Themes
Working across our chosen disciplines, combining our (and our partners') experiences, and capitalizing on the WAVE Lab's intellectual properties - this is our work culture and it drives all our activities.
It also helps us monitor and assess waves of disruption through multiple, blended viewpoints that may reveal broad and timely topics in the realm of growth transformation. These topics (we call them 'themes') are real business challenges that we are keen to address, by configuring combinations of our capabilities, industry expertise, and activities into comprehensive propositions.
Situation
The potential role of the cultural heritage sector (CH) as a driver for stimulating innovation, creating new skills and new jobs, battling brain drain and generating wealth, is both underestimated and under-researched.
Several studies demonstrate that Europe has reached a point whereby the development and internationalization of creative services and products can give new impetus to the creative economy.
Our response
To address these challenges, WAVE Lab experts are actively exploring business model innovation within cultural/business ecosystems that are formed for realizing adaptive re-use of cultural heritage assets.
Our interdisciplinary approach aims to identify existing and develop new business models, financing vehicles and governance structures, for transforming defunct heritage assets into thriving cultural enterprises.
Complication
At the same time, due to the financial crisis across Europe, many heritage places (industrial buildings, religious settings, etc.) are facing functional redundancy.
Re-use of cultural assets
Circular economy
Complication
In many countries in Europe (and beyond), circular economy for industrial waste is still in its infancy. This is often attributed to a lack of systematic reuse approaches.
At the same time, the added value from efficient waste management (e.g. energy cost savings) is not always realized - relevant stakeholders do not possess a clear view of neither the opportunities (e.g. industrial symbiosis schemes) nor the indirect gains (e.g. climate mitigation potential).
Our response
To address these challenges, WAVE Lab experts are actively exploring business model innovation within ecosystems that are formed for realizing re-use of industrial waste.
Our interdisciplinary approach aims to: a) develop algorithms for technical and financial matching of waste sources and sinks; b) develop value-based models for optimizing outcomes of the aforementioned algorithms.
Situation
Early efforts across Europe in applying circular economy concepts provide good examples on the positive effects of reusing all forms of industrial waste – with implications ranging from improved living environment to new job creation.