One way in which the Sustainability group builds community is through the Cranfield Sustainability Network. This informal network of scholars, practitioners and students holds early evening events four or five times a year, typically involving visiting speakers to seed a discussion on a sustainability-related hot topic.
World leading sustainability strategist Sue Garrard will talk about the vital role of business in leading a shift towards a more sustainable economy and explain the compelling business case for doing so. She will explore the gap between best practice in sustainable business and the inertia or posturing around sustainability, or ‘ESG,’ more widely experienced across industries.
You will learn about what good looks like at the macro-level (businesses within the wider system) and how it can be achieved. You will also come away with practical advice on how you as individuals can influence and lead change at the ‘me-cro’ level, regardless of your profession.
In the current Industry 4.0 era, many manufacturers have been exploring the adoption of emerging digital technologies (e.g., IoT, big data, AI, 3D printing) for improving sustainability.
These digital technologies are recognised widely as a means to improve labour productivity, but so far their potential to improve the environmental and social performance of manufacturing and supply chains has been much less appreciated. Also, despite their promising functions, adopting these digital technologies successfully is not easy.
Find out more about the event and its speakers
How ordinary people can change the way that capitalism works – and make money too
Would you like companies to care more about climate change? Should they be addressing the gender pay gap? Should they be more concerned about human rights in their supply chains? And if you think they should, can you, as an individual, bring about change?
In recognition of Menstrual Hygiene Day, join our online discussion with a panel of academic experts, business owners, NGO and advocates as we discuss the greatest issues facing the modern-day period.
The Cranfield Sustainability group is proud to present this lunchtime panel session facilitated by our current MSc Management and Corporate Sustainability student Wendy Laryea. Wendy’s many years leading non-profit initiatives has enthused her to take action, break taboos and raise awareness about issues facing people who menstruate. Join us to explore the social, economic, and environmental challenges by hearing from some of the people who are working to overcome them across the globe.
Find out more about the event and its speakers
Here at Cranfield University, we are committed to environmental sustainability and are very lucky to have many passionate and driven individuals within our staff and student body.
For Earth Day this year, on 22 April, we will be going live to share our stories and give you the chance to meet some of them. Hear from our student ‘green team’, our Energy and Environment Team and the innovative ‘sustainable’ research projects from our academics. We will be sharing details on our plans for the present and the future.
Join us to hear insights from Professor Grayson from his wealth of experience building and advising business in their sustainability journey.
Dr Miying Yang (Cranfield University) hosts a DEX (Dairy Evolution neXt) network workshop to explore how digital technologies can be adopted to address this challenge and improve sustainability in dairy industry.
Dairy products are an important source of nutrients that contributes to a healthy and nutritious diet. However, as a large GHG emitter, dairy industry also significantly affects the climate change. A big challenge for dairy industry today is how to reduce environmental impacts while continuing to meet social needs. In this workshop, you will hear great insights from our speakers Prof. Steve Evans (University of Cambridge), Dr Andrew Peacock (Founder and CEO, Peacock Technology Ltd), Dr Sam Wilkinson (Process Systems Enterprise, Siemens) and Prof. Jim Harkin (Ulster University).
The DEX Network is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Irish Research Council (IRC).
The Cranfield Sustainability group hosts a panel discussion to explore where the beer industry is in their race to net-zero. Joined by long-established brewing companies and small-batch craft breweries alike, we will explore the challenges and opportunities they face today and what steps they are taking to make significant and sustainable change.
Course Directors Dr Rosina Watson (School of Management) and Dr Kenisha Garnett (School of Water, Energy and Environment) provide an overview of this master’s level apprenticeship programme.
Our Sustainability MSc Apprenticeship meets the requirements of the Level 7 Sustainability Business Specialist Apprenticeship Standard which means eligible organisations in England can use £11,000 of their Apprenticeship Levy towards the £18,000 fees.
Our programme is designed in consultation with industry to equip sustainability professionals and leaders in organisations of all sizes with a critical mix of technical and management skills.
Course Directors Dr Rosina Watson (School of Management) and Dr Kenisha Garnett (School of Water, Energy and Environment) provide an overview of this master’s level apprenticeship programme.
In a collaboration between the School of Management and the School of Water Energy and Environment, a panel of experts from EasyJet, the Department of Transport and Uno Bus debated the future of transport.
Covering a range of specialisms including air transport, public transport, commuting and car use, our panellists set out their points of view before responding to questions from the audience.
Building a better and greener world, with Paul de Leeuw, Director Energy Transition Institute - Robert Gordon University
As each year has its own unique challenges, 2021 will probably be defined by the global response to COVID-19 and the climate emergency. The global vaccination programme, the upcoming United Nations COP26 conference and the prospect to build a better and greener society will provide the opportunity to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges. COVID-19 has helped to unite the world against a common cause and has demonstrated that the global community can step up to do remarkable things.
Against this backdrop, Professor Paul de Leeuw from Robert Gordon University will talk about how we can build on this positive momentum to manage the energy transition and to ensure the sustainability of our planet.
Sue is one of the world's leading expert practitioners in developing sustainability strategies in major companies and aligning them with business objectives. She runs her own consultancy business; her clients currently include Mars, Primark, O2, RBS, Jersey Telecom, and Danone. During her time at Unilever, Sue led the work to embed the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan to support growth, build brands with purpose, build employee engagement and future proof the business.
Fashion has the reputation of being one of the least sustainable industries in the world, consuming lake-sized volumes of fresh water, creating chemical and plastic pollution, and exploiting workers to create clothing which we all too quickly throw away (31kgs per person each year).
But things seem to be changing. Consumer demands are driving the world biggest fashion firms to say that implementing sustainability measures is their top strategic priority in the wake of Covid-19. Clothing resale is predicted to outgrow fast fashion by 2029.
Additional links and papers:
MUD Jeans
Seasalt
Eluxe Magazine
Fixing Fashion: Clothing Consumption and Sustainability
Making the Leap to Circular Fashion
The Station of Fashion 2020
Bringing academic and industry professionals from the traditional and renewable energy sectors together to discuss what the UK’s commitment to a Net Zero economy means, and the implications of these changes on how we live and work.
In this live interview beamed from ‘The European Sustainability Academy’ in Crete, Sharon Jackson provided a thought provoking insight into why so many people do not enact their well-intended climate-change recovery behaviours.
Sharon used ‘communication’ examples from the COVID-19 pandemic to illuminate why our attention towards some of the most important issues can become blocked without us realising.
This session is for anyone with a curiosity about how to gain more awareness of how to make their own sense of the globally pressing sustainability issues and how to consciously shift good intentions into meaningful actions.
Viewers will learn new skills for enhancing their own meaning-making radars in a way that will improve their ability to communicate more clearly and encourage others to act.
Interested in learning more about a career in sustainability? Or maybe even how to implement it in your workplace? Then watch Martin and Julie from the Canary Wharf Group discuss their experiences fighting the sustainability cause within their industry and pushing boundaries.
Mary Creagh brings her unique viewpoint as a policy maker and Chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee to the UK government’s policy priorities for a green recovery post Covid-19 and our governments agenda going into COP26.
To build back better we need to move beyond corporate responsibility, through resilience to “regenerative capitalism”. John leads us through the primary transitions in corporate sustainability to the opportunities offered by “Green Swans”.
Mike Barry recently left M&S having spent 15 years there launching, developing and integrating their sustainability strategy speaks on helping business big and small, new and established to prepare for and succeed in the great sustainability disruption that will wash through the economy in the 2020s. Featuring an introduction from Professor David Oglethorpe Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Cranfield School of Management.
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Blog
Instagram 
