Collaboration
Follow the growing amount of collaborative work — cross-functional, cross-sector, pre-competitive and more — bringing about massive, disruptive, needed shifts to business as usual.
Marriott Joins Global Campaign to Halt Human Trafficking
Marriott is among the first tourism companies to partner with a new global campaign aimed at raising awareness about the most common illicit goods and services that tourists might be exposed to while traveling.The “Your Actions Count — Be a Responsible Traveler” campaign provides guidance for travelers to recognize possible situations of trafficking in persons, wildlife, cultural artifacts, illicit drugs and counterfeit goods, and invites them to take action through responsible consumer choices, such as alerting the proper authorities to situations. A central focus of the initiative will be reaching out to young people, spreading the anti-trafficking message to future generations of travelers, Marriott says.
Unilever, IFAD Form Public-Private Partnership to Benefit Smallholder Farmers Worldwide
Unilever recently announced a public-private partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) aimed at helping to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers around the world.The goal of the 5-year global agreement — the first of its kind by IFAD with the private sector — is to help improve food security through:
7UP-Project 7 Partnership Encouraging Soda Drinkers to 'Make Your Bottle Count'
Project 7, a mission-driven company that donates proceeds from the sale of its products (including bottled water, gum, mints and coffee) to one of seven social and environmental causes, has rather appropriately teamed up with 7UP® for a campaign to “make every bottle count.”
WWF, Mondi Group Partner to Increase Environmental Stewardship in Paper Industry
WWF and international paper and packaging conglomerate Mondi Group announced Wednesday that they have formed a three-year strategic partnership aimed at increasing environmental stewardship in the packaging and paper sectors.The project will see the two parties focusing on minimizing the impacts of Mondi’s operations on forests, climate and water, and fostering sustainable practices in the industry. WWF says the partnership, which links one of the largest packaging, pulp and paper producers in the world with the world’s largest conservation organization, sends a strong signal that prioritizing environmental sustainability makes good business sense.
Tea Industry Leaders Aiming to Make World’s Favorite Beverage a 'Hero Crop'
Every cup of tea you drink should help better the lives of the people who produce it, improve the environment where it is grown, and contribute to a thriving global industry, according to a new report from some of sector’s biggest players, launched today by global sustainability nonprofit Forum for the Future.Unilever, Yorkshire Tea, Tata Global Beverages and James Finlay are among members of the Tea 2030 partnership calling for the sector to find legal ways to collaborate — whilst continuing to compete vigorously — to turn tea from a standard commodity into a “hero crop,“ which benefits the millions who work in all parts of the industry as well as the wider environment and economy.
New UN-Backed Report Calls for More Private Sector Engagement in REDD+
What is REDD+?Accounting for 15 percent of global annual greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation has turned what should be our largest terrestrial carbon sink into our second largest source of climate-changing emissions. Although deforestation is estimated to cost the global economy $2-5 trillion each year, we continue to place higher value on cut forests than standing.Why are we perpetuating such perverse economic incentives, and what can we do to create a more sustainable paradigm for economic development?
Are You Choosing Gold You Can Be Proud of This Valentine's Day?
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and this year thousands of Americans are planning on something beyond just flowers and chocolates. February 14 is one of the biggest days of the year to shop for jewelry — last year, Americans spent more than $4 billion on baubles for their loved ones.But behind the glitter of the gold ring often lies an uncomfortable reality: the destructive impacts of irresponsible mining. Many mining companies are notorious for violation of human rights, destruction of natural areas and hazardous dumping of toxic waste.
H&M Pumps $9.3 M into WaterAid to Bring Safe Water, Toilets and Hygiene to Schools
H&M and WaterAid on Tuesday launched a new global partnership aimed at improving the health, education and future prospects of students by delivering safe water, sanitation and hygiene education programs in schools throughout the developing world.The initiative will not only transform the lives of students by delivering immediate and long-term improvements to health and education, but also influence national and international policies around the right to safe water and sanitation, H&M says.To make this happen H&M, through its philanthropic arm the H&M Conscious Foundation, will donate $9.3 million.
IKEA Solar Lighting Campaign Seeks to Brighten Lives of Refugees in UN Camps
The IKEA Foundation has launched a two-month campaign to raise funds to provide solar-powered lighting and other renewable energy technologies to UN refugee camps run through the sale of light bulbs in its stores around the world.For every LEDARE model LED bulb sold at IKEA from February 3 until March 29, the IKEA Foundation will donate €1 to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable Releases First Common GHG Guidelines
The Coca-Cola Company, AB InBev, Diageo and other members of the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) recently published a document that creates the industry’s first common framework for greenhouse gas emissions reporting.
