CONFERENCE TRACKS NBM2026
0. Workshops
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Over the past decade, the NBM conferences have built a strong and stable community. A community with a common goal: the exploration, conceptualisation and operationalisation of sustainable and circular business models. Thousands of participants from all possible academic fields have now taken part, shared ideas and presented their research. All of this has created a stable and prosperous community with a high level of engagement. Year after year, participants return to meet again and share their work, progress, and plans.
However, despite the richness of these numerous encounters, one aspect remains underexposed: collaborating on “major” grant applications. Applications that span different countries, institutions, and disciplines, either across Europe or even beyond. As a result, potential funding sources are not being explored or utilised, which is a real shame in these times of financial scarcity.
The intention behind this workshop is to explore in an open format the possibility of developing such applications. So there is no plan, no structure, and there are no potential sponsors. Just a shared desire to contribute ideas, explore possibilities and form consortia. Think of it as the beginning of the beginning, certainly not as jumping on a moving train. If you are interested in participating in such an exploration, you are most welcome.
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Workshop Chairs: Pia Piroschka Otte, Research Professor, Ruralis – Institute for Rural and Regional Research, Norway / Natalia Maehle, Professor, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
The Agri-food sector is a crucial part of the global economy, ensuring food security for an increasing world population. It captures a wide range of actors along its value chain from field to fork or from agricultural production and processing to distribution, consumption, and waste management (FAO, 2025). Historically, businesses within the Agri-food sector have followed conventional business models focusing on production efficiency and economies of scale (Ulvenblad et al., 2019). However, these business models do not seem to align with current sustainability goals as the Agri-food sector is facing multiple challenges such as higher production costs, impacts of climate change, changing food diets and the need to reduce food waste (Bruni et al., 2025). To address these, there is a need to design new innovative business models enabling the transition towards more sustainable food production. Nonetheless, business model research in the Agri-food sector has been limited (Miranda et al., 2023).
The Agri-food sector and particularly agriculture differs from other industries in several ways, which makes it an interesting case. Many firms are family owned. Farmers take a long-term perspective with their investments, as they expect their children to take over the farm (Burton and Otte, 2022; Barth et al., 2021). They also view themselves as environmental stewards (Barth et al., 2021), and are not only focused on financial return but also social and environmental values. Furthermore, the sector is characterized by many small producers and food processors in the beginning of the supply chain and large retailers with power at the end of the supply chain (Carbone, 2017).
This workshop aims to discuss and collect international examples of agri-food business models to gain more insights on the various types of agri-food business models, their characteristics, opportunities and challenges. The workshop consists of two parts. In the first part the workshop facilitators will share hands on experiences with the design of agri-food business models and interdisciplinary involvement emerging from the international research project Karbonmat (https://ruralis.no/en/projects/karbonmat/). This will be followed by a second part of the workshop, which will be formed as an interactive co-creation session, where all workshop participants will share their experiences working with different agri-food business models.
1. Exploring the System Level
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Track Chairs: Annukka Näyhä, Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics (Finland), Timber Haaker, Saxion, University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands), Milou Derks, Orange Corners and Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands)
It is widely agreed that diverse organizations, instead of seeking purely economic profits attained through innovations and new business models, should increasingly pursue models that promote environmental and social sustainability (e.g. Adams et al., 2016; Breuer and Lüdeke‐Freund, 2017; Bocken et al. 2019). Further, aligned collaborative efforts by a range of value network actors are needed for sustainable value creation and successful innovation diffusion (e.g. Freudenreuch et al. 2020; Pedersen et al. 2021 Tschiedel, 2024). Entrepreneurs, among other stakeholders, acting in diverse value networks play an important role in these endeavors (Dijkstra & Planko, 2023). All in all, sustainability transitions require innovative business models and collaboration between diverse actors in value networks (Köhler, 2019; Aagaard et al. 2021; Derks et al., 2022; Näyhä and Wallius, 2024; Nguyen, Haaker, and Le, 2023).
