Regular readers will have seen posts on the blog here for our Green Academy series of environmental training webinars - dozens of people have taken part at one time or another in 2011 and the feedback has been fantastic. Well now we've completed a successful single cycle of the programme, we've launched new pages here on the website. You can peruse all the sessions and book into those you fancy.
If you haven't come across Green Academy yet, I explain how it works here:
And, wait, there's more!
To celebrate, we've decided to run a Christmas special deal. If you book over the festive period, we'll give you a whopping 33% off the Advanced Series (10 webinars, normal cost £330.00+VAT, deal £220.00+VAT - click here to get the discount) and the Introductory Series (4 webinars, normal cost £150+VAT, deal £100+VAT - click here to get the discount).
We have to receive payment by 6 Jan, so get your skates on!
I’ve said it before, and I'll say it again: one of the things I love about the sustainability field is that it is so broad and fast moving that you are constantly learning. This week was full of discovery
On Tuesday I had a meeting with Dan O’Connor of Newcastle University to discuss his (private) venture WARPit – a social-media style reuse portal to allow organisations to trade used furniture etc (check it out here). But our chat about his day job were interesting too:
The Daily Mail’s paranoia knows no bounds. The University’s interesting student bin cam research project to test how a webcam in a student household bin connected to Facebook can affect recycling rates is, in Daily Mail land, a potentially vicious attack on civil liberties by ‘council snoopers’;
Cardboard now has such a scrap value in the UK that gangs are raiding students’ wheelie bins to get their hands on it – theft of metallic items is common when scrap metal prices soar, but I’ve never heard of people stealing cardboard before.
On Thursday I ran three sessions at the Low Carbon Best Practice Exchange at Olympia in London: Staff Engagement, Greening the Supply Chain and Environmental Strategy. We had some great discussions and here are the points that I took home:
There was quite a debate about the role of environmental champions. Most participants in the engagement session had appointed champions, but there wasn’t a clear consensus of why or whether they were actually making a difference. One participant had actually abandoned champions as they found the idea counterproductive in practice (I intend to explore this in a later blog post);
One participant has an almost real time energy consumption readout along with a traffic light system to show if consumption is low (green), high (amber) or very high (red). This is a nice way of converting data into a form that staff can easily grasp and of course you can tighten the amber and red settings to encourage continual improvement;
There was an anecdote about a company that paid actors to dress as cleaners and go through the office bins, tutting over waste that wasn’t being recycled to embarrass staff members. While such stunts only have a transient impact, I like the creative thinking;
Another anecdote was about a company that deliberately but surreptitiously changed their travel system so staff who want to use short haul air have to pay for the tickets out of their own money then submit a claim. Train tickets are purchased directly by the company, so staff members don't have to tie up their own cash in the process. Crafty, possibly underhand, but why not?;
On green procurement, one participant is using broad sustainability questions at the PQQ stage to determine what best practice in that sector might look like. This is then used to benchmark bidders during the formal tender process;
Many junior staff are desperate to get their managers to take a more strategic approach to sustainability, but the latter have their heads in the sand. We discussed many ways of ‘managing up’, but concluded that eventually top level buy-in is required. I am still strongly of the view that delegating the development of a strategy is an oxymoron and a derogation of responsibility.
From July, Green Academy splits into two streams so there will be two sessions on 6 July:
11:00 BST An Introduction to Green Business - a free taster session covering the business case for sustainability, business and sustainability, a selection of inspiring case studies and some information on The Green Academy. E-mail us to register for the session.
14:00 BST Advanced: Green Products and Services - the sixth in the series covers the power of redesign of products and services. Contents include:
Benign by design - the case for changing products and services;
Understanding the market.
Practical techniques to green your product or service;
Advanced innovations (product service systems, virtual products etc);
Finding green market niches for your business in the emerging low carbon economy.
Inspirational case studies.
The advanced session costs just £45.00 + VAT per person to participate - use the button below to pay by card or Paypal. Contact us to make a BACS payment.
"Gareth's webinars are smart, punchy and thought provoking. His approach shows how sustainability is about achieving commercial advantage and not simply an altruistic gesture. Highly recommended." Graeme Mills, GPM Network Ltd.
"[The webinars] are great value and I would recommend them to both CSR professionals and SME owners." Louise Bateman, GreenWise
"I consider this a must for organisations looking for practical help in improving their sustainability performance." Ted Shann, Wipro
My second book, The Green Executive is formally published on Friday next week - 20th May. It seems like an eternity since I started it - I think the first of the 18 'View from the Front Line' interviews were done 2 years ago and the manuscript was pretty much complete last July.
