From 10–12 November 2025, Zurich hosted the second edition of the SSbD Conference, Europe’s leading event on Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD). Organised by the IRISS – The International SSbD Network and held at the Empa-Akademie – the conference centre of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology – this year’s edition brought together over 130 participants, 48 speakers and 67 posters, highlighting the growing momentum of the SSbD community.
Kveloce joined the event to present the ViSS project (funded by Horizon Europe), with our colleague Gabriela Munares showcasing a poster that attracted strong interest – especially from participants in technical fields like engineering and chemistry. This response reflects a shared and increasing concern: how can we meaningfully integrate the social dimension into SSbD frameworks?
The social dimension: the “forgotten sibling” gaining visibility
One of the key conclusions of the conference was the recognition that SSbD cannot be truly sustainable without a proper assessment of social impact. While the debate has traditionally focused on environmental, safety and economic aspects, it is becoming increasingly clear that real sustainability cannot be achieved without considering the social impact of the products and processes being designed.
At Kveloce, we address this gap by applying multi-dimensional assessment frameworks such as Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) to inform design decisions. Our experience at SSbD25 confirmed the relevance of this approach: there is clear interest from other disciplines, and real potential for collaboration across scientific and technical communities.
From theory to practice: industry steps in
Another key message from the SSbD25 Conference was the shift towards real-world implementation—but with important nuances. While more companies are beginning to explore the four SSbD dimensions, they are often doing so through their own internal assessment frameworks, which tend to be more flexible and aligned with corporate strategies rather than fully adopting the official SSbD framework.
The presence of major industry players such as BASF, Philips or Unilever signals growing interest and a willingness to move in this direction, but it also highlights the need for clearer guidance and incentives. In this sense, the conference aimed precisely to engage industry and encourage companies to adopt the SSbD framework, helping bridge the gap between exploratory efforts and full integration into industrial practice.
Building a strong SSbD community
The event closed with a strong sense of inspiration and shared responsibility: there is still much to be done, but many actors are already doing the work. Gatherings like this are helping consolidate a growing European SSbD community — one that makes room for both technical innovation and strategic reflection.
Importantly, the Safe and Sustainable by Design approach is not only gaining traction across research and industry but is also fully aligned with the European Commission’s strategic priorities — including the European Green Deal, the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, and policies for safe and sustainable innovation. Together, these frameworks shape a common path toward a more resilient, fair, and sustainable economy.
At Kveloce, we continue to strengthen our distinctive contribution: supporting technical teams and European consortia in embedding comprehensive, measurable SSbD frameworks aligned with public policy, by integrating social and economic indicators from the earliest stages of innovation design. We’re proud to be contributing to this momentum not only through ViSS, but also in projects like ANIPH and PHAntastic (projects in which we participate as Knowledge Value Consulting, our company in Brussels)
, where we work to integrate sustainability into the development of new materials, products and forward-looking solutions.
ℹ️ More information about our R&D lines: https://kveloce.com/rd-fields/?lang=en
