producer/provider remains the producteservice mix, the company frees the client from the costs
‘owner’, or at least retains some responsibility for the product over and problems associated in the acquisition, use, maintenance and
its life cycle, there is an economic incentive to extend the prod- disposal of equipment and products.
uct's lifetime. In this way, the producer, in essence, postpones both It is important to underline that not all shifts to PSS result in
the disposal costs and the costs of manufacturing a new product. environmental benefits: a PSS may need to be specifically designed,
As well, at the end of the product's life, the producer has the developed and delivered, if it is to be highly eco-efficient (Vezzoli
potential economic interest to re-use or re-manufacture et al., 2014). For example, schemes where products are borrowed
and returned incur transportation costs (and the resultant use of
fuel as well as pollution emissions) over the life of the product. In
1
some specific instances, the total fuel cost and environmental
SusHouse: Strategies towards the Sustainable Household (EU funded,
impact may make the system non-viable in the long term.
1998e2000) (see: Vergragt, 2000).
2
ProSecCo e ProducteService Co-design (EU funded, 2002e2004). Furthermore, even when well designed, it has been observed that
3
HiCS e Highly Customerized Solutions (EU funded, 2001e2004) (see: Manzini some PSS changes could generate unwanted side effects, usually
et al., 2004). referred to as rebound effects (Vezzoli et al., 2014). Society as a
4
MEPSS e MEthodology for Product Service System development (EU funded, whole is a set of complex, inter-related systems that are not clearly
2002e2005) (see: van Halen et al., 2005).
5
understood. As a result, unforeseen circumstances may turn po-
SusProNet: Sustainable ProducteService co-design Network (EU funded,
2002e2005) (see: Tukker and Tischner, 2006b).
tential environmentally sound solutions into increases in global
6
Design for Sustainability (D4S): A Step-By-Step Approach (UNEP funded, consumption of environmental resources at the practical level. One
2005e2009) (see: Tischner et al. 2009). example is the impact of PSS on consumer behaviour where leasing,

Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
 C. Vezzoli et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12 3

rather than ownership of products, could lead to careless (less between business functions (Stoughton et al., 1998; White et al.,
ecological) behaviours.7 1999; Fishbein et al., 2000). These conflicts may be augmented by
Because of the potential of S.PSS to deliver social well-being and the absence of an internal common language and alignment of mind-
economic prosperity while operating within the limits of our sets (Martinez et al., 2010).
planet, the research community has been inspired to collect and The lack of organisational commitment is an additional supply
analyse an extensive number of cases in diverse sectors, to increase side factor influencing success and failure of S.PSS (Bartolomeo
our understanding of the potential benefits, drivers and barriers, et al., 2003). Another internal barrier is due to the changing of
and to develop and to test several design methods and tools to be systems and sources of gaining profit (Mont, 2004a): S.PSS business
able to enhance the array of S.PSSs that are implemented globally. models require medium- to long-term investments compared to
This is urgently needed because, despite all the knowledge and the short-term profits generated at the point-of-sale. Consequently
experience that has been accumulated, there remain gaps in the S.PSSs are connected with uncertainties about cash flows (Mont,
research as well as a significant gap in how all this knowledge is 2004b), which may cause producers to perceive S.PSS businesses
transferred to implementation. The following section will outline as more risky than product-based ones (EC, 2001). In addition,
the main implementation and diffusion barriers to wider adoption Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are often unable to
of S.PSS models in our current understanding. finance these kinds of business models, given their usually limited
financial resources (Besch, 2005).
2. S.PSS implementation and diffusion barriers A further obstacle is the difficulty of quantifying the savings
arising from S.PSS in economic and environmental terms, in order
Despite the aforementioned potential benefits and drivers, the to market the innovations to stakeholders both inside and outside
diffusion of S.PSSs is still limited. An important reason is that this the company, or to the company's strategic partners (UNEP, 2002).
kind of business concept, in most cases, brings significant corpo- Regarding the relationships with stakeholders along the
rate, cultural and regulatory challenges. The following sections value chain, the development and delivering of S.PSSs requires the
illustrate the barriers faced by organisations in implementing and building of strong collaboration among the actors. This may be a
diffusing S.PSS solutions and the ones faced by customers in potential barrier, because of the fear of sharing sensitive information
accepting this type of value proposition. It is important to highlight about companies' processes, products and technologies (Mont,
that it is the interplay between different factors, rather than indi- 2004a). Another obstacle is that partnerships and entrepreneurial
vidual factors themselves, that determines the receptivity of S.PSS interdependence may result in reduced control of core compe-
(defined as the ability of an organisation to accept, absorb and tencies and reduced influence on business decisions (UNEP, 2002).
utilise the S.PSS concept) (Cook et al., 2006).8 The focus is mainly on In relation to the value chain, another barrier is represented by the
industrialised contexts (as most of the research undertaken so far potential conflict of interests between companies that aim to reduce
on S.PSS refers to these contexts) and on the B2C sector. sales volumes of material products and traditional interests of
retailers that aim to increase sales (Cooper and Evans, 2000).
2.1. Barriers for companies and service providers
2.2. Barriers for customers
The main internal barrier for companies is related to the fact
that the adoption of an S.PSS strategy is more complex to manage As documented by Mont (2004a) and Catulli (2012), customers
than the traditional way of only delivering products. For this reason have a lack of knowledge and understanding about the S.PSS
there is the need to embed a PSS culture within the organisation concept. This generates uncertainties related to unclear risks, costs
(Martinez et al., 2010). In other words changes in corporate mindset and responsibilities and can lead customers to misapprehend the
and organisation are required in order to support a more systemic benefits of an S.PSS offer. Many customers (especially in the B2C
innovation and S.PSS-oriented businesses (UNEP, 2002). Cook et al. sector) also lack a general understanding about life cycle costs
(2006) showed that the receptivity of S.PSS is more likely to happen (White et al., 1999; Bartolomeo et al., 2003). It is, therefore, chal-
in organisations where service transactions were already put in lenging for them to understand the potential economic benefits of
place. Since the capabilities and knowledge for producing and S.PSS-oriented solutions. S.PSS-based offers are often perceived by
selling products are considerably different from those of managing the end-user as more expensive if compared to the purchase of
S.PSSs, it is clear that companies require new competences, skills and products, even if the opposite may be true: the initial investment
experiences, in relation to both management and design activities. cost may be lower, as well as the total cost of ownership, including
This means there is the need to: 1] structure the organisation in a use, maintenance, repairs and disposal costs, which are usually not
way to be competent in designing, making, and delivering S.PSS taken into consideration by the final user in the purchase of a
offers (Baines et al., 2007); 2] acquire S.PSS design methods and product. In fact, as underlined by Mont and Plepys (2008) in their
tools to develop and assess them (UNEP, 2002); 3] acquire life-cycle study on S.PSS, consumer behaviour has been found to be far more
costing methods (ibid.); and 4] develop performance metrics to complicated than merely a rational response to prices, because
measure the organisation's ability in effective and efficient delivery customers are influenced by different internal and external drivers,
of S.PSS offers (Martinez et al., 2010). induced by human psychology, social norms and institutional set-
For these reasons company personnel need to be trained and tings. In this regard, the main barrier is the cultural shift necessary
additional personnel may be needed (Mont, 2004a). It has to be to value an ownerless way of having a satisfaction fulfilled, as
underlined that these changes may be hindered by internal conflicts opposed to owning the product (Goedkoop et al., 1999; Mont, 2002;
UNEP, 2002; Catulli, 2012). The problem is that solutions based on
access (e.g. sharing) contradict the dominant and well-established
7
It is from this perspective that this article promotes the term Sustainable norm of ownership (Behrendt et al., 2003), making consumers
ProducteService System (S.PSS) instead of simply PSS, when the offer is effectively hesitant to accept ownerless-based solutions (Goedkoop et al.,
a winewin proposition: environmentally, socio-ethically and economically sus-
1999; UNEP, 2002). This is especially true for particular types of
tainable at the same time.
8
In this regard, Cook et al. (2012) showed that organisations operating in
needs (e.g. for washing our clothes, we are not accustomed to the
different sectors face different sets of barriers (in particular their study compared idea of a washing machine in our home that does not belong to us),
the manufacturing and the construction sectors). while in other cases ownerless-based solutions have entered into

Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
4 C. Vezzoli et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12

our routines (e.g. the use of public transport services). It has to be diffusion as well as highlighting the key issues for an S.PSS design
emphasised that compared to private customers, business research agenda. In order to accomplish this objective the Call for
customers tend to prefer functional sales to product ownership Papers (CfPs) raised the following main questions.
(Alexander, 1997; Stahel, 1997). Moreover, as underlined by Wong
(2004), the diffusion of an S.PSS in the consumer market is highly - How do S.PSS innovations evolve?
dependent on being sensitive to the culture in which it will be used.  What are the dynamics and factors that facilitate and hinder
For instance S.PSSs have been more readily accepted in communal the process of introduction and scaling-up of S.PSSs?
societies like Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Switzerland than in  How can firms organise and manage the shifts towards S.PSS-
many other countries (Wong, 2004). oriented business approaches?
Another barrier to the diffusion of ownerless-based solutions is  What role(s) can different stakeholders play in stimulating
the fact that the quantity and quality of accumulated goods is these processes?
perceived as a measure of success in life, because it is an indicator of - What strategies, approaches and tools can be adopted to trigger
a certain position in society (Mont, 2004b; Catulli, 2012). Moreover, the scaling up of S.PSSs?
as underlined by Halkier (1998), the current trend towards  How can concepts such as socio-technical experiments, tran-
individualisation is boosting consumption demand, because a sition experiments and living labs trigger, guide and sustain
person's identity is no longer defined by a community but rather by these processes?
the goods s/he owns, goods that represent the signals of one's own  What kinds of design approaches, methods and tools can be
identity. In this context, refurbished products and sharing schemes used to improve the quality, breadth, depth and spread of the
may be perceived as second-class status (Mont, 2004a). However, needed changes?
the rising of a sharing economy (Heinrichs, 2013) and collaborative - How do/can final users influence the introduction and scaling-
consumption (Meroni, 2007; Botsman and Rogers, 2010) is seen as up processes?
a window of opportunity that can be exploited to favour the  What strategies and approaches can be adopted to stimulate
acceptance of S.PSS-oriented solutions. people to accept new consumption models?
Mont (2004a) observed that for certain S.PSS categories,  How can/should S.PSSs be designed to stimulate behavioural
providers have to develop systems for monitoring and managing changes and to foster user acceptance and satisfaction?
the product's condition at customer sites. This entails entering - How can changes in economic and legal frameworks foster and
customers' facilities and gaining access to information about some accelerate the implementation of S.PSS innovations?
of the customers' activities. The privacy issue, for some customers,  What governmental, regional and local policies can be
may be a sensitive one. In addition, hesitation towards offers based developed and implemented to specifically favour the intro-
on ownerless access and sharing can also be linked to the percep- duction and scaling-up of S.PSSs?
tion of independence, hygiene and intimacy usually connected to - What synergies can be built with other promising models?
one's own products (Catulli, 2012).  Are there cases that document the synergistic benefits of us-
ing different combinations of approaches, concepts and tools?
2.3. Context-related barriers What can we learn from them that can help us to speed up the
up-scaling processes?
The environmental and social impact costs (called externalities
as far as they are not included in market prices) are key context- The following queries posed in the CfPs were not addressed in
related factors contributing to reinforcing traditional product sale the papers in this SV, but remain important and compelling areas of
offers and hindering S.PSS-based solutions. In other words, since inquiry for future research, as described in Section 5:
environmental and social costs connected to products are not
included in their market prices, it can become difficult for S.PSS - What are specific characteristics of transition processes in
solutions to compete with industrially produced products (Mont different contexts (industrialised, emerging and low-income)?
and Lindhqvist, 2003). For this reason, as underlined by Cleff and  What are the similarities and differences, as well as the
Rennings (1999), governmental intervention is required to imple- specific challenges and opportunities?
ment policy measures capable of internalising externalities and, as - What are the challenges/opportunities for Higher Educational
a consequence, stimulate environmental and socially sustainable Institutions (HEIs) to help to facilitate the necessary transitions?
innovation. However, as underlined by Mont (2001), traditional  What knowledge and know-how should be provided to
policy instruments targeting product environmental performances challenge students to become active change agents within the
are not sufficient to achieve this objective. Governments should transformation of our consumption and production patterns to
intervene by implementing policy measures capable (directly or truly sustainable patterns?
indirectly) of stimulating the diffusion of S.PSSs (Mont and  What educational strategies and approaches should be put
Lindhqvist, 2003; Ceschin and Vezzoli, 2010). into practice to accelerate the widespread development and
Moreover, the cost of labour is increasing and therefore it can be adoption of S.PSSs?
cheaper for customers to buy product-based offers (e.g. buy a
washing machine) instead of labour-intensive solutions like S.PSS-
based offers (e.g. clothing care services). In addition, other context-
related barriers may include a lack of external infrastructure and 4. New design opportunities and obstacles in initiation and
technologies (e.g. for product collection, remanufacturing or diffusion of S.PSS
recycling) (UNEP, 2002).
The papers in this SV provide a range of contributions, re-
3. Research questions addressed in this special volume flections and insights, which can be grouped into four main clus-
ters: S.PSS design of user acceptance and satisfaction, S.PSS design of
Given the implementation and diffusion barriers described industrial partnerships and stakeholder interaction, S.PSS design and
above, this Special Volume (SV) was designed to contribute to socio-technical change and S.PSS and policy approaches. For each
identifying the new design opportunities and obstacles in S.PSS cluster, the following sections briefly sum up the topic and

Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
 C. Vezzoli et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12 5

highlight the most relevant research, present the related papers the use of multiple tools and the need to evaluate customer satis-
and discuss their original contributions. faction in four areas relevant to PSS: product, service, infrastructure
and networks.
4.1. Sustainable ProducteService System design of user acceptance At face value, these questions about S.PSS design, implementa-
and satisfaction tion and diffusion do not differ from the questions contemporary
product and service designers need to ask: what do we need to
A key reason for pushing the adoption of S.PSS solutions is to know about consumers and end-users, how do we identify needs in
drastically reduce resource consumption and negative environ- a rapidly changing world, who and what is the competition, and
mental impacts without reducing people's sense of well-being and how do we best access that information and build that knowledge?
satisfaction. However, as described in Section 2.2, a significant With regard to sustainability and seeking positive change, the
barrier to S.PSS diffusion relates to user acceptance and adoption of questions are similar, whether this involves the public sector con-
these novel systems. This may be due to existing habits, how the cerned about its citizens' health or environmental organisations
service provider is perceived, financial reasons or other empirically seeking to lower carbon emissions: what is the evidence base upon
documented factors that make users feel unsure (e.g. Rexfelt and which we can build and go forward? Research on designing S.PSSs
Hiort af Orna €s, 2009). These obstacles are of special concern if we appears to be bringing the two perspectives together: the practi-
seek radical change. That is, radically new S.PSS configurations will cality of commercial approaches with the normative goals inherent
challenge the status quo the most, but they also have the most in Sustainable Consumption and Production initiatives.
potential for positive impact, in particular result-oriented S.PSSs The unit of analysis of user acceptance in S.PSS has often been
(Tukker and Tischner, 2006a). The most novel production and consumer behaviour, and frameworks have been developed to
consumption offerings will nevertheless require long-term strate- examine existing behaviours and routines in order to identify what
gies and transition-oriented design, as described in Section 4.3, pro-environmental behaviours can be encouraged by design (e.g.
preferably supported by smart policies (Section 4.4). In this stra- DEFRA, 2008) and how to break bad habits (Power and Mont, 2010).
tegic process, profound understanding of the consumer/user is This behaviour-led approach is problematic on its own, however, or
central e the user's attitudes and values, lifestyles and habits, and in certain sectors, because of the behavioureattitude gap (Kollmuss
behaviours and motivations. and Agyeman, 2002). A more helpful construct may rather be via
During the development of this SV, it was found that despite a use regimes: “a set of technological, economic, and social elements
growing tradition and knowledge base in S.PSS exploration, in both such as infrastructure, attitudes and values, institutional arrange-
research and practice, successful commercial S.PSS examples are ments, price relations, and symbolic meanings of products that
still more likely to be B2B than B2C offerings (Catulli et al., 2013; determine consumer behaviour” (Hirschl et al., 2003, 877).
Tukker, in this volume). This emphasises the importance of this Mylan (in this volume) suggested that ‘practice theory’ might
knowledge gap: user (or citizen) acceptance in B2C solutions and offer a promising way to better understand supply and demand
how value is perceived or co-produced (Ramirez, 1999). It requires dynamics. Practice theory, a new approach in the sociology of
understanding what alternatives users already have in place, to consumption (Røpke, 2009; Shove et al., 2012), takes these sym-
better gauge what they may choose, from, for instance, the bolic meanings into consideration. It is also designed to address and
perspective of user-centred design and consumer research (Rexfelt to describe the everyday behaviour patterns entrenched in habits
and Hiort af Orna €s, 2009; Catulli, 2012; Catulli et al., 2013). It and routines: patterns that may be problematic or not obvious to
requires understanding the user as part of a group or community, study by virtue of their very mundaneness. By analysing how
from the perspectives of marketing, sociology, psychology and materials, meanings and skills are woven together, practice theory
other fields. It requires understanding how S.PSS solutions geared may contribute to a sustainability analysis by making more visible
to consumer lifestyles can actually lead to environmental benefits, the material elements in S.PSSs. The study illustrated these
from the perspective of ecological economics (Halme et al., 2004), dynamics through the examples of energy-efficient light bulbs and
environmental management and material footprint studies low temperature laundry. Moreover, Mylan argued that the con-
(Lettenmeier et al., 2014) and from other fields. ventional focus on user needs in S.PSS design is often done in the
As stated in the foregoing paragraphs, this evidence base is context of the status quo, which does not lead to innovations or
expanding, but many studies continue to be conceptual and transformations e sustainable or otherwise. Since changes in
explorative, according to Boehm and Thomas's (2013) literature practices depend on how strongly practices are coupled or linked to
review. When empirical studies and case studies are conducted, a each other (as well as the elements within a practice), and an
complication arises because their findings are problematic to innovation or intervention may experience resistance in strongly
generalise (Meijkamp, 2000). One way to combat this is to seek to linked practices, Mylan suggested that, “diffusion may be better
make progress even when hard evidence is lacking. Design skills understood by investigating alignment processes than by asking
can play a particular role here, especially the skill to prototype, about ‘barriers’”.
iterate and perform constant interim evaluations (Morelli, 2003; Piscicelli et al. (in this volume) sought to reconcile the two: to
Rexfelt and Hiort af Orna €s, 2009). According to Ceschin (2014b), account for both social psychological models of behaviour and so-
this is the role of S.PSS design as a Lab. cial practice theory. The authors argued that this approach can help
This leads this editorial team to pose the question of how to counter the behavioureattitude or valueeaction gap (Blake, 1999),
design and implement S.PSS solutions, keeping in mind the by moving beyond behaviours to practices. It can also address in-
importance of user acceptance. For example, Rexfelt and Hiort af dividual norms that may be out of the frame of analysis in social
Orna €s (2009) and Krucken and Meroni (2006) emphasised the practice theory. The authors reported on a quantitative study of an
need to develop both the S.PSS and its communication simulta- online marketplace, which they described as a model of collabo-
neously. Tools and methods can and should be borrowed from rative consumption (Botsman and Rogers, 2010). When comparing
other fields, as in the case of a service quality measurement tool to these collaborative consumers to the average consumer or user in
measure customer satisfaction and perceived quality in Catulli's the UK, the authors found that these S.PSS users seemed to share a
(2012) study of car sharing and nursery equipment. However, distinct value orientation. A subsequent study will examine the
S.PSSs have unique attributes that are not all amenable to existing same case, and the relationships between values and engagement,
evaluation tools. Mont and Plepys (2003) therefore recommended but through the lens of practices. The interlinkages between

Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
6 C. Vezzoli et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12

materials, meanings and skills in practice theory and values and way for companies to increase market share as well as customer
behaviour in social psychological models of behaviour can help satisfaction (Beuren et al., 2013). Such a strategy is a means by
clarify how S.PSSs can be designed and implemented to encourage which Western manufacturers can face the challenges from lower
user acceptance and adoption. cost economies. Traditional manufacturing firms with well-
It may be considered problematic that relatively few radical developed capabilities in terms of products and processes will
S.PSS examples currently exist and therefore, user acceptance find the transition to servitised organisations to be a difficult pro-
remains a black box. Armstrong et al. (in this volume) attempted to cess (Baines et al., 2009). One of the main challenges is construction
shed light on these novel business models in the context of the of new industrial partnerships and stakeholder interactions.
clothing industry, an industry marked by environmental problems As stated by Morelli (2006), an S.PSS is a social construction
related to overconsumption and excessive amounts of based upon “attraction forces” which catalyse the participation of
pre-consumer and post-consumer waste. The authors' strategy in several partners. An S.PSS is the result of a value co-production
this case was to set up focus groups and a set of scenarios designed process within such a partnership. The proposition of value
to help determine the threshold of acceptability of a range of S.PSS through products and services embraces a complex network of
solutions related to clothing. While the findings confirmed many of suppliers and competencies (Tan, 2010). Consequently, strategic
the barriers and enablers discussed in other studies (see Sections 1 partner management is one of the critical success factors for S.PSSs.
and 2), the environmental benefits linked to the solutions gained S.PSSs are forcing a new understanding of relationships (Cavalieri
surprising prominence. Several solutions were regarded as realistic and Pezzotta, 2012). New innovative partner networks play an
and viable, while others, especially those related to collaborative important role in this. According to Laperche and Picard (2013) one
consumption type models, were considered to be less realistic. The of the main characteristics of S.PSS innovation management
authors suggested how some solutions were more appealing to changes lies in the development of innovative partnerships. In or-
certain user groups and their shared values. To this editorial team, der to form and maintain their knowledge capital firms not only
the findings also indicated the need to design implementation need to rely on internal resources but should engage in many
roadmaps. cooperative relationships with external partners (Laperche, 2007).
This may be a design implication for all three studies: the need Partnerships are not only made for additional skills embodied in
to incorporate incremental steps in a path or practice, especially to human resources and expert knowledge, but also for knowledge
the most radical S.PSS solutions. Moreover, identifying and catering around their core research area to provide additional and
to the right customer groups still faces the very 21st century complementary knowledge. In addition partnerships appear to be a
challenge of fragmentation and ‘markets of one’ (Gilmore and Pine, way to increase innovative efficiency in a competitive environment.
2000). There may, therefore, be valuable lessons transferable to In order to address all these goals, partnerships are developed in
S.PSS design from other fields such as mass customisation, espe- many directions, which require different types of partners
cially regarding the role and authority of the customer and (Laperche, 2007).
co-creation. These lessons include where and when co-creation From a partnership perspective, supply chain management and
involving both producer/provider and customer should occur and product life cycle management play critical roles as well. Aurich
when the customer can take over and customise the S.PSS solution et al. (2010) explained that with S.PSS development, “companies
to his or her satisfaction. For certain types of S.PSS (remembering have to shift their designing and selling products only, to support
the perils of overgeneralising), customisation and innovative and accompany their usages and end-of-life management. So they
co-production approaches may offer the best path for a user to have to take care of life cycle phases that are usually outside the
ensure “seamless” provision of an S.PSS and its upgrade (Catulli, traditional buyereseller relationship. Contrary to other business
2012) as situations change. In Piscicelli et al. (in this volume), models, the life cycle management of PSS focuses on the design and
what was found to be especially salient was the nature of the realization of required user functionalities over the whole product
model, neither B2B nor B2C, but a C2C (or P2P, peer-to-peer) model. life cycle”. When designing partnerships it is important to specify
This finding presents its own set of challenges and opportunities, as each partner's value and involvement throughout the product life
described in Section 5.1. cycle (Sakao et al., 2009; Cavalieri and Pezzotta, 2012).
If we focus on user acceptance, are we simply catering for, While there is a considerable body of academic knowledge on
legitimising and consolidating a status quo condition that was the role of upstream supply networks in the contexts of traditional
unsustainable from the outset? The studies in this SV seem to manufacturing (e.g. pure products), there is less work in the context
indicate that it is possible e and necessary e to understand, of S.PSS (Lockett et al., 2010). Information flow management (i.e.
satisfaction (needs and/or wants), user acceptance, behaviour, sharing of information between supply chain members) is one of
routines and the potential for change and transformation in much the particularly important issues in the use of servitisation strate-
more nuanced ways. gies. Also downstream at the interface between S.PSS provider and
customer there is a need for a closer relationship between the
4.2. Sustainable ProducteService System design of industrial stakeholders (Lockett et al., 2010).
partnerships and stakeholder interactions How these novel partnership networks and strategic stake-
holder interactions can make S.PSSs successful as well as how they
Many industrialised nations are witnessing a contraction in support environmental and social sustainability goals has been
their manufacturing sectors caused by a shift of production to low- little studied. Nevertheless they seem to be crucial for new,
cost economies. Companies continually strive to increase produc- emerging sustainable industries as, for example, electric vehicles
tion, but in recent years, the effects of this effort have demonstrated (Cherubini et al. in this volume) and for socially oriented initiatives
that providing products alone is insufficient in terms of remaining dealing with problematic issues such as waste re-use (Gelbmann
competitive (Yu et al., 2008). In order to combat this, and Hammerl in this volume).
manufacturing firms have moved away from seeking competitive In the electric car industry the service component assumes
advantage from process or product innovation to “servitising”, by considerable importance, and it is a relevant factor in purchasing
integrating value-added services with their core offering (Lockett decisions. Cherubini et al. (in this volume) elaborated a new
et al., 2010). The development and implementation of Pro- approach for identifying critical success factors (CSFs) in S.PSS.
ducteService Systems in this situation can provide an alternative Their paper focused upon the electric car industry, an innovative

Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
 C. Vezzoli et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12 7

producteservice system designed to achieve critical mass, for for its contribution to understanding how PSS models have been
which an S.PSS analysis (rather than a conventional industry- implemented in an organisation and what key success factors and
specific perspective) was deemed to be appropriate. The ten main issues deserve special attention, such as a focus on product avail-
CSFs were classified with regards to their relevance and their ability for clients; an emphasis on diversity in terms of services
manageability. This approach helped the authors to demonstrate provided rather than on the range of products; and the need for
that partnerships represent a priority factor requiring immediate staff to possess both knowledge of the product and relationship
action in these companies. Consequently, it may be particularly management skills. The reasons why S.PSSs have not been widely
useful for the analysis of an innovative S.PSS in the introductory implemented, particularly in the B2C context, seem to have been
phase of its life cycle because the achievement of critical mass is a already explained in the literature available in 2006. For consumers,
prerequisite for market development and requires the involvement having control over things, artefacts and life itself is one of the most
of a number of different actors. Even competing companies can act valued attributes.
in partnership for achieving this goal.
Gelbmann and Hammerl (in this volume) analysed the structure 4.3. Sustainable ProducteService System design and socio-
of an S.PSS, in the case of ECOlogically oriented Work Integration technical change
Social Enterprises (ECO-WISEs). This was accomplished through the
use of the business model canvas (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010) It has been argued that S.PSSs may require a profound redefi-
combined with a comprehensive stakeholder consideration, nition of the production and consumption modalities (and their
showing the relevance of re-use practices to promote the three established and relatively stable set of rules and networks of actors)
dimensions of sustainability. The authors unpacked the value (Tukker and Tischner, 2006a; Ceschin, 2013). An important chal-
propositions offered by the ECO-WISEs studied (i.e. long tradition lenge is therefore not only to conceive S.PSS concepts, but also to
in the business, not-for-private-profit and high degree of credit- understand the contextual conditions in which they are introduced
ability). They offered proposals on how such enterprises can find and to explore the suitable strategies and development pathways to
acceptance and can mainstream their S.PSSs. Successful main- embed these concepts in society.
streaming is essential since currently, re-use is restricted to niches, Recent advances in the field of transition studies (in particular
but by 2020 the European Commission wants to mainstream re-use the contributions from Strategic Niche Management (SNM) and
as a waste management option to increase resource efficiency. ECO- Transition Management (TM) approaches) have provided insights
WISEs stand out from many organisations, not only because the re- into how to understand, influence and orient the adoption of
use of waste holds a curious position in industrialised economies radical innovations. Through historical socio-technical case studies,
and legislation, but also because of their unusually wide and transition scholars have analysed how radical innovations take
diverse stakeholder network that needs to be in place to best place and have elaborated a model called the multi-level perspec-
ensure diffusion. tive on transitions (Geels, 2002) that describes the dynamics
This SV also features two literature reviews, Reim et al. (in this regulating these complex and long-term processes. These dynamics
volume) and Tukker (in this volume). Reviews of this kind have depend on the interactions among three functional levels (Geels,
value in synthesising findings from various studies and identifying 2002, 2005): the socio-technical regime (meso level) which refers
future research potential, and they can also shed light on synony- to the dominant and relatively stable set of culture, practices and
mous terminology and their related studies that may otherwise be institutions related to a specific field (mobility, energy, etc.); the
overlooked by S.PSS researchers and practitioners (such as ‘func- niche (micro level), a protected space “isolated” from the influence
tional sales’). of the dominant regime, where radical innovations can be tested,
Reim et al. (in this volume) explored the research on the become more mature, and can potentially challenge and change
implementation of S.PSS business models and their operational regime practices and institutions; and the landscape (macro level),
tactics, in their systematic literature review. Among the findings is which represents the social, economic and political context in
confirmation of the most commonly accepted typology of S.PSS, as which actors interact and regimes and niches evolve.
proposed by Tukker (2004): the papers reviewed were in three According to transition scholars, the introduction of radical
distinct categories of business models, product-oriented, use-ori- innovations requires the creation of partially protected socio-
ented and result-oriented models. Implementing a particular technical experiments (Kemp et al., 1998; Hoogma et al., 2002;
business model then requires particular tactics, which are designed Brown et al., 2003; Raven et al., 2010; Van den Bosch, 2010). Pro-
to strategise how much value is created and captured. In their tection allows incubation and maturation of radical socio-technical
review, five prominent tactics were identified, related to contracts, configurations by partly shielding them from the mainstream
marketing, networking, product and service design and sustain- market selection environment. A pathway of socio-technical
ability. Sustainability emerged as an important topic, which was experiments can be used as a strategic arena for learning, shaping
described as the ability of S.PSS providers to fully capture envi- future expectations and establishing new social networks in order
ronmental and social value, linking it to economic value via to gain momentum for diffusion and challenge and change socio-
resource efficiency and/or competitiveness via innovation, and technical regimes (Raven, 2005; Van den Bosch, 2010).
avoiding negative consequences such as rebound effects. Researchers in the design field have recently started to build
Tukker's (in this volume) review was broader than Reim et al.'s upon concepts and insights from transition studies and to explore
survey, as his review included all papers addressing PSS with the the role of design in relation to large-scale changes. Vezzoli et al.
special objective to update the literature synthesis in his and his (2008) introduced the idea of designing transition paths to
colleague's previous literature review (Tukker and Tischner, support the experimentation and scaling up of S.PSSs. Ceschin drew
2006a). The reviewer also summarised various definitions, design from TM and SNM to formulate a conceptual framework to account
methods, disadvantages and benefits of S.PSS, in business and for S.PSS implementation (Ceschin, 2012, 2013) and investigated
environmental terms, as found in the literature, as well as the the role for strategic design in supporting transition paths (Ceschin,
related evaluative frameworks. Tukker's review found a lack of 2012, 2014a). Gaziulusoy (2010) and Gaziulusoy et al. (2013)
environmental focus in the literature reviewed, with more atten- developed a theoretical and operational framework to link activ-
tion having been given to how PSS models enhance competitive- ities or decisions at the producteservice development level in or-
ness. According to Tukker, the recent literature is notable especially ganisations with the transformation, which needs to take place at

Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
8 C. Vezzoli et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12

the societal level to achieve sustainability. Cook (2014) drew on was characterised by a clear focus on sustainability innovations and
sustainable architecture to formulate the concept of “fluid transi- PSS development, and by a unique combination of laboratory
tions to sustainable PSSs”. Manzini, Meroni and Jegou have proposed situations with real-life experiments. A methodological framework
(even if they did not explicitly refer to S.PSS) three broad design to conduct R&D on S.PSS solutions within the SLL infrastructure
strategies to scale-up radical innovations: enabling, replicating and was also described and discussed. This approach anticipates a
synergising (Jegou and Manzini, 2008; Meroni, 2008; Je gou, 2011). three-phase model based on insight research, prototyping and field
Design researchers have also started to investigate how to testing. The SLL concept is currently being applied and tested in the
design socio-technical experiments to better trigger and support EU-funded SusLab NWE project. An applicative case study on
socio-technical changes. Ceschin (2014b) proposes to design energy and resource efficiency in buildings was used to present and
experiments as Labs (to test, learn about and improve the S.PSS discuss the initial findings of the SLL infrastructure.
innovation on multiple dimensions), Windows (to raise interest in
the innovation project and the related actors, disseminate results, 4.4. Sustainable ProducteService System and policy approaches
build up synergies with existing similar projects/initiatives, and
attract and enrol new actors) and Agents of change (to influence As underlined in Section 2.3, governments can play a crucial role
contextual conditions in order to promote and quicken the in supporting the adoption and diffusion of S.PSSs, by developing
transitioning process). The MEDEA institute at Malmo € University policy frameworks and stimulating proper conditions. There are
proposed to use Living Labs9 to experiment, explore and support three main reasons to justify the need for government intervention.
the scaling-up of grassroots social innovations (Hillgren et al., 1] Environmental and social impact costs (as externalities) are
2011). In line with Malmo € Living Labs, Manzini proposed the currently not included in market prices, and as a consequence
concept of “Enabling Experiments”10 to refer to the implementation sustainability-oriented innovation is not stimulated (Cleff and
of favourable environments that enable local actors to take active Rennings, 1999). 2] The cost of labour is still relatively high
roles as co-creators in the development and proliferation of social compared to the cost of energy and raw materials, and this can
innovations. Manzini and Rizzo (2011) emphasised that large-scale disadvantage labour-intensive solutions such as S.PSSs (Mont and
changes require the implementation of a multiplicity of diverse and Lindhqvist, 2003). 3] Due to various kinds of path dependencies,
interacting experiments. In this respect Meroni (2008) and Je gou companies can be locked-in to existing business models and
(2011) wrote about “synergising” or “acupunctural planning”, a set industrial dynamics and, as single players, cannot change such
of synergic self-standing local experiments that adopted as a broad logics (Heiskanen et al., 2011; Plepys et al. in this volume).
metaphor the practice of the traditional Chinese medicine, As underlined by Mont (2001), traditional policy instruments
designed to generate changes in large and complex systems by targeting product environmental performances have not been
operating on some of their sensible nodes. Finally, Mellick Lopes sufficient to support S.PSS innovation. Although instruments such
et al. (2011) investigated the potential of visual communication as eco-labelling and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) can
design to facilitate social learning in socio-technical stimulate companies in “greening” their products, and can provide
experimentations. users the possibility to select the best option to buy, on the other
In this SV, authors of two papers investigated the potential role hand these instruments still promote consumption based on indi-
of designers as facilitators of complex societal change processes. vidual product ownership (Mont and Lindhqvist, 2003). Govern-
Joore and Brezet (in this volume) elaborated upon Joore's PhD study ments should therefore intervene by implementing policy
(2010) and proposed the Multilevel Design Model (MDM) to clarify measures capable (directly or indirectly) of stimulating the diffu-
the mutual relationships between new products, S.PSSs, socio- sion of S.PSS innovations. Three main directions of actions can be
technical systems and societal changes. Joore and Brezet argued identified (Ceschin and Vezzoli, 2010):
that S.PSS designers act at all levels of society and need help e in
terms of mapping e to find their way through increasingly complex - Creating the economic conditions to encourage companies to shift
and interrelated innovation systems. The MDM combined a cyclic their business models towards an S.PSS approach. S.PSS in-
iterative design approach (reflection, analysis, synthesis and novations may struggle to compete with traditional solutions if
experience) and a hierarchical system approach (product, Pro- external costs are not internalised (Mont and Lindhqvist, 2003).
ducteService System, socio-technical system and societal system). This, together with the fact that S.PSS innovations are linked to
MDM was designed to support designers by providing insight into medium-long term investments and uncertainties related to
the interrelationships between S.PSS design processes and the cash flows, should encourage governments to operate in order
processes that occur on the various system levels. So far, it has been to overcome these barriers and favour the economic viability of
applied mainly as a descriptive and analytical tool for design S.PSSs.
researchers, but future developments are anticipated to use the - Raising consumers' awareness to inform users about the benefits
approach as a prescriptive tool for designers and design managers. brought about by S.PSS innovations and thereby stimulate and
Liedtke et al. (in this volume) drew on the concept of the Living support the shift towards consumption based on access and
Lab and presented the Sustainable Living Labs (SLL) research sharing rather than ownership.
infrastructure, an experimental setting to test and develop S.PSSs. - Supporting information and knowledge dissemination to com-
Compared to existing Living Lab approaches the SLL infrastructure panies. Since one of the main barriers to the implementation and
diffusion of S.PSSs is the lack of knowledge within firms and
consultancy companies, governments should act on the
9 dissemination of information and know-how about the benefits
The concept of Living Lab refers to experimentation environments in which
innovations are created in real-life contexts by fostering collaboration among re- of S.PSSs, successful S.PSS case studies and methods and tools to
searchers, companies, end users and other relevant stakeholders (Ballon et al., design and implement such innovations.
2005; Stålbro €st, 2008).
10
The term was introduced by Ezio Manzini during his keynote speech “To make Governmental actions can be classified as general policy mea-
things happen: Design as a catalyser of community engagement” at the Design Plea-
surable Product Interface 2011 conference (Milan, Italy, http://www.dppi11.polimi.
sures indirectly addressing S.PSS and specific S.PSS-oriented policy
it/). The keynote speech was then elaborated into a paper “Making Things Happen: measures (Mont and Lindhqvist, 2003; Ceschin and Vezzoli, 2010).
Social Innovation and Design” (Manzini, 2014). General policy measures indirectly addressing S.PSS refer to policies

Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
 C. Vezzoli et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12 9

aimed at addressing environmental and socio-ethical problems limited. It is nevertheless promising e and hopeful e that whatever
without necessarily steering directly towards the development of constraint has been identified as limiting S.PSS implementation
S.PSSs. This includes: 1] Internalisation of environmental and socio- and diffusion, no author, including those of this SV, has argued that
ethical external costs through tools such as pollution charges or such an offer model is clearly not a solution for progress towards
taxes based on output/input of polluting units, as well as fiscal in- societal sustainability. This optimism is one of the reasons for
centives for pollution abatement; 2] Extended Producer Re- launching this SV of the Journal of Cleaner Production and
sponsibility (EPR) programmes (e.g. Waste Electric and Electronic disseminating the CfPs: in the opinion of the guest editors, it is
Equipment (WEEE), or the End of Life Vehicles Directive), to take important and timely to identify a multidisciplinary research
responsibility for the costs related to the management of their agenda and to stimulate further interest. From this perspective, and
products at the end of life; 3] Informative policy measures (such as especially concerning the design discipline, to which the editors
eco-labelling, fair-trade labelling, consumer advice, consumer belong, this last section was designed to identify the key issues that,
campaigns), to increase consumer awareness and to inform users in the editors' understanding, should be highlighted as part of a
about environmentally and/or socio-ethically preferable solutions design research agenda, aiming at the wider diffusion and imple-
available in the market. mentation of Sustainable ProducteService Systems. Some of these
Specific S.PSS-oriented policy measures refer to measures oriented issues are transversal to some authors' contributions to this SV,
directly at stimulating the introduction and diffusion of S.PSSs. This while others have not yet been addressed by the research com-
includes: 1] Green Public Procurement (GPP) focused on S.PSS, to munity. Many of the issues have emerged from and have been
include S.PSS solutions in the public institutions' purchase guide- identified because of the valuable experiences and outcomes of
lines and make S.PSS-based offers preferable to product-based several EU-funded projects focused on Sustainable Pro-
ones; 2] Disseminating information and know-how related to S.PSSs, ducteService System and design, in particular the Learning Network
in order to support companies in acquiring an operative approach, on Sustainability (LeNS)11 and the Learning Network on Sustainable
methods and tools to design, implement and manage S.PSS inno- energy systems (LeNSes).12
vation, as well as the skills and competencies to evaluate S.PSS from These research directions can be seen in relation to the
the environmental and socio-ethical points of view; 3] Incentivising following areas: a. Development of new knowledge to support S.PSS
companies in acquiring information related to S.PSSs, for example by designers; b. Diffusion of knowledge and know-how to companies and
economically supporting collaboration projects between com- c. Creating contextual conditions to support S.PSS.
panies and universities/research centres; and 4] Supporting
demonstrative pilot projects (i.e. socio-technical experiments, see
Section 4.3) aimed at wider diffusion of S.PSS solutions. 5.1. Development of new knowledge to support S.PSS designers
In this SV, the authors of two papers investigated how public
policy can stimulate and support S.PSS innovation. Plepys et al. (in - S.PSS design and user acceptance & satisfaction. The first impor-
this volume) conducted a review of the state-of-the-art of policy tant research direction is related to S.PSS user acceptance and
instruments addressing S.PSS. These were classified in relation to satisfaction. More in-depth studies in user behaviour in relation
their direct or indirect influence on servicising and in relation to the to S.PSSs are clearly needed. As underlined by Baines et al.
geographical scope of government on which they were applied (i.e. (2007) and confirmed in Section 4.1, it is necessary to under-
European, national and municipal levels). The authors found that stand what factors influence user satisfaction, as well as how to
policy interventions at local/municipal level were more directly measure and evaluate this satisfaction. This knowledge would
targeting and stimulating the implementation of S.PSS solutions be valuable in the design phase, so as to be integrated in existing
than those on the national and European levels. This is because design approaches and methods. This is very much linked to the
local authorities are uniquely positioned to identify local needs and issue of the aesthetics of S.PSS, i.e. a new aesthetic for sustain-
can more directly utilise specific support schemes. More generally able services or more widely of sustainable stakeholder in-
the authors highlighted the need to place the servicising goal as a teractions: an aesthetic able to enhance characteristics and
more central objective in policy design, as well as the need to inner qualities specific to S.PSS (Ceschin et al., 2014).
optimise policy measures in order to support those servicising so- Another compelling research direction connected to user satis-
lutions that cause a strong decoupling between economic growth faction is to investigate the influence that socio-cultural condi-
and increase in resource consumption. tions play in fostering or hindering the acceptation of S.PSS-
Zhang et al. (in this volume) analysed the characteristics and oriented solutions. This exploration would benefit from quan-
commonalities of five bike-sharing systems in five Chinese cities, titative and life-cycle-led analyses of impacts, to determine if
and in particular explored the role that public policy played in indeed these new socio-cultural S.PSS configurations have the
implementing and supporting these systems. Results from the case potential to reduce the environmental impact and/or to improve
studies' analysis suggested that the most effective bike-sharing social equity and cohesion. Relatedly, Piscicelli et al. (in this
systems involve government-led investments, with high levels of volume) investigated “collaborative consumption”, a set of
subsidy. Where bike-sharing systems have been led by the private practices that engaged users in novel peer-to-peer interactions.
sector with few subsidies from local government, they resulted in a As these enterprises and practices appeared to involve
less effective solution in terms of number of bikes and daily bike
usage. Successful cases also have proactive and supportive local
11
governments. Local authorities were, in fact, involved in setting up The Learning Network on Sustainability (LeNS) was activated by an EU project
funded by the Asia-Link programme, involving seven design schools in Europe and
participatory processes with potential users, in the initial phases of
Asia, to develop an AsianeEuropean multi-polar network for curricula development
the design process and were committed to putting in place the right on Design for Sustainability focused on Sustainable ProducteService Systems
infrastructure, i.e. bicycle lanes and bicycle stations. (www.lens.polimi.it).
12
The Learning Network on Sustainable energy systems (LeNSes) is an EU project
5. Key issues for an S.PSS design research agenda funded (2013e2016) by the Edulink programme, involving seven design schools in
Europe and Africa, to develop a multi-polar network for curricula development on
System Design for Sustainable energy for All (SD4SEA) focused on Sustainable
Research hypotheses, studies and experimentations have been ProducteService Systems applied to Distributed Renewable Energies (DRE) (www.
put forward, but the application of the S.PSS approach remains lenses.polimi.it).

Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
10 C. Vezzoli et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12

commitment and engagement (and critiques) that differed and updating them as needed, but also to robustly research,
significantly from the consumereproducer relationships seen in propose and detail new typologies of options appropriate for
conventional consumer product and service brands, it is S.PSS models (e.g. Roy, 2000).
possible that examining these solutions under the lens of e.g.
social movement theory (Buechler, 1995) may yield fruitful
information that designers can employ in system analyses and 5.2. Diffusion of knowledge-base and know-how to companies and
in enabling new platform designs. S.PSS designers
- S.PSS design and socio-technical changes. Recognising that the
implementation of S.PSS might sometimes require changes in - Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) must be much more
the socio-technical system, some researchers have started to committed to supporting knowledge-base and know-how
investigate S.PSSs through a system innovation perspective dissemination related to S.PSS design and diffusion. HEIs, and
(Ceschin, 2012, 2013, 2014a,b; Joore and Brezet in this volume; especially those where research and education are intertwined,
Liedtke et al. in this volume). However, further research is have indubitably key roles to play, in order to foster a new
needed to better understand the S.PSS introduction and diffu- generation of practitioners and design educators. This entails
sion process (and its critical factors) and how it can be designed, supporting diffusion of knowledge within HEIs, as well as
managed and oriented. In relation to the latter point it seems understanding the most effective strategies to transfer knowl-
promising to examine the potential role of protected socio- edge from research centres and universities to companies and
technical experiments (or Living Labs) as a strategy to incu- designers (see for instance the work by Cook et al., (2006)).
bate, test and hasten the diffusion of S.PSS. However, practical Tukker and Tischner (2006b) illustrate, for example, that the
applications are needed in order to test and validate this main challenges are to organise the available knowledge in an
approach. accessible way (including training and educational pro-
- S.PSS design in low and middle-income contexts. S.PSSs have been grammes) and to develop an open case base including S.PSS
mainly studied and implemented as eco-efficiency opportu- concepts for different sectors, different cultures and with
nities (economic and environmental winewin models) in different consortia of stakeholders. This knowledge on tested
industrialised contexts. Considering sustainability in all its success cases and learning tools should be made available to
dimensions and in all types of contexts, it is of key importance to companies and professional designers in a manner that
deepen the understanding of S.PSS as a promising approach to encourages its use in practice. Even so, it is not currently clear to
couple not only economic and environmental benefits but also what extent the existing S.PSS design approaches and tools,
socio-ethical dimensions (UNEP, 2002; Vezzoli et al., 2014). This which have been mainly developed in academia (e.g. Cortesi
should also embrace if and how S.PSS may act as an offer model et al., 2010) are being used by companies and designers. When
in low and middle-income contexts, for enhancing not only these tools are not used, it is also not clear if it is because
improvements in eco-efficiency but also in social equity and companies and designers are not aware of them, because they
cohesion. S.PSSs are expected to be especially beneficial for low do not understand how to apply them or because they think that
and middle-income contexts because they can cut the access the tools are not useful for them. It is in this SV's editorial team's
costs to useful goods and services: the customer is neither opinion that a paradigm shift is urgently needed in the way new
required to buy the product, nor threatened by the maintenance (design) knowledge is produced and diffused within and among
and the repair costs. HEIs and from HEIs to practitioners.13
- S.PSS design and energy systems. A specific research topic, partly
within the previous point, is related to the access for all
(including low-income contexts) to sustainable energy, as this
5.3. Creating contextual conditions to support S.PSS
has recently been recognised as a key leverage point for sus-
tainable development (the UN has proclaimed 2014e2024 the
- S.PSS and Policy frameworks & measures. Finally, it is also
decade of Sustainable Energy for All). In this framework a
important to look at how to create appropriate contextual
dominant opinion is calling for a shift from centralised and fossil
conditions to favour S.PSS. Governmental, regional and local
fuel-based energy systems to Distributed Renewable Energy
policies can contribute to achieving this goal according to Plepys
Systems (DRES). Accordingly, a research hypothesis worth
et al. (in this volume). However, there is a need for policy
investigating is the potential an S.PSS model may offer when
measures specifically focused on S.PSS, which are capable of
applied to DRES, in particular in low and middle-income
directly influencing companies' strategies. Linked to this point,
contexts, and the potential new design and development roles
it appears that developing quantitative approaches to measure
this transition may offer (Vezzoli et al., in this volume).
the extent to which policy measures affect companies in
- Integrating S.PSS with other sustainability concepts. The S.PSS
adopting S.PSS-oriented business strategies is crucial.
concept seems to be a valuable and promising concept to tackle
sustainability issues, but it does not represent a silver bullet.
The editorial team of this SV invites suggestions and feedback on
Thus, it is crucial to explore the potential synergies among S.PSS
ways to build upon its contents to find, develop and implement
and other promising and interwoven sustainability concepts,
ways to mainstream more S.PSS systems throughout the world.
such as social innovation, Distributed Economies (DE), cradle-
to-cradle, and sustainability-oriented crowd-led design,
-sourcing and -funding. It is unknown how these concepts can 13
The editorial team sees this new paradigm as a shift towards a learning-by-
be combined to enhance the diffusion of S.PSS. This exploration sharing mechanism with an open and copy-left ethos: an approach that has been
can also enable a better understanding of indicators and adopted by the two above-mentioned EU-funded research projects (LeNS
performance measures and provide impetus for further 2007e2010; LeNSes 2013e2016) and has led to a multi-polar, worldwide network
evolvement of tools and methods for S.PSS design. Part of this of networks of HEIs. (The network has developed and is promoting an Open
Learning E-Platform (www.lens.polimi.it; www.lenses.polimi.it), which is freely
exploration can and should pursue further not only the typol-
accessible by any design teacher worldwide, allowing download, reuse, remix and
ogies inherent in S.PSS models (see e.g. van Ostaeyen et al., adaptation of its learning resources and tools on design for sustainability focused
2013) appropriate to a rapidly changing business environment, on S.PSS).

Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061
 C. Vezzoli et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2015) 1e12 11

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Please cite this article in press as: Vezzoli, C., et al., New design challenges to widely implement ‘Sustainable ProducteService Systems’, Journal
of Cleaner Production (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.061