Development of business models suitable for sustainable development goals: A research on eco-entrepreneurship

The concept of sustainable development started to come to the fore in the 1970s with the effect of increasing environmental problems and population, and it made it necessary for countries to develop policies and find solutions in this context. By the 1990s, it is seen that sustainability has become a "multidimensional concept that goes beyond environmental protection and extends to economic development and social equity". At the 1992 Rio Summit, sustainable development was determined as the most important common goal of societies in the 21st century. It has become clear that not only countries, but also consumers, businesses and civil society groups need to play a role in better management of sustainable development. In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly officially adopted the New Global Agenda, which will guide global activities until 2030, at the meeting and announced the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are aimed to be realized. With the Sustainable Development Report, which is published every year, including the SDG Index and Indicator Tables, work is carried out to cover the member states of the United Nations. This report provides data on countries' performance against the SDGs. The implementation of SDGs is undoubtedly not an easy process, as sustainable development is a development that requires being able to carry out environmental sustainability and social participation together while achieving economic growth. Because these goals are beyond the issues that will allow nations to achieve them alone. While it is difficult to meet every single one of the economic, social and environmental requirements in a rapidly developing and changing world, it is undoubtedly challenging enough for countries to realize these targets, which cover the next 15 years and even require significant investments. At this point, sustainable development is not a natural result of development; It has been seen that environmental sustainability and social inclusion are as important perspectives as economic development. In this context, it should be ensured that the manufacturing industry, which is an indicator of development, takes important steps towards sustainable development by adopting ecopreneurship activities and thus enabling it to use resources less and to produce less waste. The aim of this study is to present business models within the scope of sustainable (cleaner) production that adopts ecopreneurial approaches in the leather, textile and ceramic sectors within the framework of the developments in the world of sustainable development goals. Especially within the scope of specialization of Uşak University, studies were carried out for the Leather, Textile and Ceramic sectors. In order to measure the sustainability, ecopreneurship and sustainable (cleaner) production perception of the enterprises within the scope of the study and to determine the studies carried out in this context, the forms were filled with semi-structured interview technique and analyzes were made. Compliance with national and international legislation, environmental policies, ecopreneurship activities and sustainable (cleaner) production infrastructures of businesses operating in these sectors have been observed. Possible applications to increase ecopreneurship and sustainable (cleaner) production activities were evaluated. As a result of these evaluations, new models were made into templates, taking into account the transformation of the world and the opinions of sector representatives.