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What does a sustainable organisation look like?

The most frequent introductory question I am asked as a strategic sustainability consultant is: what on earth is that? My simple response is that I help make organisations more sustainable – which is usually met with a fractionally less blank expression than before I replied. The problem we have, in my neck of the sustainability woods, is that most people have been led to think that the only measures of sustainability are energy/carbon and waste; with water perhaps sliding in from the wings making a more recent appearance. Yes of course it is true that understanding these impacts and reducing them is the backbone of a more sustainablebusiness. However, trying to achieve this sequentially looking at each impact in turn, as appears to be the norm, is likely to yield fragmented and unsatisfactory outcomes in our brave new world. The reason is that, like it or not, the resource issues we face in the coming decades will not be solved with tidy little incremental improvements. So whilst it is great to see businesses engaging with the issues, they won’t thank people like me for presenting the tasks through rose-tinted glasses. It’s tough out there and the companies that will survive and thrive are those who look at the whole business; looking at all the issues simultaneously and holistically and then developing a clear plan to resolve them in an integrated way. To some this might seem overwhelming – so isn’t it better to look at one thing at a time and move on to the next issue? Logic might suggest yes; but here’s the rub. Let’s assume your business takes the singular approach. Let’s start with energy. We all know there are some great ‘quick wins’ to be had in areas like lighting, boilers and refrigeration. Let’s assume the estate/facilities […]

Land grabs and fragile food systems

Farmers around the world are having land they’ve worked for generations taken from under their feet. IATP has worked on trade and agriculture for more than 25 years. In all that time, consistently arguing that trade agreements need to respect and promote human rights, not drive a process of globalization that privileges commercial interests and pushes public interests aside. Globalisation enshrined in thefreetrade and investment agreements of the 1990s and 2000s have led to yet another manifestation of commercial interests trampling human rights: land grabs. ‘Land grabs’ is a term coined by the media to describe large-scale purchases or leases of agricultural or forest land on terms that do not serve those already living on the land. There is a large and growing body of literature-academic and more popular-on land grabs. Two forces have contributed significantly to the problem: First, globalisation-more specifically, the deregulation of trade and foreign investment laws, which has greatly eased cross-border capital flows, relaxed the limits on foreign land ownership, and opened markets to agricultural imports. And second, the failures of the international trading system during the food price crisis of 2007-08, which eroded the confidence of food import dependent countries in international markets as a reliable source of food and fed both speculative investment and investment in actual food production. This loss of confidence is compounded by climate change and the resulting destabilisation of weather patterns, which has resulted in less predictable agricultural production. Between 1995 and 2005,Ê90 percent of natural disasters were weather related (floods and droughts as opposed to earthquakes and volcanoes). Climate change is making domestic food supplies less certain and affecting major producers for export, too. The United States lost 40 percent of a record large number of acres planted with maize to drought in 2012. That loss of confidence has […]

Social Trash Box

Toyohashi Tech researchers use ‘robotic social trash boxes’ to investigate interactions between humans and robots for improving robot-to-human communications. Humans regulate their interactions according to different contexts, the degree of the relationship, cultural factors, gender, age, and so on. These factors can be utilised as an interpersonal boundary-control mechanism which is totally dependent on encouraging or discouraging another person’s interactions. Humans are expected to dynamically optimize the above mechanism according to the interpersonal distances and personal spaces (proxemics). Michio Okada and colleagues at Toyohashi University of Technology were interested in determining what kind of distances (spheres), effective social cue, and behaviors that an sociable trash box (STB) requires with children in order to convey its intention to acquire child assistance in collecting trash from the environment as a child-dependent robot. The experiments were carries out at the Developmental Center for Children at Toyohashi City, and evaluated the validity and effectiveness of the approach through different interactive scenarios. The experiments on naturally interacting with the STBs were conducted with the participation of 108 children aged 4 and 11 years old). The results of the proxemics showed that when the STBs moved individually in the environment and moved in a swarm (three STBs), the children established different spaces (according to distance and interactive time) to interact with the STB. These extracted spaces can be utilised in the STB decision process (moving with distances, staying time and so on) to convey its intention to collect trash with assistance from children. This will be the basis of future plans to extend study in order to develop a decision hierarchy inside of the STBs.

