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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.

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How Do Sustainability Research Centers Influence Business School Curriculum?

This is the fourth of six questions from a roundtable discussion with the directors of sustainability research centers at six top business schools.We have a big opportunity to influence curriculum within the entire university right now. And in the context of that we’ll have the same opportunity within the College of Business.In a nutshell, as part of reaffirming its accreditation every 10 years, Georgia Tech needs to put together a five-year Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that touches undergraduate education across all colleges.

Strength in Numbers: Erb Institute Harnesses the Power of Consensus

Tom Catania’s role at Whirlpool Corporation wasn’t specifically to shape the company’s sustainability efforts. But in more than 25 years with the appliance manufacturer, the last 14 as Vice President for Government Affairs, Catania’s job called on him to help identify public policy conflicts and bring together diverse interests to find consensus.His role at the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise is much the same. “My focus had always been on trying to identify public policy issues and turning them into business opportunities, and I think we were pretty successful at doing that,” Catania said.

How to Work with Academic Research Centers: Funding & Commitment

I held a roundtable discussion with the directors of sustainability centers and institutes at six top business schools to learn more about how they engage with industry. One of the questions was: What are your expectations for funding or engagement time when working with industry?For curriculum-based projects, we don’t lead the discussions with anything that involves a fee for services.

Bridgestone's Sustainability Hub: A Dialogue on Solving Survey Fatigue, Part 2

How do companies deal with mushrooming sustainability data requests coming in from all directions – raters, investors, B2B customers? In Part 1 of this dialogue, Bridgestone Americas’ Director of Environmental Affairs, Tim Bent, discussed the company’s Sustainability Hub, developed with the help of PivotGoals project manager Jeff Gowdy to interface Bridgestone’s environmental, social, governance and economic data with incoming questionnaires.

Catalyzing Change: Georgia Tech Establishes Hub for Sustainable Business Collaboration

Howard Connell, managing director of Georgia Tech’s new Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business, points to the panel of presenters at the Center’s inaugural event as an example of how it plans to address the systemic complexities of sustainability.

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Study: Businesses Strengthening Sustainability Through Collaborations

A growing number of companies are turning to collaborations — with suppliers, NGOs, industry alliances, governments and even competitors — to become more sustainable, according to new research by MIT Sloan Management Review, The Boston Consulting Group and the UN Global Compact.The study, Joining Forces: Collaboration and Leadership for Sustainability, found that, as sustainability issues become increasingly complex, global in nature and pivotal to success, companies are realizing that they can’t make the necessary impact acting alone.

Bridgestone's Sustainability Hub: A Dialogue on Solving Survey Fatigue

How do companies deal with mushrooming sustainability data requests coming in from all directions – raters, investors, B2B customers? Bridgestone Americas’ Director of Environmental Affairs, Tim Bent, decided to get systematic about it – working with PivotGoals project manager Jeff Gowdy, they created a Sustainability Hub to interface the company’s environmental, social, governance and economic data with incoming questionnaires.

What Are the Success Factors and Risks for Relationships Between Industry and Academia?

This is the second of five questions from a roundtable discussion with the directors of sustainability research centers at six top business schools. See part one here.When we think about relationships with industry, we think of three key success factors.

Do Sustainability Research Centers View Industry as a Partner or a Client?

I held a roundtable discussion with the directors of sustainability centers and institutes at six top business schools to learn more about how they engage with industry.The first question was: Do you view industry more as a partner or client?I may get us off to a bad start, because I want to say “both.” I would say as a partner, because we rely on industry to give us insights into what knowledge and skills our students need to learn. But then as a client, when we’re doing consulting projects for companies.

Florida’s First Community and Restaurant Supported Fishery Planned For Key West

Dock to Dish, a New York-based community and restaurant supported fishery, has announced plans to open Florida’s first community supported fishery in Key West next month in conjunction with Key West restaurateur Chris Holland and the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association.The goal of the new enterprise is to bring the health benefits of locally harvested fish and seafood back to local consumers while helping to strengthen the in-state commercial fishing industry, Dock to Dish says.

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Largest Tuna Supplier in Western Pacific Agrees to Provide MSC-certified Tuna

FCF Fishery Company (FCF) has announced that its joint investment, Nambawan, and its associated fleet, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PNAO/Pacifical as a commitment to maintaining Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sustainability standards while trading tuna harvested from Pacific Island Nations (PNA) waters.Under the agreement, FCF will work with the PNA and Pacifical on criteria for certification and ensuring traceability and reporting from fish harvested to transportation, and processing into its semi-finished and finished products.

Al Gore, Pharrell Williams Talk Climate Change at WEF Annual Meeting

World leaders, activists and celebrities have descended on Davos, Switzerland this week to discuss everything from Ebola to climate change and the future shape of the world economy at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2015.

Dutch Tech Reclaims Organic Fertilizer at Drinking Water Plants

Royal HaskoningDHV has partnered with Dutch water supply company Vitens to help other drinking water companies around the world recover humic acid, an organic fertilizer.Humic acid is often discharged as a waste product during the drinking water blanching process. However, it can now be reclaimed sustainably in its pure form, providing an organic soil improver.

Mars, UC Davis Launch Innovation Institute for Food and Health

Mars, in partnership with UC Davis, launched the Innovation Institute for Food and Health, part of the university's World Food Center, at a day-long symposium on Wednesday. Laureates and other leading scientists discussed major challenges relating to improving global food security, sustainable agriculture and health for a growing world population.The Innovation Institute is being supported over the next 10 years with a pledge of $40 million from Mars and $20 million from UC Davis and aims to advance new discoveries in sustainable food, agriculture and health.

BASF, Boeing Join DOE Program to Develop Advanced Composites

57 companies, including BASF, Boeing and Ford, have joined the Department of Energy’s new Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Advanced Composites. A consortium of companies, nonprofits and universities led by the University of Tennessee-Knoxville are investing more than $250 million to launch the Institute, focused on cutting-edge research on advanced fiber-reinforced polymer composites, which combine strong fibers with tough plastics that are lighter and stronger than steel.

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New Global Traceable Down Standard Addresses Animal Welfare, Supply Chain Traceability from Farm to Factory

In 2013, after years of efforts to develop the highest standard for animal welfare in the industry, outdoor goods retailer and manufacturer Patagonia published its 100% Traceable Down Standard to provide a roadmap for other brands to meet the same high bar and prevent needless animal suffering. Patagonia says it is the only company to date to have fully implemented this rigorous standard, which it achieved in 2014.

Timberland Reforestation Program Slowly Sowing Seeds of Change in Haiti

Timberland has long been one of the more proactive and socially responsible companies within the apparel industry, and this commitment has continued since its acquisition in 2011 by the multinational VF Corporation. The outdoor gear company has launched a bevy of social responsibility programs across the globe and reports on its environmental, social and governance progress quarterly. Now, leading up to the five-year anniversary of Haiti’s devastating earthquake on January 12, the company is promoting the work it has done to help the Caribbean nation rebuild.

Brown-Forman, BeMyDD Partnering for Holiday Designated Driver Program

Just in time for this season of excess and merrymaking, BeMyDD (Be My Designated Driver), the nation’s largest designated driver service, has launched a joint promotion with Brown-Forman Corporation, one of the U.S.’ largest wine and spirits companies — with brands including Jack Daniel’s, Southern Comfort, Finlandia, Korbel and others — that offers first-time users of the BeMyDD transportation service a US$20 discount on their first reservation.

Field to Market Announces Goals to Advance Sustainability of U.S. Agriculture

Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture has announced goals to advance the sustainability of U.S. agriculture, committing its membership of 66 grower organizations to driving sustainable outcomes for corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, potatoes and other crops in six key areas:

IKEA, Mars, Novelis, Unilever Among 233 Companies Expressing Support for EPA's Clean Power Plan

Marking the end of the comment period on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, 223 companies have announced their support for EPA’s proposed carbon standard for electric power plants, including IKEA, Mars Inc., VF Corporation, Novelis, Levi Strauss, Unilever and Nestlé.

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