Many of the most important business and economic risks are directly linked to environmental and social issues. This includes both threats and opportunities, not only in relation to reputation, which is often mentioned in this context, but, even more importantly, in relation to innovation capability and legislative change on inevitably more and more sustainability-driven markets. It is, however, unclear through which mechanisms such sustainability risks currently affect companies and how they can be systematically identified and managed. Based on the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, this study investigates the dynamics and implications of society's sustainability transition from a company risk management perspective. In addition, exploratory and descriptive studies were conducted at two large product innovation companies to identify current risk management practices and preconditions for sustainability integration. The results reveal that a society moving closer towards a collapse of environmental and social systems leads to increasing sustainability-related threats for unsustainable businesses and increasing opportunities for sustainable businesses. Also, risk management is found to be a promising way for maneuvering in a smart zone between being too passive and being too pro-active in relation to sustainable innovation. The study participants at the case companies were knowledgeable about risk management in general but were largely unfamiliar with risks associated with sustainability and no processes or support tools exist to work systematically with such risks. Key steps to accomplishing an integration of a strategic sustainability perspective into risk management are proposed as: (i) identifying the effects of sustainability issues on internal and external stakeholder value; (ii) actively including sustainability in objective setting and cascading objectives across the levels of the organizational hierarchy; and (iii) developing concrete support for identifying, assessing, and managing economic sustainability risks. Thereby, companies can enhance their competitiveness while providing leadership in the sustainability transition.

Society’s transition towards sustainability comes with radical change, which entails significant threats and opportunities for product development and manufacturing companies, for example related to new legislation, shifting customer preferences, and increasing raw material prices. Smart risk management therefore plays a key role for successfully maneuvering society’s sustainability transition. However, from a company perspective, it remains challenging to connect the macro-level societal change with tangible risks for the business on the micro level. Based on interviews with academic and industrial experts, this study identified 21 key aspects for sustainability risk management. Drawing on these results and research from the areas of transition design, strategic sustainable development, and sustainability risk management, a conceptual approach for strategic risk management within the sustainability transition is presented. It builds on layered, double-flow scenario modelling in which backcasting from a vision, framed by basic principles for sustainability, is combined with forecasting from the present. The implications of such scenarios, i.e., risks, can then be identified and managed. By doing so on different scales, connections between macro- and micro-level change can be established. Thereby, product development companies shall be supported in making sustainability an intrinsic part of decision-making across the strategic, tactical, and operational levels to increase competitiveness while contributing to the transition towards a sustainable society.

Electrification of the transport sector has been pointed out as a key factor for tackling some of today's main challenges, such as global warming, air pollution, and eco-system degradation. While numerous studies have investigated the potential of electrifying passenger transport, less focus has been on how road freight transport could be powered in a sustainable future. This study looks at Electric Road Systems (ERS) in comparison to the current diesel system. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development was used to assess whether ERS could be a stepping stone on the way towards sustainability. Strategic life-cycle assessment was applied, scanning each life-cycle phase for violations against basic sustainability principles. Resulting sustainability "hot spots" were quantified with traditional life-cycle assessment. The results show that, if powered by renewable energy, ERS have a potential to decrease the environmental impact of freight transport considerably. Environmental payback times of less than five years are achievable if freight traffic volumes are sufficiently high. However, some severe violations against sustainability principles were identified. Still, ERS could prove to be a valuable part of the solution, as they drastically decrease the need for large batteries with high cost and sustainability impact, thereby catalyzing electrification and the transition towards sustainable freight transport.

There are high expectations of additive manufacturing (AM) as a technology to improve manufacturing efficiency and reduce material waste. This study aims to clarify the sustainability advantages and challenges of AM technologies used in industry by testing and applying a strategic sustainability life cycle assessment in the early development stage. The result showed possibilities from using the tool and some areas of certain interest regarding improvement potentials of the AM technologies, i.e. value chain management, concept design, optimized material usage, and social sustainability.

Companies need to strategically develop their portfolio and find the balance between being proactive and passive in relation to sustainability. In this study, a strategic perspective based on backcasting from overarching socio-ecological sustainability principles was used as a lens to understand how companies might adapt their product portfolios to avoid threats and exploit opportunities on increasingly sustainabilitydriven markets. The study shows that sustainability performance, market success, and time are key areas to be considered in the product portfolio process to ensure short-term profitability and long-term competitiveness. A novel method was developed and tested in one academic group and two companies to explore how such a strategic sustainability perspective can support the product portfolio process in practice. The results indicate that the strategic layered double-flow scenario method, including different time horizons, was supportive in identifying opportunities and avoid risks in the sustainable development process at the company.