How eggshell recycling could save waste and create new materials

by Ray Cooling It must be the ultimate in recycling … using previously unwanted eggshells to protect eggs! The project devised by scientists working in the United Kingdom plans to turn eggshells into plastics that could be used to manufacture anything from food packaging to construction materials. Part of project will see matter extracted from eggshells that may prove valuable in the pharmaceuticals industry. A research project at the University of Leicester, central England is looking at eggs and eggshells in a fresh light and is being funded by the UK’s Food and Drink iNet (innovation network). The plan is to find useful ways of recycling eggshells that are currently regarded as waste by food producers and which has to be disposed of in landfill sites at serious cost. The Food and Drink iNet is supporting the project with the university to discover innovative ideas of using eggshells practically in various ways to be seen as income generating by egg producers, rather than a financial drain on their business. Scientists in the Department of Chemistry at Leicester University who specialise in ‘green chemistry’ and sustainable materials are looking at how to extract glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), proteins that are found in eggshells. GAGs are used in numerous biomedical applications and could prove useful in pharmaceuticals. The Just Egg company in Leicester is a hard-boiled egg and mayonnaise manufacturer that uses about 1.3 million eggs every week, creating 10 tonnes of eggshells. The firm spends about 30,000 pounds a year sending 480 tonnes of shells to landfill for disposal. Managing director Pankaj Pancholi believes the research could bring big benefits to the food and drink sector. “If I wasn’t spending the 30,000 pounds a year on landfill costs I could employ another worker or two part-time workers, or invest that money in research […]

Urban agriculture: Growing food in our cities

City dwellers have been growing their own food for millennia, but the concept of urban agriculture been formally recognised in research and public policy since the mid 1990s. Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has played a leading role in forging this new discipline and raising awareness of it. In issue 25 of Urban Agriculture Magazine – RUAF 10 years, IDRC program officer and urban agriculture (UA) specialist Luc Mougeot traces the achievements of this young field and the challenges its practitioners face. Taking the lead Before the 1990s, interest in unregulated ‘city farming’ had been largely confined to academic research, often conducted by individual scholars who approached UA primarily from the viewpoint of the informal economy. The rising costs of energy and food, water shortages, and worries about food safety shifted the perspective on city farming toward concerns like food security, eco-development, and self-reliance. Later still, it moved toward urban environmental management and sustainability issues such as waste recycling. In the early 1990s development assistance organisations began placing UA on their agendas. Mougeot traces this growing attention to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. UNCEDÕs Agenda 21 plan encouraged local governments to become involved in managing city environments. In the same year the United Nations Development Programme, as Mougeot puts it, “invited IDRC to take the lead on UA.” IDRC’s efforts accelerated to become a full program of work, highlighted by two phases of its ambitious Cities Feeding People research initiative carried out from 1996 to 2005. Bearing fruit Also during that decade, local governments worldwide began paying attention to UA and raising the issue in international forums, particularly the United Nations. One important side-effect of this shift was that the UN system became more receptive to implementing its own initiatives […]

How do you build an international university from Scratch?

By Francisco Marmolejo Recently, I wrote a column discussing the challenges and opportunities associated with the creation of new higher-education institutions, in which I made reference to the specific case of Albukhary International University in Malaysia. This second article describes interesting experiences of a similar kind in India. School children in India. Poised to become the most populous country in the world by 2030, India is facing tremendous challenges in addressing the educational needs of its citizens. To put into context the magnitude of the educational challenge that confronts India, there are more than 370 million Indian school-age citizens (ages 6-23) representing a cohort larger than the entire population of the U.S. and three times the total population of Mexico. Considering the fertility rates in India, this number will remain unchanged for the next 40 years. By comparison, the college-age population in China will be reduced an estimated 23 percent over the same period. Currently, for each preschool student in the U.S., there are four in India, and the number of elementary education students in India is almost six times larger than in the U.S. How can India cope with such great demand? The Indian government has estimated that it will be necessary to build 1,000 new universities and 50,000 colleges by 2020 in order to accommodate expected demand. Just think about the need to build an average of 125 new universities and 6,250 new colleges per year. Among the many universities being built in India, I will discuss two interesting cases. Top-Down Approach: The Case of Ambedkar University A common practice in creating new higher-education institutions is to evolve bottom-up, first establishing a few undergraduate programs, and eventually, in a second stage, creating related graduate programs using a cautious incremental approach. It is an obvious formula, which, in some […]

Report on LNG Project in PNG warns of major challenges

A new report on the impacts of the multi-billion dollar Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project in Papua New Guinea highlights the industry’s achievements in addressing social change but warns of continuing major concerns that need to be addressed. The report, The Community Good Examining the Influence of the PNG LNG Project in the Hela Region of Papua New Guinea, finds that, although the project has boosted the local economy through employment, the project is fuelling community tensions because of inadequate community awareness-raising, belief that the process of landowner identification is flawed and community concern about how project benefits will be shared. At the same time, the report notes the potential for resolution through constructive stakeholder dialogue. The Liquefied Natural Gas Project (LNGP) will extract natural gas from the Hela region in the Highlands, condition and send it to the coast for liquefaction before exporting the gas to overseas markets. The initial construction phase of the LNGP began in 2010, with its completion expected in 2014. Oxfam New Zealand’s Executive Director, Barry Coates said this report was an important reminder that while large-scale resource-extraction projects could deliver economic development benefits, it was vital that they also resulted in enduring improvements to human well-being. This was not always an easy task, but it certainly was possible. “Throughout this research, the voices of the people of Hela Province can be heard – loud and clear,” Mr Coates said. “We hope that decision makers give proper consideration to this important study to ensure that benefits from the LNG project are maximised for all citizens of Papua New Guinea, particularly women and children in those communities where the impact of the project will be the greatest.” “All stakeholders must take responsibility to ensure that the project does not cause harm to local people. The New […]

Eco marketing: What price green consumerism?

