June 19, 2013
The Built Environment, Sustainability and Smart Urbanism
Join us for our next event, which is being held in partnership with Forum for Tomorrow on June 19th to network with professionals in the built-environment and sustainability sectors.
In this event we will ask: ‘How can we put in place the conditions for positive urban activities to emerge and create a thriving and adaptable city?’. We will look at a better way of making cities, where planning enables sustainable building, and supports the development of green infrastructure, local business and social enterprise.
Speakers:
- Prof. Kelvin Campbell, chair of Smart Urbanism and recent winner of the the lifetime achievement award for urban design, will discuss his approach where utilising a few simple rules with catalysts can enable these processes.
- Alex Baines, Head of Sustainability & Building Physics at CBG Consultants will be focusing on the human element of sustainability in the built environment.
- Dr. John Kirkpatrick, Sustainability Manager at Lend Lease will be discussing delivery, based on his experience of regeneration that enables adaptability in Elephant and Castle.
- Ed Dixon, Property Plan A Store Delivery Manager at Marks & Spencer, will be facilitating the discussion.
May 22, 2013
Special Event May 22: Unilever Presents: Sustainability Means Business
In a world where temperatures are rising, water is scarce, energy is expensive, and food supplies are uncertain, the world needs new business models which put sustainable and equitable growth at the heart of what they do and new leaders for change to make it happen. With this goal in mind, Unilever has joined forces with Net Impact for an interactive event that will challenge you to lead the way toward a sustainable future. Hear from dynamic speakers and brainstorm solutions to real challenges with your peers. Afterwards, the discussions will continue with a fun networking reception (drinks and snacks will be provided).
Speakers include:
- Karen Hamilton, VP of Sustainability, Unilever
- Nico Sergent, Riversimple
- Liz Maw, CEO, Net Impact
Space is limited, so sign up now!
Click here to register <http://
May 8, 2013
Creating Social Value: The Social Enterprise Case
Join us for a round table event on creating social value through social enterprises where we will be discussing issues such as the:
- Challenges in integrating social enterprises in supply chains
- Likely impact of the new Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, and
- New initiatives to buy from social enterprise such as Social Enterprise UK’s Buy Social campaign
The Roundtable will be led by Nick Temple, Director of Business and Enterprise at Social Enterprise UK, Colin Crooks, author of How to Make a Million Jobs, founder of Tree Shepherd and former CEO of Greenworks and Bob Thust, Director of Corporate Responsibility at Deloitte.
Please be advised that there the venue has four flights of stairs and no lift. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this causes.
Copies of Colin’s book How to Make a Million Jobs will be on sale on the night.
April 10, 2013
Creating a Culture of Sustainability
If you are interested in Sustainability then you have spent countless hours contemplating and discussing what it means from an organisational and personal perspective. You have probably looked into certain organisations that seem to be good examples of sustainable thinking and wondered how they achieved it (The Patagonia’s, Marks and Spencer’s, Unilever’s and InterfaceFlor’s of the world). You have definitely spoken to people who don’t know and don’t care about sustainability and wondered what you could possibly do or say to make them change their behaviour.
Join Net Impact on the 10th of April at 6.30pm, for a 7pm start to discuss how to create a culture of sustainability with people who’ve dealt with these issues first hand. Run in partnership with Futerra in a panel format, with lots of time for questions and debate, we will be touching on themes of branding, strategy, structural integration, and operationalization. Panelists from organisations including:
- David Willans, Marketing Director, Futerra
- David Stubbs, Former Head of Sustainability at London 2012
- Eileen Donnelly, Interim Head of Sustainability, John Lewis
April 9, 2013
Creating a Culture of Sustainability
If you are interested in Sustainability then you have spent countless hours contemplating and discussing what it means from an organisational and personal perspective. You have probably looked into certain organisations that seem to be good examples of sustainable thinking and wondered how they achieved it (The Patagonia’s, Marks and Spencer’s, Unilever’s and Interface Floor’s of the world). You have definitely spoken to people who don’t know and don’t care about sustainability and wondered what you could possibly do or say to make them change their behaviour.