The form that the innovations, business models and value networks take depends on the societal and business context in which they are to be embedded, such as Global North and Global South. This session welcomes studies that combine research on business models and large-scale, systemic sustainability transitions. Namely, the session explores the role of innovative business models and value networks in the sustainability transition both in Global South and North.
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Track Chairs: Abel Diaz Gonzalez, Maastricht University (The Netherlands); Nikolay Dentchev, University of National and World Economy (Bulgaria) and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium); Bart Leyen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium).
The ecosystem concept has gained significant attention over the past decade (Audretsch et al., 2018). Ecosystem thinking offers valuable insights into how various stakeholders can align, interact, and collaborate to gain competitive advantage, foster innovation, and enhance business productivity (Adner, 2017; Jacobides et al., 2018). Ecosystems support business growth by leveraging the diversity and complementarity of actors, their interactions, and coordinated efforts to mobilize resources (Neumeyer & Corbett, 2017; Roundy et al., 2017; Spigel & Harrison, 2018). Although there is still a lack of conceptual and theoretical clarity around ecosystems (Wurth et al., 2021), they serve as an ideal unit of analysis for addressing sustainability issues due to their holistic and systemic characteristics (Henriques et al., 2022).
In recent years, world leaders have increasingly advocated for more coordinated efforts to address various global challenges. Organizations like the World Economic Forum (World Economic Forum, 2020) have established supportive structures and programs to help entrepreneurs develop their businesses and increase their impact, offering both financial and non-financial assistance. Despite these initiatives, more cross-sectoral partnerships and support are urgently needed to address complex global challenges effectively.
This session aims to bring together scholars to discuss their current research on how ecosystems can be developed to support sustainability. Our focus will be on building ecosystems that foster new business models and address emerging global challenges. We welcome papers that explore the importance of ecosystems both for large, established businesses working to decrease their environmental impact, and for small, new sustainable ventures looking to scale their innovations. Papers from various methodological backgrounds, including literature reviews, theoretical, conceptual, and empirical work, are encouraged.
This track aims to engage a diverse range of contributors, including senior and early-career academics, students, entrepreneurs, and practitioners. This mix of profiles and backgrounds will foster dynamic discussions and provide valuable feedback on the ideas and work presented. The variety of perspectives will enrich the dialogue, encouraging meaningful exchanges that benefit all participants.
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Track Chairs: Niels Faber, Research centre Bio-based Economy, Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Groningen), Centre for Sustainable Entrepreneurship in a Circular Economy, Faculty Campus Friesland, University of Groningen (Netherlands), Jan Jonker, Institute for Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, em. Profesor (Netherlands).
Recently, it has become clear that we need to develop innovative and radical solutions to tackle wicked and pressing problems associated with our current, linear economy and the sticky societal arrangements that are formed around it. Limitations of current society to tackle complex challenges become more and more visible. Efforts to address these issues thus far have only resulted in the creation of (more) waste, pollution, depletion, and extreme forms of social exclusion. A new generation of business models is needed that fosters a transition towards sustainable societies (Derks, et al., 2023). Since many, if not all, of these problems, stem from how value creation is organised, it calls for a reconceptualization of how the amalgamation of sustainable, circular, inclusive, and restorative business models can bring about radical (system) change.
This track invites contributions exploring how sustainable business models can shape transformation and transitions towards a more sustainable and inclusive society (e.g., Jonker and Faber, 2021; Faber and Witjes, 2024). Problems to be addressed include a mixed and diverse perspective on circularity, sustainability, social well-being, and biodiversity. These problems are linked and should be addressed at various levels of aggregation.
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Track Chairs: Jørgensen Michael Søgaard, Aalborg University (Denmark); Dalhammar Carl, Lund University (Sweeden); Beulque Rémi, TBS Education (France); Micheaux Helen, AgroParisTech (France); Bertrandias Laurent, TBS Education (France); Gnekpe Christian, TBS Education (France).
This track is chaired by members of the newly established International Alliance on Durability, an interdisciplinary initiative uniting researchers, policymakers, businesses, civil society organizations and NGOs to advance durability through evidence-based dialogue and collaborative action.
