Challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss can be tough to tackle. Here’s a model for taking the first step. — By Maya Fischhoff Sustainability issues can feel overwhelming. But they get more manageable when you have the tools to tackle them and a group to support you. That was the conclusion of a day-long workshop: “Systems Change for Sustainability: Connecting and Collaborating on Grand Challenges.” The workshop united more than…

Innovation North’s Compass Provides a Practical Guide to Positive Change — By Hannah Hill “How do I innovate when everything is changing so fast?” “I constantly feel like we’re flying an airplane while rebuilding its engine.” “My CEO says, ‘Prove it to me first before I let you try it.’” These are some of the statements we’ve heard at Innovation North…

Avoiding the Harms of ‘Efficiency Culture’ for Effective Collaboration — By BJ Cruse, Maegan Baker, Chelsea Hicks-Webster Western business culture prizes efficiency. It sets targets and deadlines for specific aims. Managers set out a project scope, timeframe, and budget and then do everything possible to deliver on those predetermined aims with as little wasted time as possible. But efficiency has…

Sustainability Jobs Can Be Emotionally Challenging. Can Music Help Us Keep Going? — By Abby Litchfield Network for Business Sustainability Community Manager Abby Litchfield cares about sustainability — and music. Litchfield brought her two passions together with a performance at the 2023 Responsible Management Education Week. In an original song, she expressed the “beauty and pain” of working on sustainability.

Tips for Making Connections and Building Motivation for Climate Action — By Chelsea Hicks-Webster Think your company could do more to tackle climate change? Perhaps you see opportunities to swap dated technology for something more energy efficient. Or maybe you see options for more energy-efficient trucking and logistics. Speaking up can be scary. You might wonder what to say. Or whom…

Companies’ political engagement should actively support the systems on which we all depend. That’s “Corporate Political Responsibility.” By Tom Lyon and Elizabeth Doty Many say that businesses can help solve the world’s problems. Grand challenges like climate change, poverty, and biodiversity loss can benefit from business resources and insights. That…

This session was part of the 2023 NBS Sustainability Centres Community (SCC) Student Engagement Series. Engagement can mean listening to students, enabling their ideas, sparking their interest in sustainability, and more. By Lexi Wright In education, learning outside the classroom is essential. For Goa Institute of Management (GIM), such learning…

Australian Trail Project Provides a Case Study on Creating Trust-Based Relationships — By BJ Cruse, Maegan Baker, and Chelsea Hicks-Webster For centuries, colonialism stripped Indigenous communities around the world of power and resources. Those centuries of oppression left lasting scars. Indigenous leader BJ Cruse describes the impact of colonialism in Australia: “Our community has experienced devastating losses. They were forced off their…

How to recognize barriers employees face and redesign systems to ensure all employees can thrive. — By Erin Huner, Stephanie Torok, Nadine de Gannes, and Chelsea Hicks-Webster Who benefits from the way your workplace is structured? Whose needs are accommodated? Who is made to feel that they belong? If your workplace is like almost every other part of society, it is enabling and welcoming to a…