Join Net Impact on the 10th of April at 7pm to discuss how to create a culture of sustainability with people who’ve dealt with these issues first hand. Run in partnership with Futerra in a panel format, with lots of time for questions and debate, we will be touching on themes of branding, strategy, structural integration, and operationalization. Panelists from organisations including:
- David Willans – Futerra, Marketing Director
- Eileen Donnelly – Interim Head of Sustainability, John Lewis
- David Stubbs – Former Head of Sustainability, London 2012
March 13, 2013
Sustainability Careers
Join Net Impact for our first careers event of the year. Whether you’re looking to take your sustainability career to the next level or break into the field for the first time, this event is for you.
Shannon Houde, Executive Director of career advisory company Walk of Life Consulting, will be moderating a panel discussion and will kick off the evening with an interactive skills mapping exercise. With over 15 years’ experience advising companies and professionals on competencies, recruitment/retention and strategic direction, Shannon has unique insights into the CSR and sustainability job market. Her diverse experience includes working with entrepreneurs, consultancies, corporations and NGOs across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
You’ll then get to hear top tips from sustainability leaders who will be giving their perspectives on careers, skills, hiring and retaining top talent in today’s sustainability job market.
Panelists:
Helen Ireland, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Manager, Sainsbury’s
Will Oulton, Global Head of Responsible Investment, First State Investments
Mark Thompson, Director, Sustainability and Climate Change, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Registration starts at 6pm.
Please bring a description of your dream job for the skills mapping activity.
This is a joint event with the Net Impact London Professional Chapter and the London Business School Responsible Business.
February 13, 2013
Retrofitting the Sustainable City
By 2030, 60% of people will live in a city, and by 2050 this will rise to 70%. In that context, a prosperous future demands that we make cities sustainable, but how do we do it? Join us for our February event, where we will explore the challenges and opportunities of retrofitting the sustainable city. Audience participation is encouraged during the panel, afterwards the discussion will continue less formally with drinks and nibbles provided.
Geoff Kendall, Development Director at SustainAbility (authors of Citystates) will be chairing this panel discussion. Joining Geoff will be:
- Rupert Fausset, Principal Sustainability Advisor at Forum for the Future (authors of Megacities on the Move)
- Elspeth Finch, Director of Futures at Atkins Global (authors of Future Proofing Cities)
- Conor Riffle, Head of Cities for the Carbon Disclosure Project (see CDP Cities)
Live streaming at http://westminster.the-hub.
January 16, 2013
Overcoming Barriers to Sustainable Investing
Sustainable investing—understood as the incorporation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into investment decision-making—is a growing discipline that offers opportunities for long-term value creation for both investors and society as a whole.
In recent years, an increasingly large group of investors across the globe has come to believe that key ESG developments—from climate change, to globalization, to the transforming societal expectations for corporations and finance— will have a significant role to play in the long-term performance of investors.
Join us on January 16th 2013 for an in-depth discussion on how ESG factors are integrated into the investment process, and how to overcome barriers that remain a key issue to long-term sustainable investing. Scroll down to register.
Speakers:
- Ebba Schmidt, Manager, Responsible Investment and Sustainable Assets, Pension Protection Fund
- Lila Preston, Partner, Generation Investment Management
Topics:
- Why and how institutional investors incorporate ESG into their investment process
- Key decision points in capital flows and how they impact long-term investing
- The relationship between Asset Owners and Asset Managers
- Key barriers to long term investing, including short-termism, the relevance of quarterly reports, integrated reporting, implementation challenges, and more
The event is kindly being hosted by MSCI ESG Research at Ten Bishops Square, London, E1 6EG
Background reading:
Sustainable Capitalism, Generation Investment Management
ESG Integration Whitepaper, MSCI ESG Research
Ebba Schmidt, Manager, Responsible Investment and Sustainable Assets, Pension Protection Fund
Ebba Schmidt is working on building the UK Pension Protection sustainable investment portfolio, currently focusing on farmland and timberland. She also leads the implementation of the Fund’s responsible investment strategies across all asset classes. She chairs the PRI Fixed Income work stream and was until recently on the Board of the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets. She was also part of the group that developed the International Corporate Governance Network’s (ICGN’s) model mandates for fund manager contracts.