The central premise of the book is that 'green' has shifted from a management issue to a leadership priority, yet research suggests that executives feel ill-equipped for the challenge. The book provides a roadmap for this new breed of Green Executives.
To mark the book's birth, I'm holding online and offline events.
20th May 2011, Webcasts: The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Green Business Leaders. I'm running two sessions at 11am and 2pm - e-mail us to register, making sure you tell us which session you want to take part in.
14th June 2011, Formal Launch Event, Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle upon Tyne, 17:00 for 17:30 with drinks and nibbles afterwards. Again, e-mail us to register.
BTW, this month's Low Carbon Agenda contains loads of content and free downloads relating to The Green Executive. Check it out.
Here's some of the kind words people have said about the book:
“There are too many out there making it up as they go along. Reading the Green Executive will help you see the opportunity amongst the bullshit.”
Dr Stan Higgins, CEO, North East Process Industry Cluster
“It is most refreshing to read a book in which opinions and advice are supported by facts and figures from authoritative sources. As a practical handbook it deserves to be read and heeded by executives from across the spectrum.”
Professor Dermot Roddy C.Eng., FIET, FRSA Science City Professor of Energy Director, Sir Joseph Swan Centre for Energy Research
“A comprehensive, practical and up-to-date view of art of the possible in sustainable business. Built on the author’s insights and those of other practitioners it provides a superb reference for businesses. Doing nothing is no longer an option!”
It's been a busy, busy couple of weeks here at Terra Infirma Towers and around the country as we've delivered four half day workshops as well as the usual round of desk work, workshop prep, tendering and responding to potential clients - I even just sat in the audience and listened at an event last night, a rare role for me these days.
As regular readers will know, I periodically feedback on what I have picked up during these sessions as there are always useful perspectives. So here are the key points:
Don’t get too fascinated by shiny technology – culture change is more important;
Participation reaps rewards - if it is done right;
Visual stimulus is very powerful - mind maps, realia (aka physical objects) and drawings trump Powerpoint for impact;
Celebrate each success, then strive for more - the job is never done;
Competitive advantage for green business is now sourced from "we have done x" rather than "we will do x";
The construction industry is the latest to start really tackling its supply chain - joining the public sector and big retailers;
The rise in the 'floor carbon price' is likely to revolutionise the energy market;
There is a lot of enthusiasm from all types of organisation for "rent a roof" deals on Solar PV;
The cutting edge companies have set the pace, now the pursuing pack is trying hard to catch up.
I also drove an electric vehicle on the public highway for the first time yesterday. I wasn't very good at it - I kept instinctively reaching for the clutch and hitting the brake instead - regenerative braking is not the most sympathetic system in the world, so my ride was a tad jerky. Anyone used to an automatic gearbox would handle it much better, but I've got some practising to do.
So the Christmas decorations are coming down, the cards heading for the recycling bins and life starts returning to normal. I hope you all had a great festive holiday and that Santa Claus brought you what you wanted. For the first year ever, I really did want, and got, new socks. I also managed to be fast asleep by 23:55 on New Year's Eve - what a lightweight I have become!
But I'm extremely excited about 2011. Last year was challenging for me personally with the new baby and two elections (local and general) requiring a lot of my energy, but it was all a lot of fun and the business did pretty well regardless.
Here are some of the reasons why I'm looking forward to 2011:
My second book, The Green Executive, will be out on 20 May (part of the reason I'm working today - a bank holiday in the UK - is to review and approve the copy editor's work). The book covers the strategic and leadership requirements of a green business and features 18 interviews with leading corporate sustainability experts.
We're launching our Green Business Webinar series on 2 Feb. These 10 sessions will provide a cost-effective, time-efficient and low carbon way to develop your skills. More details next week.
We're developing a diagnostic tool for medium/large businesses and expect to be trialling it in Feb/Mar for launch thereafter.
There is a whole raft of client projects in the offing including developing industrial ecology/symbiosis links in the forestry/wood/pulp industries and lots of training courses.
So, I hope you will come with us into this thrilling period - by subscribing to these blog posts (hit the big orange button) and/or The Low Carbon Agenda. By the way, the first edition of the latter will feature a planning process for 2011 and the answers to the fiendishly difficult low carbon quiz (nobody got all six questions right). Keep it green!
