Low Carbon Business Seminar – feedback
It was a long trundle on the train down to Birmingham on Wednesday, and a longer one back, for the Low Carbon Best Practice Exchange (bring on high speed rail!). But the environmental strategy session went great. I tried out my business case model on the participants and it did a really good job of getting the message across – if you want the higher benefits then you can’t expect a direct ROI (you’ll probably get one, but don’t aim for one…). The message came back loud and clear from delegates – new business is the priority and you could see the penny drop about investment decisions (more on this in this month’s Low Carbon Agenda).
In the second half of the seminar we looked at forecasting and backcasting approaches. I challenged the participants to create a vision of their business in 2020 – a tall order – and it really made them think. The best answer was a bit of a cheat as it came from the lady from Hilton hotels and it was pinched from their subsidiary Scandic – “if you stay in our hotel, you footprint will be smaller than if you stayed at home”. Genius – relevant, understandable and clear. The great thing is that Scandic have already achieved it.
The other session I attended was about business opportunities in the Low Carbon Economy. It was a good discussion, but I broke my promise to listen 10 times more than talk…
Well worth the trundle!