Getting sustainable values into a sustainable business — A workshop of existing enterprises

ESRC Festival of Social Science

unning your own business is hard, but it can be especially difficult for people who want to set up a ‘green’ sustainable company. How do small businesses, micro businesses and self-employed people combine their sustainability goals with their commercial objectives?

ESRC funded research and engagement with small businesses has been exploring the different ways businesses navigate the challenge of bringing the sustainability and commercial objectives together.

This event, held at the Impact Hub Islington, will build on a collaboration between the ESRC Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity and Economic and the ESRC Impact Acceleration Award (IAA) funding for Growing Greener: Creating a New Values-based Environmental Engagement Toolkit for SME Intermediaries (2018-19).

The workshop is conceptualised for existing businesses. We will introduce the key findings from the research and engagement of the two projects and then have the audience work in smaller facilitated groups to discuss how the issues of sustainability values challenges their work, the tensions they face between sustainability objectives and commercial imperatives, and finally the ways they can overcome such tensions.

There will be presentations from Professor Fergus Lyon, Professor Richard Blundel and other keynote speakers from business. The small groups will be facilitated by the speakers and others with experience of this work.

The event is free of charge, and registration is required. For details and enquiries, please email Pamela Macaulay. For information about the ESRC Festival of Social Science, please see the ESRC website.