Innovating our common future

Klaus Fichter, Director of the Borderstep Institute on innovating our common future

Our guest in this week's Responsible Innovation Story is Klaus Fichter, Director of the Borderstep Institute for Innovation and Sustainability and Professor of Innovation Management and Sustainability at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany. For him, sustainability lays the groundwork for future-proof business models.

“In more and more companies, sustainability moved into the core of what they do.”

What are the success factors for flourishing sustainability innovation?

“The key decision-makers need to be committed to value-driven innovation and the corresponding organizational culture.”

Could sustainability innovation provide a unique selling proposition for Europe?

“In Europe, we do not follow the 'Grow Fast and Exit' paradigm. We have a strong focus on long-term thinking and responsibility.”

Our most important insights from this interview with Klaus Fichter:

• Especially in the vibrant start-up scene, sustainability innovation has strongly gained momentum.
• However, funding schemes that support start-ups with scaling up and out of their niche markets remain under-represented.
• Only when we establish a robust sustainability-based innovation ecosystem, can we create a future-proof, unique selling proposition for Europe

Enjoy watching the full interview with Klaus Fichter at https://youtu.be/yckksNy8bnE