B Team Leaders Call for Business to Drive Inclusive Prosperity
They lack neither influence, nor the ability to use it. But there is one asset that business leaders at the World Economic Forum this week could usefully exploit further: the power to advance the wider interests of people and planet. With UN climate change negotiations under way and as the UN designs its flagship Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, business needs to engage.
First I:CO City Initiative Helping San Francisco Achieve Zero Textile Waste
I:CO, a leading global, end-to-end solutions provider for the reuse and recycling of clothing, shoes and other textiles, today launches its first-ever I:CO City initiative with the City of San Francisco. The launch creates a public, private and non-profit infrastructure to make it easy, convenient and rewarding for residents and businesses to recycle textile-related items.In alignment with San Francisco’s goal of zero waste by 2020, I:CO will serve as the lead textile collection and processing partner to divert this waste from landfill and give these items new life.
The Collaborative Economy: 2014 Hot Topic and Trend
According to a Berkeley study, one properly shared car reduces the need for nine owned cars. Participating in a car co-op may not be up your alley, but there are plenty of Millennials eschewing ownership and Boomers that are downsizing who buy into the notion of the “Collaborative Economy” — making co-owning cars a viable option for some.
Upskilling for Post Growth Futures, Together
When I was seven, I was given an Apple Macintosh in the hope that Mavis Beacon would teach me how to touch type. It was an unreasonable expectation, for I was actually more interested in escaping to the fantasy lands of Dungeons and Dragons and Lode Runner. Yet, these games had a lasting, unexpected impact on my thirst for learning. In playing Dungeons and Dragons, I remember being particularly excited each time my archetypal characters would gain ‘experience points’ that enabled them to upgrade their abilities.
Nestlé Partners with Stem Cell Tech Company to Study Link Between Nutrition and Disease
The Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS) has signed a long-term research agreement with Wisconsin-based Cellular Dynamics International (CDI), a leading developer of stem cell technologies for in vitro drug development, stem cell banking and in vivo cellular therapeutic research.The agreement gives Nestlé access to certain types of CDI’s cell products to support nutrition-research programs on maintaining health and helping to prevent conditions such as diabetes and obesity.
H&M Backs Civil Rights Defenders
H&M has announced a partnership with Civil Rights Defenders (CRD), a Swedish non-profit organization that works to support human rights around the world. The fashion retail giant says it will donate 4 million SEK (~US$609k) to support their work for human rights.CRD says the support is a welcome addition that will enhance the organization’s long-term commitment to human rights. “We are delighted that H&M has decided to support us in this way. The donation will allow us to fund our ongoing human rights work and in particular to ensure assistance is available for vulnerable human rights defenders who operate in some of the world’s most repressive states,” says Civil Rights Defenders executive director Robert Hårdh.
D&AD's White Pencil Teams Up with TIE to Create New League of 'Social Intrepreneurs'
The D&AD White Pencil, an award that highlights excellent creative ideas with a social purpose — now in its third year — is the world’s top prize for design, advertising or digital work that addresses key social, political or ethical issues.In order to demonstrate its increasing commitment to supporting positive change through creativity, D&AD is now collaborating with The International Exchange (TIE) — a leadership development programme that combines the expertise within agencies and studios with the needs of NGOs to create positive, sustainable change — to offer two TIE placements to this year’s White Pencil nominees.
Ford C-Max Solar Energi Concept Provides Sunny Glimpse of Future for Clean Vehicles
Ford Motor Company announced today the C-MAX Solar Energi Concept, a first-of-its-kind sun-powered vehicle with the potential to deliver the best features of a plug-in hybrid without relying on the electric grid for fuel. The concept car will be exhibited at the 2014 International CES in Las Vegas next week.Instead of powering its battery from an electrical outlet, the C-MAX Solar Energi Concept harnesses the power of the sun by using a special concentrator that acts as a magnifying glass, directing rays to solar panels on the vehicle roof.
Sustainability as an Emergent Property: What Can We Learn from the Super-Organisms?
In the ongoing drive to create and communicate about sustainability in the emerging economy, it can be useful to conceive of sustainability not as a quantifiable end goal, but as an emergent property. An emergent property arises when individual components or actions, combined together, collectively generate a higher-level aggregate experience. Think democracy. Or plague. Or community. One does not "do" sustainability anymore than one "does" community. One co-creates community through all of the little deeds — hosting the potluck, planning the carpool, sharing the tool shed. Like community, sustainability — or any emergent property — arises out of the contributions made and conditions created in service of a shared reality.
Lincoln Introducing Tree-Based Alternative to Fiberglass for Interior Parts in 2014 MKX
While many Lincoln MKX drivers may be tying trees to the top of their vehicles this time of year, 2014 will see the MKX crossover with tree-based components inside the vehicle.A three-year collaboration between The Lincoln Motor Company, timber giant Weyerhaeuser and auto parts supplier Johnson Controls has birthed a tree-based, renewable alternative to fiberglass for use in auto parts.