Climate change and our civilisation’s push on the planetary boundaries demand an urgent shift of production industries to rethink their value chains, production solutions and technologies to a circular approach. This goes for Grundfos and many others.
The programme supports research efforts to facilitate this transformation. Real-world problems and strong partnerships will be the starting point for such research efforts.
Unpenalized over-exploitation of planetary resources is, however, cheaper than circular solutions such as recycling, reuse and remanufacturing when limited by the current availability of technologies and solutions. A revolutionary shift of new solutions combined with regulation and legislation will therefore be necessary, and digital technologies will be instrumental in this shift to allow for a highly variable feedstock of the quality of water and production materials while still maintaining high quality and affordable prices. And finally, bringing a human-centric perspective into the equation of future sustainable production, it is important that production industries in the future still provides meaningful jobs for the generations to come.
Why this programme?
For decades, Grundfos has been a pioneer in improving the sustainability of both its products and production technologies, while also leading early efforts to create flexible and inclusive work environments. Building on these legacies, the programme aims to support research that addresses urgent environmental challenges for industry, particularly the reduction of virgin material and water use, while ensuring that the future of production balances advanced technological solutions with meaningful jobs for all.