From Assumptions to Evidence: Celebrating the Final Chapter of DDSM

The SHAPE ecosystem’s co‑innovation project Data‑Driven Sustainability Management (DDSM) has now reached its final milestone — marking the conclusion of a more than 2-year journey driven by collaboration, experimentation, and a shared ambition to make sustainability measurable and actionable.

Initiated as Mirka’s first SHAPE ecosystem project and coordinated by Åbo Akademi, the DDSM project set out to explore how companies can shift from assumption‑based sustainability work to evidence‑based, data‑driven decision‑making. The project brought together researchers, manufacturing companies, and technology experts to push the boundaries of what sustainability management can look like when real operational data becomes part of everyday business steering.

At the final event, project partners gathered to share results, compare learnings, and present a wide set of proof‑of‑concepts developed during the project. The atmosphere reflected what has defined DDSM from the start: open knowledge sharing, curiosity, and a genuine commitment to building something useful together.

The consensus across participants was clear — data‑driven sustainability is no longer a future ambition. It is a capability companies can build today.

Key Learning and Proof-of-Concepts

One of the major strengths of the project was its hands-on development of proof‑of‑concepts across organizational, strategic, analytical, and data-sharing dimensions. These PoCs together form a practical toolkit for companies wanting to advance their sustainability maturity and they cover topics such as:

• Sustainability team identity & performance

• Sustainability strategy roadmap

• Double materiality assessment

• Circularity performance

• Sustainability KPIs

• Live LCA cases

• Visualization of sustainability data

• Challenges of sustainability data sharing

• Internal sustainability communication

• Automatization of LCA processes

• Data pipelines for sustainability

• Data circular logistics

• DDSM maturity model

These PoCs also show that data‑driven sustainability isn’t just about technology — it requires the right people, processes, models, and collaboration structures to turn sustainability into actionable insights.

The DDSM project has through out the process given insights on that:

1. Data‑driven sustainability is achievable now – with real operational data and automated tools, dynamic measurement becomes possible.

2. Organizational readiness is critical – team identity, communication, and maturity models enable sustainability work to scale.

3. Strategy becomes stronger with data – roadmaps, double materiality and circularity work all benefit from factual insight.

4. Measurement must be continuous and visual – automated LCA and dashboards make sustainability part of everyday steering.

5. Value‑chain data sharing remains a barrier – but emerging solutions show promise for circularity and supplier collaboration.

6. Co‑innovation accelerates progress – combining academic and industrial strengths speeds up experimentation and learning.

7. The PoCs form a usable foundation – helping companies advance step‑by‑step toward data‑driven sustainability practices.

A Strong Partnership

The DDSM project was made possible through funding from Business Finland and through the commitment of all project partners: Åbo Akademi, University of Turku, Mirka, Baltic Yachts, Herrmans Bike Components, Saalasti and Kiilto. Their willingness to test, share, challenge assumptions, and co-create has been a cornerstone of the project’s success.

DDSM has demonstrated that when companies and researchers collaborate openly, sustainability becomes not only measurable — but also practical, actionable, and impactful.

The SHAPE ecosystem looks forward to continuing this journey, building on the project’s outcomes to further advance data‑driven sustainability across industries.