Remember the innocent days of the 1980s ethical consumer movement? New Age entrepreneurs rode the green wave into the hearts and malls of the world. The promise? Buying pricey ice-cream or hair rinse made with Brazil nuts (or the stocks of the companies that made those products) would make the world a better place. That myth crashed. Consumers, it turned out, were not willing to buy idealism in a bottle if it came at a premium. Two decades later, green marketing remains with us, more intense than ever. Is green yet more than a fad? The Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability annual survey estimates that 13-19% of American adults are dedicated green buyers Ð a $290bn market. The US-based Cone Communications estimates that 70% of American consumers consider the environmental impact of their purchasing. The UK and Europe show similar numbers. According to marketing experts, however, these figures are wildly overstated, reflecting attitudes, not buying patterns. “Buying green products presents people with a social dilemma: they have to be willing to pay premium prices – not for their own direct benefit, but for the greater good,” says professor Shruti Gupta of Penn State University, a world expert in ethical behaviour. ‘While people love to voice their idealism to survey companies, the cold facts are they almost always put their self-interest first.” Take Elizabeth Romanaux, a consultant from New Jersey interviewed by the American Association of Retired People for a magazine piece about green buying. She considers herself environmentally conscious. She recycles. She composts. But she won’t pay a premium for an eco-friendly hotel room or cleaning products. “It isn’t that I can’t afford them,” she told AARP Magazine. “It just goes against my grain to pay more.” “Consumers will buy pricier green products,” Gupta says, “but only if they are […]

Environmentalism Lost and Found

Mainstream environmentalism is preoccupied with giant technofixes – from windfarms to ‘sustainable consumption’ – and pays almost no attention to the underlying cultural reasons why our civilisation is destroying the planet. Somewhere along the way of observing and experiencing the degradation of the planet, environmentalism morphed from being a project designed to protect the wider natural world from destruction by human industry, into a project that exists to protect the lifestyles of middle-class consumers in as ‘sustainable’ way as possible. We are kidding ourselves that we will not have to radically change our ways; if oil, food and commodity prices keep on rising, then localisation will happen, if not for economic rather than simply sentimental reasons. The effects of the 2008 collapse are still playing themselves out, but globalisation is already in retreat. In ten years time, the world will look very different. By acting now, rather than waiting for systems to fail catastrophically and force our hands, the long-term future for renewal can be extremely bright. Ridiculously high land property prices and entrenched land ownership patters are major obstacles preventing an intelligent use of our countryside today, but as a greater majority of the world’s population migrates towards urban living, cities must regenerate and reinvent themselves. But the exciting thing about cities is their dynamism and agility in adapting and renewing themselves, absorbing new ideas and becoming more enjoyable places to live and work. The new element in the mix is climate change, and so all development must now embrace social, economic and environmental sustainability. Consumers have traditionally expected governments to take the lead in protecting the environment, but now they are looking more to the corporate world to take action, rather than individuals with political influence. Increasingly, Asians want economic growth but believe it should be achieved through […]

Ben & Jerry’s – A bumpy road for social mission pioneers

By Brad Edmondson Ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s was one of the first companies to promote corporate citisenship and sustainability. But the journey has not been easy, as a new book explains. US ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s was established in the late 1970s. Over the next decade, it developed an ambitious three-part mission: making the world’s best ice cream; supporting progressive causes; and sharing the company’s success with all stakeholders: employees, suppliers, distributors and customers. Founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, friends since childhood, set up the company, managed it as it grew and then eventually, reluctantly, sold it to Unilever in 2000. In extracts from his new book Ice Cream Social: the struggle for the soul of Ben & Jerry’s, Brad Edmondson outlines how Ben and Jerry’s was an early adopter of progressive company social and environmental policies, and why. From the start, it was important for Ben & Jerry’s that working conditions for employees improved as financial conditions improved. Surveys taken in 1997 and 1998 showed that employees saw the social mission as a critical part of the company’s success. Every employee was awarded both company stock and stock options in 1998, too. As far as linked prosperity goes, Ben & Jerry’s was walking the talk. In 1997, the board’s social mission committee asked every department head to set social mission goals for the following year. They were ready to take things to a new level. Co-founder Ben Cohen and other board members wanted to integrate the social mission horizontally by adding it to policies in every department, from manufacturing to human resources, operations, waste disposal, franchise operations, philanthropy and finance. They also wanted to integrate the mission vertically by adding social metrics at every stage of the supply chain. This sometimes meant re-engineering […]

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