Sustainability Strategies in Clusters and the Role of Communication

Environmental sustainability impacts on industrial districts and their lifecycle evolutionary processes. Nevertheless, research in this direction is scant, suggesting on the one hand, the role of lead firms of global value chains and, on the other hand, potential contributions of suppliers. The paper explores how district firms have invested in sustainability by analyzing sustainable-oriented communication strategies (certification, web, exhibitions) of Italian leather and jewelry clusters. Results show that districts are evolving by including sustainability in their strategies. A variety of sustainability strategies emerge among district firms, with differences also between firms in B2B and B2C markets.