Conference Agenda

Eurostat positions wine supply chains among those with the highest environmental impact. This study intends to contribute addressing this issue by developing a structured methodology to support decision makers in the selection and adoption of a systemic set of practices aiming, on the one hand, at variability and waste reduction, and, on the other hand, at the implementation of data-driven sustainable production practices. The proposed methodology is grounded on the systemization of lean management, industry 4.0 and circular economy concepts. This paper examines the impact of this integration on minimizing waste and improving product quality, with a special focus on the distinctive challenges in the wine industry. The research also incorporates a case study, offering practical insights into the application and advantages of this approach. Key findings demonstrate significant improvements in operational processes, sustainability, and customer satisfaction, suggesting a promising pathway for the wine industry to refine supply chain strategies.

Circular supply chain (CSC) has recently gain its traction as a response to resource scarcity and environmental concerns. It advocates the integration of the circular thinking – restorative and regenerative – into supply chain management practices. While CSCs offer competitive advantages, challenges such as innovation risks, process complexity, market unreadiness, hinder widespread adoption. Transitioning to a CSC model necessitates significant resource investment and capability development by firms. Despite this urgency, existing literature lacks a unified framework to understand the specific capabilities required for circularity. A large body of literature adopted diverse theoretical lenses such as dynamic capability, natural resource-based view, orchestration theory. Other studies propose distinct capabilities for specific circular loops. This review aims to address this fragmentation by developing a novel CSC capability framework. This framework will guide practitioners and stimulate further research at the intersection of operations, supply chain management (OSCM), and the circular economy.

The implementation of the Circular Economy (CE) in industry is generally presented as the way forward to achieving climate change mitigation and a sustainable and carbon-neutral society. However, to provide industry with well-grounded sustainability policies, such strategic decision making has to be effectively supported by adequate models. In this regard, the CO2NSTRUCT project wants to enhance the JRC-EU-Times model, one of the Climate mitigation models used in policy discussions and international negotiations, to finally embed sufficient technical detail and adequately capture possible impacts inherent to CE implementation, at least for the Construction Industry. Within this framework, a holistic modeling of the most significant material value chains essential. Thus, we have been investigating the conventional value chains for 6 of the most carbon intensive material in construction (i.e. Glass-Bricks-Cement-Wood-Steel-Insulation) and we are trying to map the closed-loop value chains embedding circular options that could be implemented in the future.

In this research, we are presenting a comparison of two consecutively delivered sections of a course in Sustainable Supply Chain Management, in which an innovative teaching approach combining Kolb’s experiential learning methodology and a novel teaching tool, the Sustainability Mindset Indicator (SMI®) were used to deliver course content and to encourage the development of a Sustainability Mindset (SM). To accomplish this objective, the course comprises fixed content components as well as dynamically adapted exercises and learning experiences chosen on the base of the SMI® results at the beginning of each course, capturing the aggregate SM of the student group. The SMI® was then used for a pre-post comparison to capture how the SM developed throughout the course. The pre-post results for both courses are compared and mapped to the applied exercises, course content and learning experiences to showcase teaching effectiveness, learning outcomes and mindset development.