The environmental policy workshops that I was scheduled to deliver on Teesside on 30 November have been rescheduled for 1st Feb 2011. The event has been designed by Compete NorthEast to help businesses develop a set of policies covering quality, health & safety, equality/diversity and environment to equip them to bid for public and private sector tenders.
My workshop is split into three parts - why a business should go green, developing an environmental policy and developing a practical action plan (ie going beyond policy into action). If you want to see some of the things I took from the Newcastle sessions on 1 Dec click here.
Phew! Last Thursday I finally submitted the manuscript for The Green Executive after the most intense week I've had since my final exams at Uni. Every spare minute was taken up checking, changing and tweaking the text. Getting the 220 references into shape took over 17 hours alone. And it's done - but it will be 11 May before it hits the bookshelves, so you'll have to do with a sneak preview of the cover in the meantime(right).
On Friday I took myself off to Wensleydale for some walking and to attend a friend's wedding in a castle - alcohol, silly helmets and archery make a much better mix than you would think. Hence the lack of Friday blogging - I was busy slogging through a bog in the fog. And now I've got a tonne of slightly delayed end of month admin to do.
Looking forward I will be out and about a lot over the next few months with speaking/facilitating appearances in Newcastle, Southampton, Harrogate, Cambridge and Teesside already in the diary. As these are firmed up I'll be publicising them here and in The Low Carbon Agenda.
Also, I've starting writing pieces on a more regular basis for Management Issues and the Sustainability Forum. The former focuses on Leadership/HR/Organisational issues, on the latter I write about sustainability outside the green business line I stick to on this blog.
If you want to experience half a day of me teaching you the fundamentals of green business, you have two opportunities next week, both in the North East if England. Click here for more.
The content of the sessions is roughly based on my first book, The Three Secrets of Green Business, with some added spice from the as yet unpublished sequel, The Green Executive.
It has been a busy and eventful week here at Terra Infirma Towers. Here are some of the highlights:
1. We are able to offer two days FREE waste consultancy to one (and one only) small/medium sized business (height restrictions apply). If you want to know more, get in touch asap as we are contacting a number of likely candidates directly.
2. I'm doing two FREE workshops on 21/22 July on behalf of Business Link - more details next week.
3. Don't forget the FREE Virtual Working Summit 28 June - 9 July. My slot on virtual working and sustainability will be on 6 July.
4. I'm probably doing two on-line events in August on aspects of a low carbon business. More details when I have them, but there will probably be a small charge.
5. I've been offered a book contract by the award winning environmental specialists Earthscan for my second book, The Green Executive. I'm flat out editing and tweaking - I've got about 70,000 words, I just need to get them into the right order. I'm doing the last of the 18 interviews for the book on Monday. Estimated publication date: April 2011.
6. UK Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman singled the company out for praise in a newspaper article.
I'm shooting down the East Coast Line for tomorrow's Low Carbon Best Practice Exchange in London Olympia. The drizzly weather means I'll be spending less time gazing out the window and more time working on book #2, The Green Executive. But I have been mulling on the event I spoke at yesterday hosted by ISPE (which is one of those acronyms that used to mean something but now just is, but it's the professional body for pharma industry engineers).
Engineers are a tough audience - I'm an engineer, so I can say that. Not because they heckle, but because they don't. They don't ask questions or challenge you in the same way as say, environmentalists, politicos, marketing people etc, etc. The other talks at the event were heavy on the engineering, so I decided to be provocative and challenge the audience that their focus on energy efficiency, returns on investment, value engineering etc, were holding their companies back from sustainable innovation and thus profit - actually I went further than that and accused them of murdering Rachel Weisz (somebody left at that point, but I think it was for unrelated reasons). I got nods, chuckles, smiles, some good feedback afterwards and even an approving tweet, but only one question. One. And that question was a technical point about how waste legislation can impact on industrial symbiosis - good question, but it didn't explore or challenge any of my main themes.
Questions are essential to the way we deliver on the environment. Imagine if BP or the US Government had challenged the Environmental Impact Assessment for the Deepwater Horizon which said the risk of spillage was negligible and the impact would be small if it did happen? No, there were lots of figures produced, so they must be right. Likewise my engineering audience were totally focussed on the how and not the why. One of the earlier speakers was asked whether energy efficiency improvements were dependent on the chemistry being undertaken - again a good point - but no-one went on to the logical next step - whether we should be changing that chemistry to deliver the energy efficiency rather than the other way round.Engineers are essential to a sustainable future and we must start asking the questions that matter.
