SusFlow – Sustainability through Information Flows

Sustainability through Information Flows
1 January 2023 – 28 February 2025
Business Finland
Budget UTU: 1 111 610 €

The SusFlow project applies a multidisciplinary approach for shared solutions within a network of enterprises representing a multitude of competence areas with an LCA-driven focus. The project promotes sustainability assessments based on real data, a seamless flow of information, and a possibility to discover innovations to benefit the incorporation of sustainability as a practice within the shipyard ecosystem. The aforementioned assessments combined with our company partners’ expertise in value chain sustainability measurement and data generation increase overall sustainability. With strategic collaboration and good flow of information this will improve innovation stimulation, generation, and detection within the shipyard supplier network. The models by which these processes can be implemented are investigated in the wider network and utilized in communicating network sustainability to various interest groups.

The approach creates a multitude of business potential varying from clear savings, enhanced efficiency and innovation potential, social values, environmental values, and raw marketing value. The approach will have an effect and create demand on customer standards and purchasing behavior through a market shaping ideology, thus increasing sustainability transparency requirements in the market. At first the main beneficiaries are the shipyard, shipbuilding network, and shipping companies, internally. The solutions can be scaled, formalized, and incorporated to give the Finnish marine industry a competitive advantage in the cruise ship market.

This project is a collaborative consortium project led by research organizations, University of Turku and VTT, including multiple parallel projects from industry stakeholders throughout the value chain. The publications from our previous projects of the same research area can be found from the following links: SUSTIS and SusCon.

Key Partners

Additional information

Ask more

Teijo Lehtonen
Senior Research Fellow
teijo.lehtonen@utu.fi
Phone +358 (0)44 440 0005

Selected publications

The publications from our previous projects of the same research area can be found from the following links: SUSTIS and SusCon.

  • Tommi ImmonenMetaverse-Based Demonstrators as an Alternative to Traditional Presentations: Case Fossil-Free Steelmaking ProcessesM.Sc. (Tech.) Thesis, University of Turku, 20252025

    [paper]

  • Eini Haaja, Carolin LusbyEnhancing sustainability in the cruise industry – Empirical insights from FloridaPresentation at the World Leisure Congress in August 2025 in Breda, the Netherlands2025

  • Ed. Eini HaajaSustainable Maritime Industry (2024) Special Issue in Baltic Rim Economies 3/2024Centrum Balticum2024

    [paper]

  • Eini Haaja, Marjo KeiramoExploring sustainability enhancement in cruise shipbuildingManuscript, in review

  • Eini Haaja, Carolin LusbyExploring Sustainable Development in the Cruise IndustryPresentation at the Twenty-first International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability: Sustainable Development for a Dynamic Planet: Lessons, Priorities, and Solutions 23–25 January 2025, Miami, USA2025Conference abstract

  • Eero Nirhamo, Olli I. Heimo and Teijo LehtonenVirtual Reality for Environmental Sustainability: Case Cruise EntertainmentManuscript, in review

  • Seppo Helle, Taneli Nyyssönen, Olli Heimo, Leo Sakari, Teijo LehtonenVirtual Reality Applied to Design Reviews in ShipbuildingMultimodal Technologies and Interaction, 9(7) 20252025

    [paper]

  • Olli I. Heimo, Noora Harju, Sami Majaniemi, Saara Hänninen, Teijo LehtonenEngineering Ethical Standards: Enhancing Product Information for Collaborative Sustainability in Industrial EcosystemsManuscript, in review

  • Alexander Flaig, Mariia Syväri, Sini Nordberg-Davies, Eini HaajaSustainable Market-Shaping StrategiesPresentation at The Naples Forum on Service, Sorrento, Italy 9-12.6.2025; and Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden 20-22.8.20252025

  • Leena Jokinen, Nicolas Balcom-Raleigh, Katariina HeikkiläFutures Literacy in Collaborative Foresight Networks: Advancing Sustainable ShipbuildingPresentation at the Empowering Futures - Long-term Governance, Democracy and Futures Research Conference, Turku Finland 14-16 June 20232023

    [paper]

  • Katariina Heikkilä, Leena Jokinen, Martyn RichardsCruising Off the Charts: Reimagining Futures of Sustainable Cruise Ships – A Fast Futures Literacy LaboratoryPresentation at the Futures of Natural Resources Conference, Turku, Finland 13-14 June 20242024

    [paper]

  • Eini Haaja, Sini Nordberg-Davies, Mariia SyväriGoing green but seeing red: Nested tensions in initiating market shaping for sustainabilityManuscript, in review

  • Leena Jokinen, Noora Harju, Kalle Kinnunen, Tiina Vainio-Kaila, Saara HänninenCorporate Sustainability Reporting Directive in shipbuilding networks – social dynamics and challengesWorld Conference on Floating Solutions (WCFS), Espoo, 1-3.9.20252025Manuscript, in review

  • Leena Jokinen, Noora Harju, Kalle Kinnunen and Saara HänninenImplications of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to company network collaborationPresentation at the Futures of Technologies – Mutual Shaping of Socio-Technical Transformations Conference, Turku, Finland, 10-12 June 20252025

    [paper]

  • Leena Jokinen, Noora Harju, Kalle Kinnunen, Saara HänninenImplications of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to Company Network CollaborationJ Sustain Res. 2025;7(1):e2500182025

    [paper]

  • Kaapo Seppälä, Kaisa Könnölä, Markus Krusberg and Teijo LehtonenContent forms and information presentation in virtual reality – case: Communicating the sustainability of cruise shipsIn: Tareq Z. Ahram and Christianne Falcão (eds) Human Factors and Wearable Technologies. AHFE (2025) International Conference. Orlando, FL, USA, July 2025, AHFE Open Access, vol 175. AHFE International, USA2025

    [paper]

  • Tommi Immonen, Eero Nirhamo, Mikko Salonen, Kaapo Seppälä, Seppo Helle, Olli Heimo and Teijo LehtonenMetaverse-based demonstrators as an alternative to traditional presentations: Case fossil-free steelmaking processesIn: Matteo Zallio (eds) Accessibility, Assistive Technology and Digital Environments. AHFE (2025) International Conference. Orlando, FL, USA, July 2025. AHFE Open Access, vol 162. AHFE International, USA2025

    [paper]

  • Haaja, Eini; Nordberg-Davies, Sini; Syväri, MariiaGoing green but seeing red: Nested tensions in initiating market shaping for sustainabilityPresentation at the 39th Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) Conference2023

    [paper]

  • Nordberg-Davies, Sini; Haaja, Eini; Jokinen, Leena; Saarni, Jouni; Richards, MartynShared market-shaping intentions in business networks – Greening the cruise shipbuilding industryPresentation at the 40th Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) Conference2024

    [paper]

  • Leena Jokinen, Nicolas A. Balcom Raleigh, Katariina HeikkiläFutures literacy in collaborative foresight networks: advancing sustainable shipbuildingEuropean Journal of Futures Research2023A correction to this article was published in 04 May 2024

    [paper]

  • Heimo, O., Vainio-kaila, T., Kinnunen, K., Hänninen, S., Helle, S., Majaniemi, S., Jokinen, L., Lehtonen, TThe Flow of Sustainability Information Through Interorganisational Shipbuilding EcosystemIn: Beata Mrugalska, Waldemar Karwowski and Stefan Trzcielinski (eds) Human Aspects of Advanced Manufacturing, Production Management and Process Control. AHFE (2024) International Conference. AHFE Open Access, vol 146. AHFE International, USA2024

    [paper]