Small scale socio-technical experiments as stepping stones for eco-efficient product-service systems diffusion: A new role for strategic design for sustainability.

Eco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability. Despite that the adoption of such business strategies is still very limited because it often involves significant corporate, cultural and regulatory barriers. Changes in basic belief, values, and interpretative frames (in other words higher order learning) are required. One way to facilitate this type of learning is through socio-technical experiments. Starting from these considerations, and bringing together insights from innovation sciences (in particular Strategic Niche Management), the paper investigates the potential contribution that a strategic design approach can have in designing small scale socio-technical experiments as a way to stimulate and favor the adoption and diffusion of eco-efficient PSS.