Expertise: Sustainable and digital transition

At CenSE, we recognize the transformative potential of the European Union's Twin Transitions - sustainability and digitalization - and their crucial role in shaping a green, inclusive and innovative future. As a research center dedicated to applied scientific research on sustainable entrepreneurship, with a focus on family businesses and SMEs, we support the local private sector to lead this transformation.

By fostering collaboration, offering expert guidance and consultation, and collaborative research, CenSE aims to ensure that businesses not only adapt to this new economic landscape, but thrive in it. Through research, targeted support and innovative partnerships, we aim to help local businesses make a meaningful contribution to Europe's sustainable and digital growth while ensuring a fair and inclusive transition for all.

Duurzame bedrijfsvoering

Ongoing projects

Completed projects

  • CrossCare 2.0

    CrossCare 2.0 supports innovative care solutions in Flanders and the Netherlands. Eight care living labs help care innovations grow, test and scale up.

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  • Cultivation of red-scissor lobsters in recirculation systems

    The red snapper lobster offers new opportunities for sustainable aquaculture in Flanders. In this project, we are investigating the market potential and optimizing cultivation to enable commercial scale-up.

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  • Psychological ownership and entrepreneurship in family businesses

    The study probes the antecedents and consequences of collective psychological ownership - the sense that something belongs to "me" or "us" - in the context of family businesses.

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  • Mental models for sustainable family businesses

    This research develops a theory of how family, business and environment influence each other in the transition to sustainability. Through literature review and interviews with sustainability managers from family businesses, mental models and systemic interactions are identified.

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  • Digital Work Instructions

    In this project, we investigate the possibility of making the regular labor market more accessible to specific target groups by means of digital work instructions in different sectors, as well as engaging target groups (especially from social workshops) in more complex assembly and production.

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  • Sustainable intrapreneurship

    Sustainable intrapreneurs are employees and executives who are pulling the cart for sustainable change in their organizations.

     

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  • Experiment Garden

    The Experiment Garden creates a healthy learning environment around food skills for children, students and community residents.

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  • Equbusiness

    Because gender diversity on boards would lead to more sustainable decision-making in the long term, an e-book and digital modules were created in this project.

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  • Start 2 AIM: getting started in Artificial Intelligence for marketing purposes

    Artificial Intelligence offers a lot of interesting possibilities in the field of marketing, but Flemish SMEs often do not have the right knowledge and/or resources to benefit from it. This project has set up a coaching program for these companies so they can optimize their customer experience.

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  • EntreMWB

    Development of practical and reflective learning materials that support and promote Mental Wellness (MWB) among entrepreneurs in Europe: Entre-MWB

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  • ENTRnet

    The specific objective of ENTRnet is to promote European cooperation between different adult education providers and relevant stakeholders on specific adult education topics, such as entrepreneurship.

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  • Datasmart e-commerce in SMEs

    The starting point in this project is that datasmart entrepreneurship is the basis for personalized e-commerce. The central research question in this project is the following: how can we convince SMEs that datasmart entrepreneurship is also a viable option for them to optimize their online conversion?

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  • Customer-driven idea generation for product innovation among SMEs

    In this project, we explore how digital platforms can contribute to customer-driven innovation among SMEs.

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  • Entrepreneurship after setbacks or bankruptcy

    This project looks at the potential impact of bankruptcy on the person of the ex-entrepreneur. Does that bankruptcy affect his or her further options? Does a bankrupt choose to restart as an entrepreneur? And what factors play a role in that decision?

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  • Continuity of the family business in times of digitalization

    The central research question of this project is: what are the consequences of exponential digitalization on actors in the family business?

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  • Transfer of business to employees

    This project focuses on SMEs whose manager is (has) reached retirement age or is thinking of taking over, so-called "aging SMEs.

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  • Successfully supporting change in family businesses

    With this research we wanted to investigate to what extent change processes can be more supported ('my and/or 'our' change process) by the (non-)family employees in family firms and how psychological ownership can contribute to successful change processes in family firms.

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  • Start-up and financial analysis of commercial freshwater cod farming in Belgium (LotaBEL)

    The Aqua-ERF started research on freshwater cod farming in 2009. From these AquaVlan and ERF studies, we gained a lot of knowledge and experience about this fish in its different life stages.

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  • Taste, welfare and cultivation of crayfish

    Within the first PWO project that focused on the cultivation of the European crayfish (Astacus astacus) in recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS), a wide range of rearing parameters were investigated, with emphasis on the juvenile phase of rearing.

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  • Family businesses and the crisis

    The corona crisis and subsequent measures have shaken the economic landscape considerably and severely tested the resilience of our companies. How resilient and flexible are Flemish (family) businesses?

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  • Boundless entrepreneurship

    'Grenzeloos ondernemen' examines the conditions and barriers to doing business across the border, specifically in the Flanders-Netherlands border region.

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  • Longevity of family businesses

    The determinants of long-lived family businesses are being investigated. The results will culminate in a research paper.

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  • Family Business Barometer

    The Family Business Barometer gauges the economic expectations of family businesses in Belgium.

     

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Want to know more? Contact the expertise coordinators: