David Harding-Brown
How Can Brands Bring Bio-Based Materials to Scale (and Should They)?
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / A large audience gathered at this SB ’15 London breakout session Tuesday to (hopefully!) learn more about what appeared to be a very niche subject.A preliminary display of hands around the room confirmed the lack of experience around bio-materials, but also confirmed the enthusiasm to learn. Moderator Kathryn Sheridan provided expertise throughout and eased the audience through a range of background technical detail that many may have found daunting. However, the emphasis was kept firmly on the tie-up with brands and opportunities for the future, rather than an hour-long chemistry lesson.The session started with panel introductions: - 7 years ago
Innovating for Sustainability - A Game of Two Halves?
Organizational Change / Julian Borra of the Thin Air Factory and Thomas Kolster, author of Goodvertising, provided another immensely entertaining and engaging presentation from SB ’14 London’s main stage in Tuesday’s afternoon brief session. Every footballing cliché in the book was employed to warm up the expectant audience, and we weren’t disappointed.This sustainability tag-team took us on a journey towards new thought processes in problem-solving. They pointed out that innovation for sustainability is often more about the way the innovation process is approached and managed, rather than the innovation itself. To illustrate this view, the team offered two thought-provoking quotes: - 8 years ago
#SB14London: The Value of Deeper Collaboration to End Deforestation
Collaboration / Another Tuesday afternoon panel brought together a diverse team of industry figures who shared insights surrounding problems of deforestation and the measures that have been taken to halt the process in a region of British Columbia.The Great Bear Rainforest is the name coined by environmental groups in the mid-1990s to refer to approximately 12,000 sq miles of temperate rainforest in a remote region of Canada, on the British Columbia Coast. The area is particularly noted for its outstanding native forestry of Red Cedar, and also its diverse wildlife, including bears, wolves and whales. - 8 years ago
#SB14London: How Holonomic Thinking Can Help Us Upgrade Our Leadership Skills for the New Economy
Leadership / On the way into this workshop, I overheard a remark that this was a novel session, and involved working with clay … this turned out to be absolutely true, but more on that later.Simon Robinson and Maria Moraes Robinson are the co-authors of Holonomics: Business Where People and Planet Matter. The obvious question is, what exactly is ‘Holonomics’? Simon explained that he and Maria had struggled to find a suitable term for the point where ‘wholeness’ and ‘economics’ converge, and decided to create Holonomics, shorthand to describe the way in which we view the outside world, and especially the naturally occurring but complex systems in nature. - 8 years ago
Montague's 'Storydoing' the Antidote to Bland Ad Messaging, Artificial Brand Positioning
Marketing and Comms / This Monday afternoon workshop offered great insight into the way innovative and successful companies have made the transformation from a culture of Storytelling to one of “Storydoing.” For those not familiar with the term, Ty Montague (author of True Story: How to Combine Story and Action to Transform Your Business) set the scene by doing just that, and telling us a story. - 8 years ago
Unilever Details How It Is 'Making Progress, Driving Change' in Living Plan Update
Leadership / It’s said that the likely success of any company initiative can be gauged by the support and involvement of the senior management. If this is true, then the support demonstrated by the presence of so many of Unilever’s top team at the latest ‘Sustainable Living Plan’ update gives a clear demonstration of the organisation’s commitment to achieve and exceed the goals set. - 9 years ago