Academic literature widely acknowledges that supportive public policies are essential for enabling companies to transition towards circular economy (De Jesus and Mendonça 2018; Milios 2021; Svensson and Funck 2019). Yet historically, policies have been predominantly technocentric, prioritizing recycling over systemic transformation of production-consumption systems (Calisto Friant, Vermeulen, and Salomone 2021).
Stronger circular economy approaches–notably sufficiency-based strategies–remain politically nascent (Beulque et al. 2023; Bocken et al. 2023; Calisto Friant, Vermeulen, and Salomone 2020; Iten et al., 2024; Johansson and Henriksson 2020; Pinyol Alberich, Pansera, and Hartley 2023; Svensson-Hoglund et al. 2021). Concurrently, policymakers have struggled to mainstream Circular Business Models (CBMs), by allowing them to upscale beyond small-scale experimentations, and disseminate, through an adoption by a majority of businesses, beyond pioneering actors. This dual limitation impedes a systemic macro-level transition (Bergmann et al., 2025; Beulque et al., 2023).
In this context, this track examines how public policies can mainstream CBMs, critically assessing their impacts and limitations. We welcome interdisciplinary contributions exploring policy-business-civil society model interactions that advance stronger circularity — particularly strategies slowing material flows, extending product lifespans (e.g., repair, reuse, remanufacturing), or promoting any kind of sufficiency-oriented models (Alexander, 2012; Bergmann et al., 2025; Bocken et al., 2022).
2. Exploring the sectoral and organisational level
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Track Chairs: Maya Hoveskog, Halmstad University (Sweden); Laura Michelini, LUMSA University of Rome (Italy); Magnus Holmén, Halmstad University (Sweden); Lauri Paavola, University of Eastern Finland (Finland); Luís Irgang Dos Santos, Halmstad University (Sweden).
This track explores and explains the relation between innovation, AI-related technologies, data-driven business models and ecosystems with sustainability. This track intends to analyze and conceptualize theoretically and empirically the emergence and structure of both firms’ and ecosystems’ value propositions for sustainability. The track focuses on, but is not limited to, the interplay between products and services vs data-driven business models and ecosystems ; digitization, digitalization and digital transformation of business models; the development and use of big data and machine learning, the use of generative AI for innovation and decision-making, data acquisition strategies and new business models; the role of digital platforms for business model innovation; methods for developing data-driven business models and ecosystems. A particular focus is placed on AI for data-driven business models for sustainable transformation.
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Track Chairs: Sonia Marcos, Universidad de Burgos (Spain), Jaime González-Masip, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain), Moniek Kamm, Saxion UAS (Netherlands).
This track explores and explains the diversity of bottom-up business models, such as community-based and community-led business models, as a vital approach to better understanding this new trend of initiatives that look for sustainable development from the roots in a world facing ecological backlash and accelerated global challenges. Communities worldwide are experiencing unprecedented pressures: biodiversity loss, climate change, ageing populations, depopulation, energy transitions, food system disruptions, and the integration of vulnerable groups. These global and ecological dynamics directly shape local realities, demanding innovative and resilient forms of organisation.
Community-led and community-based initiatives are already generating successful business models that address urgent challenges while preserving social capital and natural environments, particularly in rural and vulnerable contexts (Olmedo et al., 2024; Vercher et al., 2020; Ubels et al., 2019). By responding to ecological degradation and global disruptions, such collective business models not only safeguard local well-being but also contribute to broader systemic transformation. They can create solutions to pressing community needs, such as access to affordable housing, elderly care, and the provision of essential services, and they open up opportunities for circular economy initiatives in food, regenerative agriculture, bio-based value chains, renewable energy, energy communities, and ecosystem services.
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Track Chairs: Laura Niessen-Wade, Maastricht University (The Netherlands); Nancy Bocken, Maastricht University (The Netherlands); Carl Dalhammar, Lund University (Sweeden); Rémi Beulque , TBS Education (France); Helen Micheaux , AgroParisTech (France).
