Down to Earth - Commercializing Space Technologies for a Sustainable Earth

Down to Earth is a Swedish ten-year initiative involving space agencies, companies and universities. Conceived by Umbilical Design and Jönköping International Business School, the Down to Earth concept aims to help businesses develop sustainable innovations inspired by space solutions. The Natural Step is pleased to be part of the team, which brings together experts from the space, business and sustainability sectors and uses a cross-over innovation process based on the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (a.k.a TNS Framework).

When you think of the space sector’s contribution to sustainability, your first thought might be enormous fossil fuel use and resource impacts from putting man-made objects into space. Yet it is one of those paradoxes that the sector also has a lot of positive things to contribute, as the participating organizations in the Down to Earth initiative are discovering. Here’s some of the insight to be found at the intersection of space, innovation and sustainability:  

Technology transfer – Being a well-funded and technically sophisticated sector, the space industry has dramatically pushed the boundaries of what we know and has lead to numerous innovative concepts, technologies and materials. It attracts problem-solvers who need to design for extreme environments, confined spaces, with weight carrying a price premium (in Space, every 10 kg of weight means $1 million in extra costs), and all this with zero margin for error. It’s highly likely that every competitive business has something to learn from technology innovations in the space sector.

Creativity and imagination – You don’t need to agree that ‘technology will save us’ to acknowledge that space has always captured the imagination and encouraged creative thinking. From religion, to astrology, to 2001 – A Space Odyssey, Star-Trek, Star Wars and the Jetsons, even the very concept of space can stimulate the imagination. Consider how powerful a carefully crafted idea generation process can be for teams stuck looking at organizational challenges from the same perspective.

Translating bold goals to action - Space exploration (specifically, NASA's Apollo mission) has given us one of the most compelling examples of backcasting from a desired outcome, one previously considered impossible. J.F Kennedy’s call to the American nation to put man on the moon and return safely in under a decade, with its necessary sub-goals (Gemini and Mercury), challenges us to be bold when setting sustainability goals. The Down to Earth team can help you think big - to define your organisations’s Apollo mission and align it with the goal of sustainability - as well as get down to action.

Teamwork enabled by clear criteria for success – The chances of achieving a bold goal can be increased if there is shared understanding and clarity on the principles of success - in the case of the Apollo mission (1) go to the moon and (2) return safely. Principles provide the clarity to path-find and mid-course correct, even when its not clear what lies ahead. Principles help to manage complexity, provide a shared language for collaboration, and boost productivity by allowing specialist skills to be applied to shared goals using approaches like Concurrent Design. The Down to Earth team can help your organization make use of sustainability principles to frame your vision and foster teamwork.

Fresh perspectives – the 1968 Earthrise image is arguably one of the most powerful environmental pictures of all time and is credited with forever altering the way we view the Earth and our impact upon it. To draw a parallel, the Down to Earth team brings a wide range of different experiences and offers a way to inject a fresh dose of ‘outside in perspectives’ into your business.

Cost savings – A calculation by the European Space Agency, ESA, shows that for every Euro invested in Space, a return of 20 Euros is generated as spin-offs in other businesses (the rise of Silicon Valley is an example of this, and there are many more). Are you curious to know what pay-back your organization could get from ESA’s taxpayer-funded space exploration?

• For the latest news, read our blog post - we're seeking interest from companies to participate in the next phase.
• Enquiries can be directed to Richard Blume at The Natural Step in Sweden (+46 768 432 196).
• For more inforation please visit the website: http://downtoearth.se