Department of Management Studies

Sustainability in Business (SUB)

Our mission is to provide knowledge about innovative business models and transition paths that enhance sustainable development. As complex sustainability challenges call for multi-disciplinary knowledge and societally impactful research, we co-create solution proposals together with partners from different sectors of society.
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Research areas

A girl and a man selling items in Brazil

Innovation for sustainability

Innovating new sustainable products, services, business models and forms of consumption can help tackle global challenges.

Department of Management Studies
Solar panels in front of mountains

Sustainability transitions

Our research looks at several dimensions of the transition toward sustainability societies.

Department of Management Studies
Recycling bins

Circular economy

Circular economy keeps materials in use longer using strategies like reuse, remanufacture, recycling, and replacing ownership with rentals.

Department of Management Studies
CSR news articles

Corporate responsibility

Cross-national governance of businesses make ethical issues urgent.

Department of Management Studies

SUB Publications

The latest publications from SUB researchers

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Sustainability teaching

Sustainability course offerings in the School of Business

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Creative Sustainability students gathered around a laptop

SUB seminar series

The SUB lunchtime seminar series provides a monthly forum for all interested to discuss topical research in social and environmental issues in management.

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Seminar Schedule

Spring 2024

Thursday 11.1., 11:30-12:30
Ekonominaukio 1, U213

Iqra Khan, Aalto University School of Business
Minna Halme, Aalto University School of Business

Customer-enforced sustainability as a means of outsourcing corporate responsibility: Contemporary colonialism in supply chain management 
 

Thursday 11.1., 12:30-13:30
Ekonominaukio 1, U213

Dr. Justine Loizeau, Université Paris Dauphine

Organizing the commons with humans and with the forest: The case of the zad of Notre-Dame-des-Landes
 

Thursday 25.1., 11:30-12:30
Ekonominaukio 1, U213

Meri Löyttyniemi, Aalto University School of Business
 

Thursday 8.2., 11:30-12:30
Ekonominaukio 1, U213

Johanna Ahola-Launonen, Aalto University School of Business

The dualistic nature of techno-optimism in sustainability transitions
 

Thursday 7.3., 11:30-12:30
Ekonominaukio 1, U213

Matti Pihlajamaa, VTT
Riina Bhatia, VTT

VTT Innovation policy & sustainability transitions
 

Friday 1.3., 12.30-13:30
Ekonominaukio 1, U213 & online

Laura Albareda, LUT University Business School
Oana Branzei, Ivey Business School, Western University

Biocentric work in the Anthropocene
 

Friday 15.3., 13:00-16:00
Location TBC

Sofia Villo, Aalto University School of Business 

How environmental irresponsibility is maintained in Russian MNEs through their interactions with the Russian national and global institutional contexts

Awards and highlights

Samuli Patala and Minna Halme

“Responsible Research in Management” Distinguished Winner for article: “Polycentric governance of privately owned resources in circular economy systems.” Journal of Management Studies, 59(6), 1563-1596. With Laura Albareda. 2023. Sponsored by the Academy of Management Fellows & Responsible Research in Business and Management. Read the announcement here.

Minna Halme

Academy of Management, Social Issues in Management Division Best Paper Award of 2023. With Jennifer Goodman and Jouni Juntunen.

Minna Halme

Alfred Kordelin Prize for key future actors who have created the conditions for a stronger, diverse, and sustainable society as well as a better future, 2022

Minna Halme, Leena Lankoski and Mika Kuisma

Article "When Is There a Sustainability Case for CSR? Pathways to Environmental and Social Performance Improvements" (co-authored with Jukka Rintamäki and Jette Steen Knudsen) received Business & Society’s 2020 Best Paper Award

Inês Peixoto

Finalist for the EGOS Best Student Paper Award with the paper “Risk organization and moral multiplexity in the EU biofuels market” (presented at EGOS Edinburgh 2019)

Minna Halme

HSE Support Foundation Societal Impact Award, 2019

Elizabeth Miller

Thesis "Trash to Treasure: A Multiple Case Study of Finnish Companies That Create Economic Value from Waste Materials" received award for top university master's thesis, Association for Environmental Management (Ymparistöjohtamisen yhdistys ry), 2018

Samuli Patala and Minna Halme

Article "Polycentric Governance of Privately Owned Resources in Circular Economy Systems" received Carolyn Dexter Award for international papers, Academy of Management 2018

Jouni Juntunen, Minna Halme, Angelina Korsunova and Risto Rajala

Article "Powering sustainable innovations: Strategies for collaborating with deviant partners" won Best Academic Paper at R&D Management Conference 2016, University of Cambridge

Minna Halme, Sara Lindeman and Paula Linna

Article "Innovation for Inclusive Business: Intrapreneurial Bricolage in Multinational Corporations", Journal of Management Studies, 2012 received the Emerald Citations of Excellence for 2015

The latest from SUB

Dive deeper into SUB's work through our blog posts and news articles.

