In line with the EU Thematic Strategy on the sustainable use of natural resources and the Roadmap for a resource-efficient Europe, DYNAMIX widely defines resources as encompassing:

• abiotic resources, including minerals, metals, and fossil fuels (inputs),
• biotic resources, including timber, fish, agricultural products and all other types of biomass as well as land, water and soil (inputs),
• environmental media and the ecosystem services linked to them: land, water, air, soil, biodiversity (impacted by outputs such as waste or emissions).

DYNAMIX thus covers all natural resources that are used or modified to create economic value (even if the resources are not physically part of the final good) and all environmental media and processes that can be affected by the production, use and disposal of economic goods and services.

DYNAMIX defines resource efficiency as creating more socio-economic value with an equal level of resource input or an equal level of environmental impact, thus resulting in an increase in resource productivity. Resource efficiency increases can occur at all stages of a good’s life cycle (extraction, production, distribution, consumption or disposal) and it can be measured on different scales, e.g. for one product group, economic sector, consumption field, or for the economy as a whole. In our understanding, resource efficiency can also increase when needs are fulfilled with different products or services or when the paradigm of what fulfils a need shifts. Thus, increases in resource efficiency can be achieved by:

1. Using fewer resources to fulfil the same needs
2. Increasing the (socio-economic) value and benefits from the use of (the same amount of) resources
3. Reducing the environmental impacts and damage associated with the use of resources

We explicitly do not use the term resource efficiency in the way the term efficiency is used in economics where Pareto-efficient outcomes require that the distribution of goods and services is optimal, building on assumptions about consumers’ preferences.

DYNAMIX defines decoupling as the delinking of economic output on the one hand and resource use and environmental impacts on the other hand. We distinguish between resource and impact decoupling, as well as between relative and absolute decoupling.

Resource decoupling means reducing the amout of primary resources used per unit of economic activity (including hidden flows). Impact decoupling reduces negative environmental impacts per unit of economic output. Double decoupling is achieved when economic growth is delinked from both resource use and environmental impacts.

Relative decoupling means that the growth rate of the environmentally relevant parameter (resources used and/or some measure of environmental impact) is lower than the growth rate of a relevant economic indicator (for example GDP). Absolute decoupling, in contrast, requires that resource use and/or some measure of environmental impact decline in absolute terms (compared to the base year chosen), while the economy continues to grow or stagnates while well-being increases.

A policy mix is defined as a combination of policy instruments that yields a higher performance towards a given policy objective or set of objectives than single policy instruments in isolation. Typically, the policy mix will include several different instrument types, reinforcing each other in a coherent way based on (a set of) common policy objective(s). To improve acceptability, robustness to changes, and effectiveness, the policy mix can be designed in a dynamic fashion, i.e. as a combination of instruments deployed in sequence.

 

Within DYNAMIX, we define eco-innovation as any form of innovation delivering economic and environmental benefits at the same time, through reducing impacts on the environment, enhancing resilience to environmental pressures, or achieving a more efficient and responsible use of natural resources across the whole life-cycle. Innovations can refer to:

• products (a resource-light car)
• processes (less emission-intense cement production)
• services (life-time maintenance)
• organizational or institutional change (resource-efficiency ratings of business by financial institutes)
• marketing solutions, including new business models (chemical leasing instead of chemical sale), or
• system innovations (multi-modal mobility replacing individual car ownership).

On the economy-level: Based on the idea of a “safe operating space for humanity” proposed by Rockström and colleagues in 2009, DYNAMIX defines five key targets that address the most crucial resource streams and environmental impacts as benchmarks against which to assess the effectiveness of policy pathways. Any policy pathway that meets these targets and at the same time secures well-being is considered as fully effective.

On the case study level: Effectiveness of policy mixes will be measured against the benchmark of absolute resource decoupling and absolute impact decoupling – including impacts outside the EU as far as data availability allows. The relevant resource and/or environmental degradation indicator will have to be chosen based on the objective set in the policy itself.

DYNAMIX understands sustainability as including three dimensions: environmental protection, social equity and a thriving economy. Sustainability of the policies and policy mixes will be assessed by evaluating impacts on economic growth, job creation, distribution of incomes and burden sharing between social groups, and other ecosystems or consumption levels of resources not directly targeted by the policy mix (and thus not covered under the effectiveness criterion). Due to the project’s capacity limits, the assessment of socio-economic impacts of EU policies will primarily focus on impacts in the EU (comparable to impact assessments carried out by the European Commission). This assessment criterion is crucial to detect synergies and trade-offs between the objective of resource efficiency and other economic, social and environmental goals.

Efficiency of the policies and policy mixes will be assessed comparing the achieved level of resource and impact decoupling with the monetary (or other) resources applied to achieve the outcome.