Abstract
The NHS made a pledge in 2020 to become Net Zero by 2040, highlighting the climate emergency as a health emergency. The fundamental premise of the healthcare industry is “first, do no harm” yet around 8% of the UK’s climate footprint can be attributed to the NHS (direct and indirect footprints) as the largest employer of the Europe (10% of the UK GDP with 1.4 million employees) (NHS England, 2022). The past four years' journey of the NHS's Net Zero transformation has clearly shown that it is impossible to reach this target with the current trend, and Net Zero remains at an ambitious level. Accordingly, in this study, we contextualized the premises of the Net Zero transformation based on the different levels of the healthcare service ecosystem (a peculiar and understudied domain) and provided a sanity check. We created a multilevel service ecosystem mapping of the NHS’s Net Zero transformation and an acceleration pathway as an output.
Bio
I am Dr. Enes Ünal, a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Innovation at the University of Exeter Business School. I am an interdisciplinary scientist interested in developing alternative understandings and solutions for the grand challenges (e.g., unsustainability, humanitarian crisis, disasters, etc.) given the insufficiency of the mainstream and dominant approaches. Prior studies include BA in Urban Planning (METU – Türkiye), MSc in Innovation Management (Strathclyde University – Hamburg Technology University), and PhD in Circular Business Model Innovation (Politecnico di Milano). I was involved in several innovation and design projects such as the “Feasibility Analysis of Sustainable Hygiene Innovation: The Circular Toilet” funded by the Gates Foundation and the “Net Zero Transformation of Healthcare Ecosystems: The Case of NHS” funded by the Design Museum London and Future Observatory (AHRC).Insufficient action has been taken to address the sustainability crisis, and the next few years are crucial in mitigating the irreversible impact of climate change. Therefore, there is an apparent need to elevate climate action through innovative attempts in both theory and practice at various levels. My research primarily focuses on reframing the current understanding of sustainable and circular innovation theory and practice, with the aim of driving a shift in the prevailing narrative.
