A business model and consumer behaviour perspective

The video features contributions from Kim Poldner and Marijke Leliveld.

Their discussion explores the opportunities and challenges involved in developing regenerative business models and encouraging more sustainable consumer behaviour. They argue that creating financially viable circular businesses requires new approaches to value creation, in which collaboration, communities, and shared value can play an important role. Looking across sectors can also reveal unexpected opportunities, as locally available regenerative materials such as flax can connect food, textile, and building-material value chains. At the same time, bringing sustainable products to consumers requires careful consideration of how they are communicated. Sustainability credentials alone do not necessarily encourage people to change their behaviour and can sometimes even create resistance; emphasizing innovation, quality, and other forms of value may be equally important. Ultimately, systemic change requires building momentum across the value chain rather than placing responsibility for the transition on consumers alone.

• Developing a financially viable circular business model can be challenging, particularly when access to funding is limited. Harnessing the power of communities through crowdfunding, and prioritizing collaboration and shared value over individual profit, can significantly support this process.
• Several regenerative materials are readily available in the Netherlands, such as flax, which can be used across the food, textile, and building-material sectors. Thinking across sectors is key to unlocking new opportunities for regenerative and circular business models.
• Marketing materials and products primarily through their sustainability credentials can carry a moral connotation, which may sometimes trigger resistance or even an opposite reaction from consumers. In such cases, emphasizing the products’ innovative qualities rather than sustainability alone may be more effective.
• Building momentum can drive systemic change, but responsibility for this transition should not rest solely with consumers.

Fuelled by 20+ years in sustainable fashion entrepreneurship & academia, Kim Poldner pioneers research and action for more circular, regenerative futures. As Endowed Professor of Circular Economy and Regional Development at the University of Groningen, she focuses on how economies can move beyond efficiency and mitigation towards regenerative, place-based transformation. Her work sits at the intersection of circular value chains, leadership and regional innovation (eco)systems.

Marijke Leliveld is Aletta Jacobs professor of Consumer Ethics at the University of Groningen. Her research is centered around the question when and why people make costly decisions to further the greater good instead of pursuing their self-interest, with a focus on charitable giving and sustainable fashion. She takes an inter- and transdisciplinary approach to study her research questions in order to combine her expertise with that of others. She is an alumnus and past chair of the Young Academy Groningen.