Communicating Sustainability through Stories and Hope: a course on Business and the Natural...

Communicating Sustainability through Stories and Hope: a course on Business and the Natural Environment

Trudy Heller, Ph.D.Executive Education for the EnvironmentUSA

Greening of Industry Network ConferenceCardiff, Wales, UK July 2006

T. Heller ExecEd-environment

Graduate Students in MBA, Public Policy and Environmental Studies

T. Heller ExecEd-environment

45 diaries from 6 classes

include emotional reactions, areas of agreement or disagreement, the discovery of new insights, challenges or questioning attitudes and beliefs, etc.

- Do NOT summarize the readings or discussion. -Optional; not graded; points toward grade

T. Heller ExecEd-environment

From Discouraged In the business world…environmental goals

just never do seem to command the attention that profit driven motives do.

…regulation is the only mechanism to spur change in a competitive industry.

Seriously, though, the tragedy of the commons seems unavoidable in most cases.

T. Heller ExecEd-environment

Discouraged

We not only need to fix environmental issues but political, social and economic… It seems like such an uphill battle.

T. Heller ExecEd-environment

To Hopefulfrom Environmental Studies students:

“Michael Porter’s article was fantastic. It was really inspiring and made me think about things in a new way. I have wanted to go into business environmental performance, and this really boosted my confidence that a field actually exists.”

The film we watched was very intriguing and uplifting… However, I was upset by the fact that I wasn’t aware of these advancements before.

T. Heller ExecEd-environment

Hopeful

… This course has not only been an eye-opener for me as an average civilian, but also as a business student. I feel I have been made aware of many more business problems, but at the same time, I now have knowledge of many more business opportunities.

Ken Peattie’s ideas to me are profound. .…If we have any hopes of a sustainable future, this form of thinking is the way..

T. Heller ExecEd-environment

Hopeful I found the Basel Action network

video incredible. They should show this video to the aspiring electrical engineers and business people involved with electronics…. This video…needs to get more publicity… This is the type of video that if it’s seen once, it will be remembered.

T. Heller ExecEd-environment

A Coherent Story Promotes Transformation

The information in the second half of the class didn’t feel like it flowed as logically as it did in the first half. …I found myself …trying to figure out what we were talking about and why, how it fits.

T. Heller ExecEd-environment

“Garbage Can” of Problems and SolutionsProblemsProblems Energy costEnergy cost Waste disposalWaste disposal Hazardous wasteHazardous waste Hazardous materialsHazardous materials Site remediationSite remediation End of Life

responsibility

SolutionsSolutions Design for envDesign for env EMS POEMS Green Chemistry Supply chain

mgm’t Life cycle analysis

T. Heller ExecEd-environment

3 Stories: Shifts in the Business World Driving Sustainable Business Mgmt.

II.

II. Eliminate

-not reduce- waste

I. A second industrial revolution III. Greener development of

the bottom of the economic pyramid