Re-orienting business, markets and finance

Our expertise

In short

Businesses and markets
Financial mechanisms
Measurement methods, such as True Cost Accounting
Education

Economic incentives and new ways of measuring progress are essential in the transition to sustainable systems, from food production to nature and water management. Through the Wageningen Transformation Initiative, we are helping businesses, markets and the financial sector to chart a new course.

Pricing, subsidies and measurement criteria can give sustainable transformations a boost. The challenge is to translate sustainability into new business models that are profitable. Into effective financial and non-financial incentives. And, ultimately, behavioural change. We want to lead the way in this and are therefore pooling all relevant expertise within WUR.

Our strength lies in the integration of knowledge: from businesses, financial mechanisms and measurement tools to education. Together with supply chain partners, we are exploring regulations and incentive mechanisms that reward sustainable behaviour. We are investigating the feasibility of nature-inclusive financing, for example as a reward for improved water quality and biodiversity. We design circular business models, for example to extract energy from manure and to close regional supply chains. Using True Cost Accounting, we make the external costs (environment, social inequality, health) of products visible. And we harness the energy of young professionals who, through their education, take an integrated approach to sustainability, finance and entrepreneurship.

We are working with partners on breakthroughs in various research programmes:

In the NWO DECISION programme, we are working in co-creation with the sector to develop results-based payments for nature-inclusive dairy production.
The EU FOODCoST programme aims to harmonise methods for revealing the hidden costs of food production.
In the EU Horizon project C4B, we are developing circular business models for the bioeconomy, in which power and profit are distributed fairly.
In SoilValues, the FARManalytics model is being further developed to demonstrate to arable farms the link between sustainable soil management, the provision of ecosystem services, and farm income.