June 2026 | SuSu 2026: Safety-by-Design for the Sustainable Development Goals: Ensuring Safe and Responsible Green Innovation with Ilaria Perissi & Felice Simeone
The presentation will explore how Safety-by-Design (SbD) can support the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by embedding safety, sustainability, and responsible innovation directly into project development and technology design.
The session will begin by discussing a growing challenge within sustainability transitions: technologies developed to support climate action and decarbonisation may also introduce new environmental, material, and societal risks if safety considerations are addressed only after deployment. While sustainable projects are often evaluated through metrics such as carbon reduction, energy efficiency, or economic performance, broader lifecycle impacts and long-term risk governance are frequently overlooked.
Using hydrogen technologies as a case study, particularly water electrolysers and fuel cells, the presentation will show how advanced materials, nanostructured catalysts, and emerging infrastructures require a more integrated sustainability approach. The concept of Safety-by-Design will be introduced as a proactive framework that incorporates safety and lifecycle thinking from the earliest stages of research, innovation, and project planning.
The presentation will then connect SbD principles to several UN SDGs, including:
- SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy),
- SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure),
- SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production),
- SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being),
- SDG 13 (Climate Action).
A key focus will be placed on how project professionals can integrate systems thinking, anticipatory risk assessment, and responsible innovation into sustainable project delivery. Rather than treating sustainability and safety as separate objectives, the session will argue that they should be considered mutually reinforcing dimensions of long-term project success. The presentation aims to provide project managers with a broader framework for evaluating sustainability initiatives, helping them move beyond traditional project metrics toward more resilient, responsible, and future-oriented decision-making.
About the Speakers
Dr Ilaria Perissi: I am an interdisciplinary researcher at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) working at the intersection of sustainability and systems thinking. Building on a background in chemistry and with a PhD in Materials Science from the University of Florence (IT), I am currently involved in European and national research projects focused on developing innovative materials for sustainable energy technologies. Alongside materials research, my work explores the dynamics of complex systems through interdisciplinary modelling approaches, with applications in natural resource management, climate change, and energy transitions. I contributed to the development of integrated assessment models within the H2020 MEDEAS Project (2016-2019) and developed the PLEDGES climate policy tool during a Marie Curie Fellowship at Anglia Ruskin University,(2022–2024). My research also investigates how systems thinking and modelling can support decision-making across disciplines. I co-authored the book The Empty Sea, a report for The Club of Rome, and currently serve on the editorial boards of the Journals Systems(MDPI) and Frontiers in Sustainability (Frontiers).
Dr Felice Carlo Simeone I am a Senior Researcher of the Environmental Nanotechnology and Nanosafety Group at the Institute for Science and Sustainability of Materials (ISSMC) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR). I develop experimental methods for the investigation of the interaction of nanoparticles with biological membranes. I developed statistical and theoretical methods for ranking nanomaterials according to their hazards. I have been working for decades on physical-chemistry and characterization of nanostructured systems, nano-chemistry, nano-interphases. I received a PhD in nano-electrochemistry from the University of Ulm (Germany), Kolb’s group; I was a Post-doctoral Fellow at Harvard University (USA) in the G. Whitesides group. I worked in several international projects about nanosafety, which include regulation of nanomaterials (NanoDefine), experimental methods for assessing the hazard of nanomaterials (PATROLS), and the Safety-by-Design of nanomaterials (ASINA, SABYNA).
Recording
Presentation
Claim your PDUs!
PDU Code 0137052QMS
0.50 Business Acumen, 0.50 Ways of Working