The circular economy is an inspiration to many companies. Yet, established businesses and new ventures alike need significant experimentation to create desirable, feasible, viable, and sustainable business models. While companies have been quite successful at creating business models focused on resource efficiencies and ’narrowing the loop’ and closing the loop through recycling, the more challenging business models focused on regeneration, as well as stronger versions of circularity slowing the loop through strategies such as sufficiency are less commonplace. This track focuses on the cases, practices and tools of experimentation with new circular business model strategies.
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Track Chairs: Laura Niessen-Wade, Maastricht University (The Netherlands); Maike Gossen, Technical University Berlin (Germany); Benjamin Combes, Mines Paris - PSL University (France); Lotte Levelt, Nyenrode University (The Netherlands)
In times of ecological crises and global uncertainty, the negative effects of current production and consumption systems are increasingly obvious. The breach of 6 out of 9 planetary boundaries (Richardson et al., 2023) exemplifies that humanity is living well beyond its means, harming not only other organisms but also itself. Radical and swift transformation is required to ensure future human well-being on the planet. Therefore, calls are growing to bring current consumption to sustainable levels within the planetary boundaries while meeting human needs (Jackson, 2005; Wiedmann et al., 2020). This is the principle of sufficiency, which aims at providing “enough, for everyone, forever” (Alexander, 2012, p. 8). The responsibility of sufficiency also lies with businesses, since they do not only respond to customer demands but also create desire for new goods (Princen, 2005). Instead of promoting a culture of consumerism, they can promote reduced consumption and sufficiency.
This track calls for contributions that contribute to the growing research field of sufficiency in businesses, enhancing the understanding of what pioneer businesses are doing and what is required to scale the approach to other (more conventional) companies (see e.g., Beulque et al., 2023).
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Track Chairs: Cecilia Grieco, Sapienza University of Rome (Italy); Alberto Mattiacci, Sapienza University of Rome (Italy); Chiara Palagonia, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Italy).
Creating a sustainable society and economy requires the joint efforts of all actors within the business ecosystem. The circular economy aims to foster this objective by avoiding and minimizing resource consumption through multiple product and material loops (EMF, 2015). In doing so, it encourages the diffusion of sustainable production and consumption practices, which can be enhanced by the development and continuous innovation of tailored business models (Bocken, 2017).
For these business models to be effective, they must be fully circular, encompassing both upstream and downstream activities (Tunn et al., 2019). While upstream activities—such as sustainable sourcing and eco-design—have received considerable scholarly attention, downstream circularity initiatives have been marginally covered. These might include take-back schemes and digital platforms that facilitate the resale, sharing, or refurbishment of products, thereby extending product life cycles and reducing waste (Jourdain and Lamah, 2024). Similarly, the role of consumers in driving the transition towards a circular economy remain underexplored (Najmi et al., 2022; Almelhem et al., 2025). Business model innovation is often approached from the corporate perspective, treating consumers as passive actors (Elzinga et al., 2020). However, focusing on consumer roles is essential to promote circular transitions, as changing consumer behavior is one of the key challenges (Roy et al., 2022).
This track aims to focus on downstream strategies in business model innovation that promote sustainable and circular consumption practices. Contributions may consider both consumer and company perspectives and can include conceptual or empirical studies—quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods—addressing specific countries, contexts, or sectors.
3. Exploring the organisational impact
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Track Chairs: Burcin Hatipoglu, School of Business IRRG & PSRG, Canberra, University of New South Wales (Australia), Silvia Cantele, Department of Management, University of Verona (Italy), Assunta Di Vaio, Department of Law, University of Naples "Parthenope" (Italy), Vincenzo Riso, Department of Management, University of Verona (Italy), Dr Elisa Van Engelehnoven, University of Naples Parthenope (Italy).
This track explores the future directions for developing governance structures, decision-making procedures, managerial capabilities, and accountability in innovating business models for green, circular, digital, and inclusive transition.
