September 2010

Hello Friend:

When I turned 50 this summer, in some ways it was just another day. But in others it was a major milestone. As I take stock, I am grateful for so many things. But I also feel a new urgency to do what I can to advance the transformation to a sustainable world.

I guess that makes it a 50-50 birthday. On one hand, my champagne glass is half full. On the other, it’s half empty because there is still so much to do.

When in doubt, I say party! Let’s celebrate the first 50 and what we’ve accomplished so far. If you’re in Vancouver on November 6, please join me to raise a glass at my 50-50 Party.

And now here’s....

NEWS FROM STRANDBERG CONSULTING

In the spirit of celebration, I congratulate two of my clients who this year were recognized nationally for their sustainability leadership. The Co-operators placed second on the Corporate Knights list of the 50 Top Corporate Citizens in Canada and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) received the Corporate Award for Environmental Excellence (Facilities and Events) from the GLOBE Foundation. I am drawn to work with such committed organizational leaders because as sustainability trailblazers they hasten the transformation.

Sustainable Supply Chains, Global Impact

In the spirit of so much more to do, I hope to leverage the power of the supply chain to create a sustainability tipping point.

Supply chains link countries and people and are critical to the circulation system of the global economy. Leveraging the supply chain can have a ripple effect on our economic systems. Therefore I’m pleased that two reports I co-authored for the Buy Smart Network (previously the Sustainability Purchasing Network) are posted on the new Sustainable Supply Chains website of the United Nations Global Compact and accessible to a global corporate audience. Sustainability Purchasing Trends and Drivers documents the growth of sustainable purchasing worldwide. The Guide to the Business Case and Benefits of Sustainability Purchasing equips purchasers and corporate sustainability officers to promote the benefits of sustainability purchasing to executives and other decision makers. I continue to assist the Fraser Basin Council, home of the Buy Smart Network, to grow and develop its sustainable purchasing program as a resource for sustainability practitioners and procurement officers.

In addition, as VANOC sustainability advisor, I helped develop the 2010 Winter Games’ ground-breaking "Buy Smart" program. It integrated environmental, social and Aboriginal criteria into VANOC’s buying decisions. For details see the Vancouver 2010 Buy Smart Case Study on Sustainable Sourcing, which I wrote to help VANOC transfer its knowledge to other organizations. Not only did VANOC’s Buy Smart program have a significant local impact, it also has global reach since it can be replicated for other Games and sporting events worldwide. Here at home, I am currently a member of a Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee supporting the CSA in the development of a sustainable event standard, to be released by year-end.

Tools for the Top

As the business case for sustainability and corporate social responsibility crystallizes, it moves into the corporate suite and the boardroom. However, there are few tools to help directors with this new role. To fill this CSR governance gap, I worked with Canadian Business for Social Responsibility to develop the first set of CSR governance guidelines for boards to help integrate sustainability into their governance mandate. These guidelines were funded by Industry Canada and are also available on their website.

Also this year I developed the Sustainability Toolkit: Environmental Sustainability Governance and Leadership for the Canadian Co-operative Association. This how-to guide helps integrate environmental sustainability into governance and management frameworks. This tool is adaptable to any company that seeks to be an environmental or CSR leader.

Global Citizen, Digital Citizen

With this pivotal birthday I realized that to help provoke the sustainability tipping point I needed to become a global citizen with global reach. Therefore, I needed to become a "digital" citizen. So I upgraded my website to make it more searchable and easier to share via your favourite social media network. I also started what I hope will become a regular blog to engage with others on this historic global quest for sustainability.

As a blogger, I will share tools, strategies, ideas and best practices to help catalyze the sustainability transformation. I invite you to join my blog community so we can work together to advance a sustainable future.

Meanwhile, here’s to sustainability change agents past, present and future -
and to a glass just full enough.

Coro