Water business is not an island: assessing the market potential of environmental innovations. Creating a framework that integrates central variables of internationally successful environmental innovations

The main objective of this research is to develop a framework that integrates central variables of environmental innovations in an attempt to create internationally successful concepts. A special attention is being paid to water technologies, but the information will be treated in a way that enables results to cover other environmental sectors as well. The research supports the work of TESTNET (Towards European Sectorial Testing Networks for Environmentally sound Technologies) -project, which is one of the research and demonstration projects that the European Union has launched in the field of Environmental Technology Verification (ETV). The research will find answers for two main questions: 1) What are the central variables creating a basis for internationally successful environmental innovations? 2) Is it possible to develop a "fast and easy" -way to value the environmental and market potentiality of environmental innovations? As a method an approach can be described as a constructive research that produces constructions and tentative solutions for explicit problems. In this qualitative context of the research, theory will be treated both as a starting point and an objective of a research process. Referring to strong theoretical biases that the research adapts, fundamental idea is to strengthen the object theory gradually from different point of views. The following theoretical approaches are being utilized in achieving the research aims: 1) Innovation process 2) Special characteristics of environmental innovations 3) Environmental benefits in a context of new product development 4) Lead market thinking as market entrance procedure of environmental innovations. Answering the first research question, the Value Assessment Framework (VAF) will be presented. VAF is an attempt to integrate all central variables (e.g. environmental problems, market possibilities and restrictions, policies and regulations, company/sector reality) affecting the development of innovations in one frame and to reveal their interconnections (see page 81). As a partial contribution of VAF, the Value Assessment Tool (VAT) will be presented. VAT will be further tested, completed and used in customer cases of VTT - the mandatory organization of this research. The second research question will be answered by presenting the results of attempt to build a "fast and easy" -way to value the market potential and environmental benefits of innovations. This trial quantitative method was created as a part of TESTNET-project related reporting. The empirical data of the research constituted of expert interviews, filled forms of Innovation Fact Sheets, and participations of different seminars and meetings.