Engagement with sustainability and circularity involves incorporating ecological and social factors into products, processes, and the entire organization. Despite widespread interest in sustainability, organizations still face challenges in executing an effective transition due to unclear and complex regulations, institutional pressures, as well as trade-offs and internal misalignments. Some avenues to critically explore the current state of sustainability transition in organizations include: sustainability governance and the role of boards, leadership, and managerial responsibilities; the definition and planning of sustainability strategies; circular and sustainability KPIs and incentives; sustainability reporting; SDGs accountability and disclosure; employee participation in eco-innovation processes; formal and informal organizational learning; knowledge management; knowledge sharing; and creating co-creation opportunities with employees and other stakeholders.
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Track Chairs: Dorleta Ibarra, Mondragon Unibertsitatea (Spain), Juan Ignacio Igartua Mondragon Unibertsitatea (Spain).
We are entering an era marked by a convergence of multiple crises: ecological backlash (manifested in climate instability, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion), alongside intensifying global developments such as geopolitical tensions, economic volatility, population related pressures, and technological disruption. These converging forces are reshaping the foundations of business and society, demanding a rethinking of conventional and new business models through a shift toward resilient, inclusive, and ecologically attuned business practices.
Emerging business models need to embrace complexity, foster collaboration, and pursue innovation that is not only technologically advanced but also socially grounded, and ecologically responsive. Business models need to synchronise the creation of resilience, while fostering value-preservation, self-sufficiency, and collective and multi-level value-creation organisational ecosystem; placing stakeholders and people at the centre to ensure that no one is left behind in this crisis context. This track explores research aimed at understanding how business models adapt to multiple crises, ecological backlash, and global disruptions by integrating agility, resilience, value preservation, and self-sufficiency.
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Track Chairs: Florian Lüdeke-Freund, ESCP Business School Berlin (Germany); Romana Rauter, University of Graz (Austria); Henrikke Baumann, Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden); Ana Carolina Bertassini, Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden); Joan Manuel F. Mendoza, Mondragon University (Spain).
Business models for sustainability (BMfS) aim at contributions to sustainable development and are therefore based on the principles of triple-bottom-line and stakeholder-centric value creation. They aim not just to improve the performance of organizations but also to have net positive ecological and social impacts beyond organizational boundaries (Freudenreich et al., 2020; Lüdeke-Freund et al., 2020). The aim of this track is to better understand whether and how business models can have such effects and how these effects – including outputs, outcomes, impacts, and value – can be managed and measured (Rauter et al., 2019). Assessing and managing the sustainability effects of business models requires exploring and integrating various topics and concepts (e.g., business model, system-level perspectives, types of effect) as well as tools and metrics (e.g., from sustainability reporting and accounting, life cycle assessment, circularity indicators). Digitalisation and artificial intelligence as well as regulatory frameworks such as CSRD/ESRS, EU taxonomy, CSDDD etc. play an increasingly important role, too. This track is open to conceptual and empirical papers that integrate the notions of business models and measuring and managing the sustainability effects of organizations in novel and robust ways. Approaches based on life cycle assessment frameworks and methods are particularly welcome as these have proven to be promising and thought-provoking in past editions of this track (e.g., Böckin et al., 2022; Goffeti et al., 2022).
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Track Chairs: Emmanuel Garbolino, Mines Paris-PSL (France); Francesco Testa, Sant'anna school (Italy); Clément Feger, AgroParisTech (France); Rémi Beulque, TBS Education (France); Mai Skjøtt Linneberg, Aarhus University (Denmark); Helle Alsted Søndergaard, Aarhus University (Denmark); Astrid Le Chippey, Mines Paris-PSL (France).
Faced with the sixth mass extinction (Barnosky et al., 2011; Ceballos et al., 2015) and the realisation that economic growth is a key driver of the deterioration of nature (IPBES, 2019), integrating biodiversity issues into the decision-making of economic players is becoming a priority if we are to achieve the objectives set by the international community (Kunming Montréal, CBD, 2022). Indeed, businesses of all sizes and across sectors are significant contributors to both direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss (Panwar, 2023). In this context, research on the interplay between business and biodiversity is gaining momentum, building on first generations of studies that traditionally concentrated on land-based sectors such as forestry, agriculture, mining, and infrastructure development, where regulatory stipulations have existed to mitigate biodiversity loss (Panwar et al., 2024).