I like the idea of The Toddler Test - keep asking 'why' until the question cannot be answered. It might be annoying, but you won't innovate if you don't challenge the status quo - as Einstein said "we won't solve problems with the kind of thinking that created them."
Tomorrow, I'm chairing a panel session on staff engagement with some really great panellists. My biggest worry? That no-one will want to ask them a question...
If anyone has seen in the press that I'll be speaking at the Green Tourism event in Durham on 18th March, I'm afraid there has been a mix up - I won't be on the bill as I have to be elsewhere - crossed wires to blame...
The Earthcast went really well yesterday with an audience of over 120 from all around the world. Deborah Carlson of the Suzuki Foundation kicked off with the case for cost reduction and staff engagement. I followed that up by looking at new and emerging business opportunities in the low carbon economy. Good questions too - some really stretching my geographical knowledge!
If you want to listen to the event again, click here.
Another successful, if smaller, reception for The Three Secrets of Green Business in London last Thursday night. A slightly different mix of friends, colleagues, business folk, journalists and interested others showed up. Thanks must go to LBi for providing the venue, and publishers Earthscan for their contribution to refreshments and for tidying up afterwards (as I was dragged off for a celebratory Brick Lane curry).
Interesting questions again - the killer being "in what timeframe should companies act?" That's a really hard one to answer as some sectors can re-invent themselves in a couple of years if not months (eg smart phones, web 2.0) whereas others take decades to transform (eg the energy sector). I usually suggest to clients that they aim to transform themselves over a 5-10 year period, as I find this to be far enough in the future to consider major changes, but not so far ahead that people make unrealistic assumptions about technology. The guy who asked the question pointed out that in Japan 30 year planning is perfectly normal and suggested that's what we should be pursuing in the West. I'll have to mull on that one as it asks all sorts of questions about culture differences.
I also found time in London to interview Jim Hagan, CSR supremo at GSK, for The Green Executive, and have a meeting with the organiser of the Business and Sustainable Environment (BASE) conference in March. I'll be doing a couple of sessions at the latter and I hope to be able to offer a discount to partners and subscribers to The Low Carbon Agenda.
It was really nice to find 5 minutes to drop into Blackwell's on Charing Cross Road and see The Three Secrets on the shelves for the first time (although I had to remind myself that they didn't belong to me despite having my name on the cover). Blackwell's had 4 shelves of green business/CSR books, so the competition is heating up. As an aside, now I'm in the market, I've decided that it would be a conflict of interest to review similar books here in the future - particularly as I can be a rather harsh critic. So book reviews will be limited to books related to business and sustainability but which have a different focus.
The launch of The Three Secrets of Green Business went really well last night. A nice mix of friends, family, clients, business partners and interested others in the audience - some of them bought copies too (see pic for a satisfied customer). We had some very intelligent questions in the Q&A; so all in all it was a great event. Thanks to Newcastle Business School for hosting and to Dr Ron Beadle for chairing - Ron stepped in at the last minute even though it was his birthday, so I was very grateful.
We've taped the presentation and will be putting excerpts up here in due course. Don't forget there will be another one in London on 4th Feb. RSVP if you would like to attend.
My other good news is that the BASE 2010 conference has made a bulk purchase of the book - one for every delegate. I'll be doing a signing there and possibly a seminar. If your organisation would like to make a similar bulk purchase (which can include a company logo), the details are here.
I'm delighted to announce that we'll be holding another reception to celebrate the publication of The Three Secrets of Green Business, this time in London. The event will be hosted by digital marketing/technology agency LBi, to whom we are very grateful.
The details for London are:
Time: 6-8pm Date: 4 Feb 2010 Location: Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London, E1 6RU (click here for a map)
Don't forget the Newcastle event:
Time: 6-8pm Date: 28 Jan 2010 Location: Newcastle Business School, City Campus East, Newcastle upon Tyne (click here for a map)
During both receptions we'll have some mingling and drinking followed by a short presentation by yours truly followed by more mingling and drinking! RSVP - you are welcome to bring a guest, but please let us know for the numbers.
I now have the details of the Sustainability in the Service Sector event on 11 Feb 2010.
The event will run from 9 - 12 noon at the Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club. I'll be doing the main talk on sustainability in the sector and, as my conclusion is that branding is the key driver for the sector, my good friend Graeme Mills of GPM Network will go into green branding in much more detail. We'll have lawyers Muckle LLP and the Northern Stage talking about their experiences.
The event is hosted by The Service Network. They charge £30 for non members. Click here to register.
And, wait, there's more!
