Shifting the business goalposts

Home-grown version of a UK sustainability initiative aims to shake up traditional business.

The backing of a UK-based environmental organisation is boosting local efforts to transform the sustainability of business practices.

New Zealand's Sustainable Business Network (SBN) has teamed up with the UK's Forum for the Future, which has developed a programme aimed at changing whole sectors to embrace sustainability.

Titled #theBIGshift, it is the culmination of 20 years' work by the Forum for the Future and is based on the understanding that "no single company or organisation can make a genuine shift towards a sustainable future on its own", Forum chief executive Sally Uren says.

The campaign is based around "system innovation" in which practical actions are used to shift a system, anything from a business sector, city or whole economy, to a more sustainable path.

Here in New Zealand, the SBN, a not-for-profit organisation with 500 members from across the business, government and non-profit spectrum, has adapted the Forum's strategy to create a home-grown version of #theBIGshift.

"Rather than spending a lot of time inventing our own framework, we looked to a proven framework and Forum for the Future were happy to share their knowledge around the tools and how it's best implemented," James Griffin, the network general manager at the SBN, says.

He says the SBN has identified four key areas that not only encapsulate the key issues in creating an economy focused on sustainability but play to the SBN's strengths:

• Accelerating the circular economy in New Zealand - moving from waste management to material optimisation

• Embedding social value into business models - linking social issues to organisational growth

• Accelerating smart transport in New Zealand - addressing one of the toughest challenges in renewable energy

• Restoring New Zealand's food system - creating a successful restorative food system

Griffin, who is heading up the circular economy work stream, says the project recognises dealing with environmental sustainability can be too big and complex for individual organisations to tackle alone.

The SBN is promoting a collaborative approach to tease out the issues around creating sustainable systems before working on commercially driven solutions.

It will be utilising the strength of its nationwide network to advance the project.

"Although there is going to be some robust discussion as we go through, we're keen for businesses and organisations to have a voice and to have an impact on these work streams so hopefully there will be some form of ownership," Griffin says.

In the UK, #theBIGshift has formed partnerships with organisations such as Nike, Unilever and AkzoNobel, interested in building sustainability into their businesses and wider business sectors. Here in New Zealand, support has already come from the likes of INZIDE Commercial, a carpet tile manufacturer aiming to have all its products either recyclable or biodegradable by 2020, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare who are both partners in the "circular economy" work stream.

Griffin says the SBN is looking to showcase the progress of pioneers in business sustainability "because we know that case studies resonate with businesses".

Tailoring the Forum for the Future's work for introduction to New Zealand organisations is the focus of Project NZ: #theBIGshift, a conference by the SBN on September 17 - 18 at the AUT Business School in Auckland.

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