Despite important milestones, much remains to be learned on how businesses can contribute to biodiversity conservation, especially in the context of the recent and rapid changes in public policies, biodiversity management instrumentation and businesses’ practices. To bridge this gap, this track aims to constitute a stable platform over the years for interdisciplinary and impactful discussions on the business-biodiversity relationship.
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Track Chairs: Giovanna Attanasio, University Of Udine (Italy); Cinzia Battistella, University Of Udine (Italy); Irene Bubbola, University Of Udine (Italy).
Social business model innovation (SBMI) represents a strategic approach to addressing complex social challenges by rethinking how organizations create, deliver, and capture value in ways that integrate both social and economic objectives (Alegre & Berbegal-Mirabent, 2016). Building on the principles of social innovation—defined as the development of new ideas, products, services, or models aimed at meeting social needs and fostering new forms of collaboration among diverse stakeholders (Cajaiba-Santana, 2014)—SBMI places these efforts at the very core of the organizational architecture. Social issues are often characterized by uncertainty, systemic interdependencies, and the involvement of multiple actors (Lettice & Parekh, 2010), making them unsuitable for solutions designed in isolation. Instead, SBMI requires organizations—be they businesses, public institutions, or non-profits—to purposefully engage in cross-boundary partnerships, mobilizing complementary resources, capabilities, and perspectives to generate scalable and lasting social change (Dawson & Daniel, 2010).
This track aims to better understand social innovation from a business model perspective, considering opening up boundaries to various social stakeholders who can contribute to the innovation process. The aim is to discover recent knowledge, reveal new insights, and stimulate debate on the current state of development and possible research opportunities in these areas. This call welcomes literature reviews and conceptual and empirical (qualitative and quantitative) studies considering all types of organizations.
4. Exploring theoretical and methodological foundations
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Track Chairs: Florian Lüdeke-Freund, ESCP Business School (Germany), Tobias Froese, Borderstep Institute (Germany), Marcus Bergmann, Audencia – School of Management and Communication (France).
This track explores the status quo and future directions of theories underpinning research on business models for sustainability (BMfS). Building on, and going beyond, established approaches – such as activity-based (e.g., Zott & Amit, 2010), component-based (e.g., Osterwalder et al., 2005), design-based (e.g., Lüdeke-Freund, Massa et al., 2024; Zott & Amit, 2010), value-logics-based (e.g., Laasch, 2018; Lüdeke-Freund, Froese et al., 2024), or values-based (Breuer & Lüdeke-Freund, 2017) theoretical views on BMfS – we are looking for novel and theoretically robust contributions that further develop our understanding of the antecedents of BMfS, conditions of their emergence, their inner workings, and their sustainability implications. New theoretical views that lend themselves to this endeavor include, for example, theories of social practice (e.g., Gherardi, 2012), Alexandrian pattern theory (e.g., Alexander et al., 1977), or social mechanism theory (e.g., Hedström & Swedberg, 1998).
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Track Chairs: Jaime González-Masip, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain), Sonia Marcos, Universidad de Burgos (Spain), Esben R.G. Pedersen, Copenhagen Business School (Denmark).
In the recent decade, paradox thinking has attracted growing scholarly attention in Business and Management research. A paradox arises when contradictory yet interrelated elements coexist and persist over time (Smith & Lewis, 2011), generating dynamic tensions in organisational contexts. This lens is particularly relevant for studying sustainable business models, as embedding sustainability principles into business models often involves managing competing logics, goals, and stakeholder claims. Pursuing economic, social, and environmental value creation simultaneously is inherently paradoxical (Hahn et al., 2014; Ozanne et al., 2016) and requires organisations to navigate tensions while addressing diverse stakeholder demands (Best et al., 2021; Freudenreich et al., 2020). This track examines the paradoxes and tensions that shape the design, innovation, and transformation of sustainable business models.
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Track Chairs: Katrien Verleye, Ghent University (Belgium); Alexander Henkel, Open University (Netherlands).
