Within this context, a company focused on sustainability identified the need to have a tool, to be used in a daily basis, to determine if a product is sustainable enough to be part of their products portfolio. Building such a tool, involves understanding what are the main concerns underlying products sustainability. To this aim, the Delphi method was proposed to uncover all relevant indicators for the evaluation of products sustainability.
The Welphi software, exercising the Delphi Method, was the preferred platform, as it enhanced the speed of the process, and it allowed the consolidation of a wide range of opinions from geographically dispersed individuals with diverse backgrounds whilst ensuring anonymity.
The process:
Aim: apply the Welphi platform to inform the selection of a set of indicators considered relevant to evaluate product sustainability combining scientific evidence and the points of view of experts and stakeholders.
Objects of study: 34 indicators, previously identified through literature review - grouped in 3 areas of concern: environmental, social and economic.
Panel: 55 experts and stakeholders from different countries, with applicable knowledge in a variety of domains and a keen level of interest in the field.
The process comprised 3 rounds:
First round: panelists were required to indicate their agreement or disagreement with the following statement. I.e.: “Is this indicator relevant in assessing the sustainability of a product?”. The panel answered using a 6-level Likert scale: Strongly Disagree; Disagree; Neither Agree nor Disagree; Agree; Strongly Agree; and No Answer.
Second and third round: panelists were presented with the results of the previous round (see below), and had the opportunity to maintain or revise their answers.
Results:
In the first round, 55 participants engaged in the process and 49 responded to the questionnaire (89% response rate). In the second round, the process had 90% response rate and 91% in the third round.
Overall, this Delphi process, by creating awareness and discussion among a group of experts and stakeholders, provided some important insights on what are the key aspects that need to be considered in product sustainability. In fact, among 34 indicators proposed to the panel, 91.2% reached group agreement and were approved as relevant to evaluate product sustainability. These outputs are the first step to create a transparent, user-friendly and well-understood decision support tool designed to evaluate product sustainability.
Welphi platform - feedback:
The results of this Delphi process were achieved by employing the Welphi platform. Welphi allowed the establishment of consensus among a diverse and geographically dispersed group of experts and stakeholders. Welphi’s automated procedures, such as the answers statistics and analysis and the follow-up round creation, enabled transitioning towards the subsequent rounds much quicker and easier. The Welphi platform permitted communication among the participants in a non-face-to-face format and also permitted monitoring participants responses and send them timely reminders, reducing panel drop-out and enhancing the speed and efficiency of the process.
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