The greening of industry for a sustainable future: the building of an international research agenda

In 1995 the coordinators of the Netherlands Advisory Council for Research on Nature and Environment (RMNO), and the Greening of Industry Network initiated a process of developing an international research agenda on sustainable development and the role of industry. The purpose of this initiative was two-fold: to develop a research agenda on the process of greening of industry in the context of sustainable development which defines main research priorities for the coming decade; to provide a clearer perspective on how research priorities are currently developed and how to improve this process. After a two year process of discussions via workshops and interviews including various stakeholders, four main research themes were selected: transformation towards sustainable development; changing consumption patterns; finance, capital and performance indicators; and technological breakthroughs.