The digital product passport is becoming an essential tool to increase transparency about the sustainability of products and to boost the circular economy in the European Union. With the revised Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation having entered into force in July 2024, the digital product passport will become a necessary extension for many products placed on the European market. Industry practitioners are faced with the challenge of fulfilling content requirements while maintaining interoperability at the same time. Although industry practitioners face challenges in implementing digital product passports, existing research has largely focused on digital product passport systems, often overlooking the crucial aspect of digital product passport data. Work on this data typically falls short of addressing comprehensive interoperability. This research therefore proposes a minimal digital product passport data model that integrates current regulatory requirements while ensuring interoperability through the use of standardised submodel templates of the asset administration shell. We demonstrate that the current regulatory requirements can be met, but foreseeable extensions will require adjustments and therefore close synchronisation between standardisation initiatives and the institutions that further specify regulatory requirements.

Selected Contributions: Sustainable Excellence—Economic, Social, and Environmental Issues presents a curated collection of peer-reviewed research papers presented at the 2nd Tunisian Symposium on Economics and Management (TSEM 2025), held in Tunisia from April 11 to 13, 2025. The symposium was organised by the Research Unit "Economy, Enterprise, Environment" (3E) at the Higher Institute of Management (ISG), University of Gabes.

This volume offers a multidisciplinary and innovative examination of the factors underpinning sustainable excellence amid contemporary global challenges. The contributions are organised around five core themes: first, the role of innovation as a critical driver of ecological transition; second, the transformation of labour markets and accompanying social dynamics necessary for a just transition; third, the design and evaluation of sustainable economic models; fourth, the synergistic effects of artificial intelligence (AI) and financial inclusion on progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and fifth, the significance of responsible managerial practices grounded in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethical governance.

Collectively, these contributions provide rigorous, timely insights into the interdependencies among economic, social, and environmental systems. This volume serves as an essential reference for academics, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in the field.

The new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR) establishes a comprehensive legal framework within the EU that aims to make sustainable products the norm. It introduces measures such as ecodesign requirements, digital product passports, and physical labels, with the intention of encouraging sustainable choices and market surveillance. Textiles are among the first product groups to be targeted with these requirements due to their environmental impact, and an ongoing preparatory study is being conducted by the Joint Research Centre (JRC). This study at hand was commissioned by the German Environment Agency (UBA) and was conducted by the Oeko-Institut in collaboration with two universities of
applied sciences: the Hochschule Niederrhein and the Hochschule Hof. The study aims to support the development of ecodesign requirements for textiles and to explore how these requirements can be communicated effectively through an ecodesign label.

The study’s methodology included literature review, expert consultation, market analysis, and stakeholder workshops. The developed requirements relate to durability, repairability, recyclability, recycled content, and substances of concern. Three product examples were in the focus of the study: T-shirts, jeans and functional jackets.

This paper investigates the physiological responses of individuals driving both on a real
route and within a vehicle simulator designed as a digital twin of that route. The analysis
of observed data patterns in stress response bio signals provides sufficient evidence of
similarity to validating the driving simulation digital twin as a reliable replacement for
real-world experiences in controlled and consistent settings, or when overall trends of
physiological variables, rather than specific variable levels, are of interest. The findings also
stress the need for optimizing the precision of digital twins in complex settings. This study
introduces a time-series-based validation approach for driving digital twins by comparing
continuous physiological trajectories between real and simulated driving

Successful innovation processes involve multiple actors with distinct objectives, resources,
and competences across different stages of value creation. Close collaboration among relevant
stakeholders is therefore essential, yet it also entails substantial coordination and alignment
challenges. Drawing on a multi-method research design, this study examines the development and
market introduction of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) for passenger vehicles across
multiple market stages.
The findings conceptually and empirically demonstrate how stakeholders’ heterogeneous goal
structures and value assessments influence the innovation process across stages. In particular, the
results reveal that the absence of a multi-stage marketing (MSM) perspective can lead to
misalignments that adversely affect the progression and market success of the innovation. The
study further provides insights into how innovation processes can be systematically designed
across market stages to ensure end-user orientation and economic viability.
By integrating a multi-stage marketing perspective into innovation research, this paper
contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of innovation processes in complex, multi-
actor environments.

At a time when vehicle automation is becoming increasingly important, there
is a growing need for greater consumer centricity. However, the importance of
effectively deriving functional product specifications appears to be diminishing.
The case of Automated Parking Systems (APS) demonstrates that the automotive
industry often employs a top-down approach, in contrast to a more customer-
-centric method in the development process. To assess the effectiveness of this
top-down approach, we conducted a field study and a mixed-method online
survey to explore user expectations of APS functionality. Our findings indicate
that drivers strongly dislike excessive parking maneuvers caused by overly re-
strictive product specifications. Moreover, user demands are less stringent
than the development requirements set by OEMs. Based on these insights, we
recommend adopting a more user-centered approach. This shift could enable
companies to reduce development costs and time investments, while accelerat-
ing the adoption of their innovations.

Scents influence emotions, cognition and behavior by activating memories, enhanc-
ing mood and modulating mental processes. Perception of scents is shaped by both
stimulus-related dimensions, including familiarity, pleasantness and intensity and
individual factors – such as mood, sensory sensitivity and personality traits. The
present study systematically examined the relative impact of these determinants in
a quasi-experimental design involving 51 participants. Seven scents were evaluated
along perceptual dimensions (recognizability, pleasantness, familiarity, intensity)
and related to participants’ individual characteristics. Findings emphasize the inter-
play of stimulus-related dimensions and personality traits but highlight the need
for refined measures of (sensory-specific) personality traits in olfactory process-
ing for multisensory marketing and immersive applications.

Background

Rare diseases affect a small percentage of the population, leading to challenges such as delayed diagnoses and limited treatment options. Mobile health technologies offer solutions to improve patient outcomes, yet their application in rare diseases remains underexplored. The German citizen science project SelEe created a customizable app for the self-management of rare diseases through a co-creation process that involved patients with such conditions.

Methods

The project consisted of three phases. In Phase 1, 9 to 68 patients or relatives of patients participated in workshops to define research topics and app requirements. Phase 2 involved a core research team of nine patients and researchers who iteratively developed the app, released in March 2023. Phase 3 focused on evaluating the app’s usage and usability through an in-app survey conducted from March 2023 to February 2024. We utilized descriptive statistics to evaluate app usage and employed the mHealth App Usability Questionnaire to assess usability.

Results

The SelEe app offers the possibility to create and store data in a personalized health diary. Patients can create their own templates or use templates which were defined by the core research team. Users can record findings (e.g. blood test results) and export data using different graphs and formats. Furthermore, the app supports blind users. The app was downloaded 3040 times and 1456 users registered, with 1967 unique diseases entered. 50.7% of the diseases were rare, 30.5% non-rare, and 18.8% were classified as suspected, undefined, or symptoms. A total of 1223 valid user profiles were analyzed for app usage and demographics. Furthermore, 432 users qualified for the in-app survey by making at least one health diary entry, and 117 participated. The app was rated with an overall usability score of 5.19 out of 7. While the app’s health diary function was frequently used, other functionalities like findings and data export were less utilized. Feedback highlighted the need for improved usability and additional features.

Conclusions

The study highlights active patient engagement in developing a mobile health app for individuals with rare diseases. Although improvements are necessary for broader acceptance, the app is promising for the management of rare diseases.