A regular blog about (un) sustainable business. A focus on practical stuff, not blue sky pretentious waffle. Around 6000 regular readers, surprisingly.
They are all right at the end of their respective chains. They are often where the money isn’t, in a sense (no margins, low margins, desperate business models). Take last mile logistics for example, the desperate business models that make freelance cyclists and motorcyclists work on time-based piece rate models, is about as low end…
The respected Institute for Human Rights and Business has put together what it sees as the top ten business and human rights issues as we head into 2019. Here’s the list, and their website, with a series of guest posts from credible writers, explains the issues one by one. Eliminating Discrimination Within Workplace and Across Wider…
This below, from https://yourbias.is looks quite a helpful reminder for us all about biases in our thinking. As they put it: “Cognitive biases make our judgments irrational. We have evolved to use shortcuts in our thinking, which are often useful, but a cognitive bias means there’s a kind of misfiring going on causing us to lose objectivity….
Innovation Forum has just launched the 2019 Modern Slavery and Business series taking place in London (2nd – 3rd April, 2019) and New York (30th April – 1st May, 2019). Click here to see more on ‘How business can tackle modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking’ (LONDON) Click here to see more on ‘How…
Innovation Forum has just launched a new conference series on The Future of Food, taking place in Chicago (21st-22nd May 2019) and London (4th-5th June 2019). Click here to see more on The Future of Food US. Click here to see more on The Future of Food Europe. These conferences will cover the…
My previous post “Simple tips on effective public speaking, particularly at conferences” got a few responses and comments. One respondee suggested I do a follow up on facilitating sessions at conferences and meetings, which made me think. Now, after facilitating five or so conferences and smaller meetings in the last few months, I’ve finally found…
A couple of weeks ago we held our first sustainable landscapes conference in London. It was a combination of conferences and a culmination of four years work in some ways. We merged our smallholders, deforestation and elements of our agriculture conferences together and somehow it worked. Huge thanks to our many sponsors and supporters of…
Can Bordeaux become a sustainable landscape for viticulture and winemaking? One top CEO thinks it can. Here’s an exclusive interview on my wine blog: http://sustainablewineblog.com/2018/10/30/thomas-duroux-ceo-chateau-palmer-on-making-bordeaux-sustainable/
Here’s some of what we’ve been publishing on Innovation Forum’s website and podcast channel recently. I hope you find them useful. Not login or registration or paywall stuff here, just click and read, or listen… Why business must make climate its business now It’s in everyone’s interest for companies to lead the drive towards a…
A few months back, I facilitated a session with Goetz in Accra, Ghana, at the TFA 2020 conference, on rural sustainability initiatives that will scale. It was a fascinating 45 minutes or so, and his company, *Golden-Agri Resources, seems to me to be leading the way, with a few others, in this area. The evolution in…
Here’s our take on the latest in and around Soy sustainability. Proud to work with colleagues Ian Welsh and Tom Idle on this piece, although I must say I had little to do with it, other than suggesting we go more in-depth than the usual 500 words. Tom and Ian have delivered some excellent analysis…
Following my previous posts: “The ten most important issues in…business and plastic pollution/innovation“ and “The 13 most important issues in…business, modern slavery, forced labour and human rights” let’s move on to the topic of sustainable commodities sourcing and landscape approaches to sustainability. So here’s what our research came up with as some of the key issues…
Following my previous post: “The ten most important issues in…business and plastic pollution/innovation“, moving onto the topic of business, modern slavery, forced labour and human rights, here’s what our rigorous and market-tested research came up with as some of the key issues. (Excuse the click-bait headline but it got your attention) It’s not all of…
At Innovation Forum, the team and I spend a lot of time working out the complex answers to one simple question in each of the areas we work in. That question is: “What are the most difficult issues/challenges in this particular area?”. We then spend months, often longer (given events are often repeated) working that…
Public speaking varies considerably, so I’ll stick in this post to proferring unsolicited advice on speaking at business conferences. Speaking is probably the wrong word. Contributing critically, thoughtfully and pragmatically would be a better, if lengthier term. Based on my experience of creating, running/chairing business conferences since 1999 (I think the total is probably well…
I'm Toby Webb, founder of Innovation Forum, a sustainability focused research, publishing and events business. I've also been a lecturer on Corporate Responsibility at Kings College London and at Birkbeck, University of London for eight years. I work with large companies all over the world and sit on the sustainability advisory board for Walgreens Boots Alliance. From 2006-9 I lead the development of UK CSR policy, resulting in the Responsibility Deals framework. I can be contacted at Tobias DOT Webb AT innovation-forum.co.uk
Recent Comments