This track aims to provide insight into ways to engage a multitude of actors – such as businesses, customers, and governmental bodies – in the development, launch, and adoption of circular and sustainable business models so that value is co-created. Specific attention is dedicated to the role of design thinking for circular and sustainable business model innovation. Yet, we also embrace research on practices for motivating actors (e.g., storytelling) and supporting actors (e.g., offering sharing platforms, smart lockers, and other technologies) to engage in the creation of circular or sustainable value. This track welcomes scholars from different disciplines and it is open to conceptual, qualitative, and quantitative work.
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Track Chairs: Lára Jóhannsdóttir, University of Iceland (Iceland); Thorey S. Thorisdottir, University of Iceland (Iceland).
Business models for sustainability (BMfS) are relevant for transitioning towards more socially, equitable, and ecofriendly world. However, this transition requires sustainable finance (La Torre et al., 2019) and investments fostering global development that is sustainable (Cunha et al., 2021) by taking into account environmental, social and governance issues (ESG) (European Commission, n.d.; Zairis et al., 2024). Sustainable finance, traced back to 1986 (Ferris & Rykaczewski, 1986), combines the elements of finance and sustainable development goals (SDGs) (Kumar et al., 2022), but sustainable finance and investment (Cunha et al., 2021) is of key importance in addressing the 2030 sustainable development agenda and the relevant SDGs, the Paris Agreement (Sisodia & Maheshwari, 2023) and in delivering the European Green Deal policy objectives (European Commission, n.d.). If not, risk can be embedded in investment portfolios, including transition risk (Alessi & Battiston, 2022), physical risks, market and policy risks, talent-related risks, financial risks, liability and litigation risks, and systemic risk (Jóhannsdóttir, 2024).
However, it should be noted that the literature on sustainable finance is still very fragmented thus offering rooms for exploring the topic further on different levels of the society (Cunha et al., 2021), including institutional and organizational levels. The sustainable finance, or finance for sustainability, landscape is complicated as it includes operational and labelling standards, industry-originated frameworks, and wider policy context where the main components include environmental, social and economic goals, as a part of the SDGs, in addition other sustainability-related policy objectives, therefore much wider than climate finance, green finance, SDG finance (Migliorelli, 2021), ethical investing, conscious capitalism (Kumar et al., 2022) or similar finance topics. Within this field, the purpose of the session is to explore the theoretical, methodological and practical foundation of transitioning of business models towards sustainability through finance.
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Track Chairs: Stefano Bertorini, Faculty Campus Friesland, University of Groningen (The Netherlands); Thom Dijkstra, Faculty Campus Friesland, University of Groningen (The Netherlands); Cornera Mellema, Faculty Campus Friesland, University of Groningen (The Netherlands); Niels Faber, Faculty Campus Friesland, University of Groningen & Hanze University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands); Kim Poldner, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen (The Netherlands).
Regenerative business models (RBMs) are increasingly recognized as pathways for multi-phase transitions across industries, addressing intertwined environmental and social challenges within planetary boundaries and social foundations (Albareda & Branzei, 2024; Konietzko et al., 2023; Vlasov, 2019). Recent evidence demonstrates that companies can successfully integrate multiple regenerative strategies concurrently, often in collaboration with local organizations, generating value for nature, communities, customers, suppliers, investors, and employees (Gualandris et al., 2025; Thopte et al., 2025; Drupsteen & Wakkee, 2024). However, adoption often involves high upfront investments, reduced margins, and operational complexity, which can limit scalability.
This track extends the discussion by introducing regenerative and distributive business models (RDBMs), where regeneration and distribution are mutually reinforcing rather than goal and burden. Current research reveals that all successful regenerative business models inherently integrate distributive elements, with collaboration emerging as a pivotal mechanism across sectors (Das and Bocken, 2024). Distributive mechanisms—such as community-centric and collaborative practices—translate dynamic non-financial value into tangible business benefits, support cross-industry transformation, and enhance the financial and strategic viability of regenerative practices (Munoz & Branzei, 2021). Additionally, we incorporate cultural-historical perspectives to explore how past socio-environmental practices can inform context-specific, future-oriented business models (Hahn & Tampe, 2021).