Prior to joining the PPF, she was a consultant at PIRC (the corporate governance advisors). She also worked on the analysis and quantification of environmental impacts, e.g. carbon footprints, at Trucost (the environmental data provider).
She has an M.Sc. in Geophysics and researched paleo climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic. She then worked in oil and gas exploration, and ran a management fast track programme at WesternGeco, a division of Schlumberger, the multi-national oilfield services company.
The UK Pension Protection Fund (PPF) protects members of eligible defined benefit pension schemes if the plan sponsor becomes insolvent. Assets under management £12bn.
Lila Preston, Partner, Generation Investment Management
Lila Preston first joined Generation Investment Management in 2004 and principally works with the firm’s Climate Solutions Strategy where she leads the team’s research on natural resources (biomass, sustainable agriculture, water, waste, natural gas, and ecosystem services). Before joining Generation she worked with American Express and Bridges Ventures while studying for her MBA. Prior to 2003, she worked as a Director of Finance & Development at VolunteerMatch in San Francisco, and also as a consultant for clients such as Save the Children (YouthNoise). From 1998-2000, Lila served as a Fulbright Fellow in Southern Chile where she worked on community-based forestry and conservation projects. Lila graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. (Honors) in English and Latin American Studies. She holds an MBA from the London Business School. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the non-profit organization Net Impact. She speaks fluent Spanish.
Generation Investment Management is an independent, private, owner-managed partnership with offices in London and New York. The firm was co-founded in 2004 by Al Gore and David Blood. Generation’s vision is to embed sustainability into the mainstream capital markets, and their core values reflect a commitment to responsible citizenship. Five percent of the profitability of the firm is allocated to the Generation Foundation, which will support global non-profit sustainability initiatives.
December 12, 2012
Sustainability Pub Quiz
Event management for Sustainability Christmas Pub Quiz powered by Eventbrite
November 14, 2012
Business Inspired By Nature
In this event, Giles Hutchins (author of Business Inspired By Nature) explores how businesses are facing increasingly volatile times asking for a ‘redesigning for resilience’. Such a redesigning for resilience can take inspiration from nature across all levels of the business. Giles will explore the sustainable business journey Interface are on, as well as other business examples, discussing the challenges and opportunities this brings and how inspiration from nature helps this transformation towards resilience.
Giles will be joined by Ramon Arratia, European Head of Sustainability at Interface, to explore the sustainable business journey Interface are on, discussing the challenges and opportunities this brings and how inspiration from nature helps this transformation towards resilience.
The evening will progress with an interactive session involving participants breaking out into groups, to discuss and analyse standard business problems using the principles of bio-mimicry. The three topics for discussion will be:
1) PURPOSE: How in harmony with Nature is Business? What are the challenges and opportunities Interface and other organisations face while focusing on short-term profit maximisation and sustainable value (social, economic, environmental)?
2) PROCESS: Nature does not do waste – waste of one becomes food for another. What are the challenges and opportunities Interface and other businesses are faced with in becoming ‘zero waste’?
3) PEOPLE & PRODUCT: Nature can inspire product design and delivery models. What challenges and opportunities do co-creation/open innovation/collaborative business ecosystem approaches bring Interface and other organisations in redesigning for resilience?
For those interested in reading The Nature of Business to delve deeper into the study of bio-mimicry, we have a special Net Impact Member discount to buy The Nature of Business for £10 (RRP £14.95) with free p&p (UK only) from www.greenbooks.co.uk/natureofbusiness – quote code NBGH in the promotion box at checkout. Don’t forget to bring your books along for Giles to sign!