Jan’s considering a new career – should she become a sustainability officer?
Chief Sustainability Officers are among the fastest growing jobs in the UK – but who are these people, what do they do, and does anyone actually listen to them?
Dr Katherine Ellsworth-Krebs, from the University of Strathclyde, brings gifts from her allotment to the studio as well as an avid interest in all things sustainability that started in childhood in Washington state, USA – where she was surprised to learn not all other youngsters had the same obsession. She also comes with a healthy dose of cynicism!
Through her work with a whole host of sustainability managers, we discover which businesses are leading the way by employing sustainability managers; what regulations are in place to encourage companies to have one; the importance of getting everyone on board when it comes to sustainable behaviour; and the stresses facing those pushing the sustainability agenda.
How does Jan slip up when it comes to her attitudes towards reporting? Why has Katherine stolen Jan’s ‘keystone actors’ term to apply to sustainability managers? And what will Paul do with his orchard’s worth of cooking apples?
Find out more about Katherine and her work here: https://www.strath.ac.uk/staff/ellsworth-krebskatherinedr/
And listen to the episode with Dr Carolynne Lord covering her work with Katherine on sustainability fairy tales here: https://pod.co/transforming-tomorrow/fairy-tales-and-mermaids
Transforming Tomorrow
Sustainability is a key consideration for any contemporary business, from biodiversity to modern slavery, seabeds to factory floors. On Transforming Tomorrow, we’ll guide you through the complex, ever-changing and often exciting (yes, really!!) world of sustainability in business. Alongside members of the Pentland Centre, academic experts, and business leaders, we cover the theory and practice of mainstreaming social and environmental sustainability into purposeful business strategy and performance.
Whether you are leading change in your business, or just want to know more about how asteroid mining may influence the future of sustainability, Transforming Tomorrow is the show for you.
Taking you through it all are your hosts, Jan and Paul, who bring insight, perspective, and not a little amount of disagreement, to all the subjects.
Join us every Monday to uncover new insights and become a little more inspired that you can make a difference in sustainability.
You can find transcripts for most episodes at: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/pentland/resources-for-education-and-practice/transforming-tomorrow-podcast/transcripts/
Send your questions on any of the issues we discuss in Transforming Tomorrow to [email protected] or fill in our feedback form here: https://forms.office.com/e/7Bw4rDiRDt
Find out more about the Pentland Centre and its work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/pentland/
https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_Transforming-Tomorrow/
Meet the Hosts
Professor Jan Bebbington is the Director of the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University. Jan is an expert on accounting, benchmarking (to her co-host’s annoyance), and how business and sustainability intersect.
Jan loves nature and wants to protect it – and hopes she can change the world (ideally for the better). She is also motivated to address inequality wherever it is found and especially to eliminate forced, bonded or child labour. Transforming Tomorrow is one small step on that quest.
Paul Turner is a former sports journalist who now works promoting the research activities in Lancaster University Management School – a poacher turned gamekeeper as his former colleagues would have it.
Paul has always been interested in nature and the natural environment – it comes from growing up in Cumbria – and has been a vocal proponent of the work of the Pentland Centre since joining Lancaster University. He does not like rankings and benchmarking, and is not afraid to say so.