Social Acceptance: An integral part of the BIO-SUSHY Project
Welcome back to our latest blog article on the BIO-SUSHY project!
Today, we’ll explore a crucial aspect of our work in BIO-SUSHY: social acceptance.
Understanding and enhancing social acceptance is key to ensuring that the innovative, sustainable materials we develop fit into their broader societal context. Since the development of eco-friendly materials is an integral part of our society’s journey towards sustainability, it is beneficial to pay attention to how the acceptance and appreciation of materials can be enhanced.
To gain better insights on how we understand and implement this issue, let’s first explore how social acceptance as a topic is relevant for BIO-SUSHY. After that, we will dive deeper into the different components of the project’s social acceptance research.
Relevance of Social Acceptance in the BIO-SUSHY Project
It is important to understand that social acceptance entails a range of different aspects for the BIO-SUSHY project.
First, an important requirement is to understand the broader background of social acceptance as an important driver for the transition towards PFAS-alternative coatings. Through this broader understanding, the more specific ideas on the topic can be shaped and embedded. Also, awareness of the broader context is needed for seizing different opportunities of sustainable coatings.
Second, in BIO-SUSHY, we aim to integrate social acceptance research very early in the development process. This can be challenging because, intuitively, a topic like social acceptance might seem to become relevant only towards the end of the development stage of any product or solution. The consensus on this has changed with initiatives like the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework [1]. These kinds of approaches push for holistic design approaches that encourage early attention to issues like social acceptance and societal relevance.
Finally, a focus on social acceptance helps to improve consumers’ adoption of new products and solutions. As such, it encompasses consumer attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours regarding the new coatings. Thus, for BIO-SUSHY, enhancing social acceptance also means that we try to be engaged with consumers’ ideas regarding the benefits and value of PFAS-free, bio-based coatings.
Considering each of these aspects, the work on social acceptance in BIO-SUSHY has an explicit focus on enabling transformation by making ethical, sustainable, and socially conscious practices inherent to the development process. Now let’s look at the way this is implemented in the different pillars of our work on social acceptance.
Socioeconomic Context & Framework Conditions
Thinking about the broader context of BIO-SUSHY’s coatings as a PFAS alternative, it should be noted that PFAS have been around for more than half a century. Whereas they were long praised as “a miracle of science”, attention to the negative impacts of PFAS has been on the rise and they have now become dubbed as “forever chemicals” [2].
Figure 1: The various socioeconomic factors and framework that influence the development and implementation of policies.
To develop valuable conclusions and recommendations regarding the social acceptance of (bio-based) alternatives to PFAS products, it is useful to be aware of the different themes and components that influence the transition process. Apart from the fact that it aids the deeper understanding of social acceptance in this domain, it also helps to deal with the fact that many of the developments are currently rather volatile and difficult to predict.
Value Chain Actors’ Considerations and Concerns
Especially in the development stage, where products and solutions are not yet ready to be brought to consumer markets, it is beneficial to analyse the considerations and concerns of a wide group of value chain actors. This entails classic value chain actors such as industries likely to use the new coatings, to societal players like consumer interest organizations. Crucially, it also involves the insights of different experts, especially when it comes to understanding the concerns regarding the quality requirements of new coatings. We mostly gather these insights through interviews and surveys while using them to accelerate the establishment of sustainable coatings value chains.
Figure 2: The key considerations and description of various actors within the BIO-SUSHY value chain.
By examining industry dynamics, regulatory landscapes, innovative breakthroughs, and evolving consumer preferences, the goal is to identify the key milestones and elucidate the strategies required to achieve them. This should lay the groundwork for a comprehensive approach to PFAS replacement in each of BIO-SUSHY’s different value chains while guided by a commitment to environmental and public health stewardship.
Consumers’ Acceptance
Finally, to enhance social acceptance in a context where products end up on consumer markets, we must understand what drives these consumers’ behaviour. Therefore, a key aspect of our strategy is assessing consumers’ willingness to adopt sustainable products.
BIO-SUSHY is gathering evidence-based data on consumer attitudes toward sustainable products, focusing on how consumers perceive the benefits and their willingness to pay for such products. Consumers are often increasingly aware of environmental issues, but there is still a gap between awareness and action.
Figure 3: The key factors in enhancing consumers’ acceptance applied to the three BIO-SUSHY case studies.
By conducting surveys and market studies, we gauge how much more consumers are willing to spend on eco-friendly products. This data helps us develop and market our bio-based coatings effectively, ensuring they meet consumer expectations and are economically viable.
Conclusions
Enhancing social acceptance is a vital part of the BIO-SUSHY project. At the end of the project, we aim to integrate our insight into a Research and Innovation (R&I) strategy co-designed with consumers and value chain actors. By involving different stakeholders in the design process, we aim to create products that help establish new sustainable values and preferences. This participatory approach boosts social acceptance and builds trust and ownership among consumers. This holistic approach ensures our innovations have a lasting impact, contributing to a healthier and more sustainable future.
Stay tuned for more updates on our journey towards sustainability with BIO-SUSHY!
References
- Joint Research Centre. (2022). Safe and sustainable by design chemicals and materials: Review of safety and sustainability dimensions, aspects, methods, indicators, and tools. EU Publications Office. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/879069
- Renfrew, D., & Pearson, T. W. (2021). The Social Life of the “Forever Chemical”: PFAS Pollution Legacies and Toxic Events. Environment and Society, 12(1), 146–163. https://doi.org/10.3167/ares.2021.120109