Kestävyysmurroksen pyhä kolminaisuus (external link)

Kestävyyden ajan tavoitteiksi pitäisi nostaa eko-sosiaalinen hyvinvointi, pitkän aikavälin taloudellinen kannattavuus ja resilienssi.

An image of a small child skipping in a sunny field

The New Sustainability in Business online course strengthens knowledge of sustainable business

How can companies create sustainable value for the economy, the environment and society?

vihreitä kasveja vedessä

SUB scholars win Business & Society’s 2020 Best Paper Award

SUB scholars Minna Halme, Leena Lankoski and Mika Kuisma have won Business & Society’s 2020 Best Paper Award.

Business & Society best paper award

Sustainability in Business (SUB) group awarded funding to research transition risks for low-carbon shipping and aviation

The newly funded T-Risk research project aims to shed light on transition risks in the maritime and aviation sectors, crucial for global trade and transportation.

Shipping port

Jouni Juntunen nominated to Network for Business Sustainability Sustainability Centres Community (SCC) Advisory Board

Jouni Juntunen has been nominated to Network for Business Sustainability Sustainability Centres Community (SCC) Advisory Board for a three year period starting from 2021.

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Aalto sustainability news

Professor Katri Kauppi. Photo: Jaakko Kahilaniemi
Awards and Recognition Published:

KY nominated Professor Katri Kauppi as Teacher of the Year 2024

Students describe Kauppi’s teaching style as energetic and inspiring
Photoactive Organic Materials research group
Research & Art Published:

Brighter together: designing sustainable technologies to create electronic devices

An article about an Aalto research project focusing on light-emitting electrochemical cells has been published in Chemical Science.
Two students standing next to a train studying a map.
Studies Published:

Join the Unite! Train from Barcelona to Grenoble - apply by April 7

Join the sustainable mobility and interculturality journey with students from 9 Unite! universities.
A crowd of people gathering to the theatre lobby after seeing the Radical Creatives documentary
Cooperation Published:

Inspiring encounters in the US with alumni and friends highlighting radical creativity

Inspiring encounters in the US: alumni and friends are important in fostering collaboration and radical creativity

Events

Kädet muodostavat sydämen keskellä teksti Earth Hour
Campus

Earth Hour / Sustainable Campus Event 2024

The Aalto community will again participate in the international Earth Hour event in March and this event will be celebrated during the same week around the theme of a sustainable campus.
In the middle is the logo of Solve the SDGs. In the background a melted blop of plastic and the remnants of items like a flamingo beach float and a dog toy.
Other

Solve the SDGs 2024

Apply now for a sustainability hackathon like no other! Create solutions for real-world challenges and start the work towards a better tomorrow, today.
Portrait of Zlatko Bodrožić
Lectures and seminars

Authoritarianism, Oligarchy, Localism or Democratization? A neo-Schumpeterian perspective on alternative responses to the climate crisis

Welcome to an open lecture by professor Zlatko Bodrožić. In this talk, Prof. Bodrožić, discusses four possible pathways defined by our collective choices as concerns organization models and public policy: authoritarianism, oligarchy, localism, and democratization.
Three teachers discussing how easy including sustainability into courses has been
Academic events, Workshops

Anxiety be gone! Learn simple practices for including sustainability in your courses.

Aalto teachers are warmly welcome to an interactive workshop focused on meaningfully integrating sustainability into your course.

Who we are

 Minna Halme

Minna Halme

Professor
 Mikko Jalas

Mikko Jalas

Associate Professor
 Patrick Shulist

Patrick Shulist

Assistant Professor
 Samuli Patala

Samuli Patala

Assistant Professor
 Jukka Rintamäki

Jukka Rintamäki

Assistant Professor
 Leena Lankoski

Leena Lankoski

Senior Lecturer
 Ewald Kibler

Ewald Kibler

Academy Research Fellow
 Tiina Ritvala

Tiina Ritvala

Associate Professor
 Inês Peixoto

Inês Peixoto

Postdoctoral Researcher
 Heli Nissilä

Heli Nissilä

Academy Research Fellow
 Iqra Khan

Iqra Khan

Postdoctoral Researcher
 Linda Turunen

Linda Turunen

Postdoctoral Researcher
 Sofia Villo

Sofia Villo

Doctoral Candidate
 Jukka-Pekka Ovaska

Jukka-Pekka Ovaska

Doctoral Candidate
 Kaja Kirstine H. Lilleng

Kaja Kirstine H. Lilleng

Doctoral Candidate
 Karelia Dagnaud

Karelia Dagnaud

Doctoral Candidate
 Juliana Rodrigues

Juliana Rodrigues

Doctoral Candidate
 Emilia Eräpolku

Emilia Eräpolku

Doctoral Candidate
 Martta Nieminen

Martta Nieminen

Doctoral Candidate
Network for Business Sustainability logo

Member of the Sustainability Centres Community

SUB is a member of the Sustainability Centres Community (SCC), hosted by the Network for Business Sustainability (NBS).

Get in touch

Address

Väre, Otaniementie 14
02150 Espoo

Contact

Elizabeth Miller
[email protected]

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