Project Presentation: SusFlow
SusFlow, or Sustainability through Information Flows, was one of NEcOLEAP’s co-innovation projects, led by the University of Turku and VTT. The goal of SusFlow was to support the shipbuilding network in becoming more transparent, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. The research project took place from January 2023 to August 2025.
The SusFlow project focused on strengthening the shipbuilding network’s ability to collect, share, and use sustainability data across the entire life cycle of a vessel. The project promoted the collection of sustainability information from production and explored ways to improve the flow of data between actors in the supply chain. The aim was to enhance how sustainability is measured, reported, and integrated into everyday practices at shipyards and throughout the supplier network.
One of SusFlow’s key objectives was to support cruise ship suppliers in developing better processes and tools to assess environmental impacts, such as CO₂ emissions. By using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies and promoting open collaboration, the project explored how real production data can be used to increase the accuracy of sustainability evaluations.
The long-term goal was to make sustainability a seamless part of vessel design, procurement, and production, helping Finnish companies stay ahead of tightening regulations and rising customer expectations.
Business Value through Sustainability
In the Meyer Turku shipyard network alone, there are over a thousand direct suppliers. Since the supply chain creates most of a cruise ship’s value, the network companies have a tremendous impact on sustainability. Improving the measurability, transparency, and implementation of sustainability across the network is therefore not only a necessity, but also a strategic advantage.
“If Finnish actors can exceed the minimum levels defined by authorities, it may enable tighter requirements for all industry stakeholders, giving Finnish stakeholders a head start.”
Teijo Lehtonen, the responsible director of SusFlow at the University of Turku
SusFlow brought together a wide network of companies and researchers to develop solutions across the shipbuilding value chain. Research partners included Almaco, Evac, Lautex, Meriteollisuus, NIT Naval Interior Team, Paattimaakarit, Piikkio Works, Royal Caribbean Group, Semantum, Smartpipe System, and SSAB Europe.
SusFlow project publications are available on the University of Turku’s website for those interested in diving deeper into the research findings!
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