On Friday 8th April, we co-hosted an event with Nottingham Contemporary, all about the journey to sustainability, balancing ethical capitalism and honest reflections of what’s worked – and what hasn’t.
With a great turnout, members of the audience enjoyed insightful presentations from our panel speakers, plus an explorative debate on the impact of a ‘triple bottom line’ and why it’s crucial for businesses to balance people, planet and profit.Andy Batson, Head of Audiences and Partnerships at Nottingham Contemporary, said: “Nottingham Contemporary’s exhibition Our Silver City, 2094 speculated on the future of Nottingham after a series of manmade disasters. As we move forward together into evermore uncertain times, businesses around the world are being asked to consider how we might meet the needs of this moment without taking from future generations. This event provided a space to ask these questions together and to support each other in exploring possible answers.”
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The opening presentation featured Julie Reid, our Head of Strategy. Julie spoke about how businesses can unpack the frameworks of the ‘triple bottom line’ approach and the honest journey towards achieving a BCorp certification.
Julie said: “It isn’t a new idea that businesses have a positive role to play in society – beyond the goal of making money. The founding dean of Harvard Business School in 1908 said the point of business was to ‘make a decent profit, decently’. But with all the pressures businesses face, it’s not always easy. And that’s what this event explored – what does it look like for businesses to do right by shareholders, their people and the wider community and even the planet? We may not have all the answers, but we think it’s worth asking the question!”
We also heard from Dr Elena Frâncu from the University of Nottingham, who delved into a debate on social purpose: how can you, as an organisation, adopt a meaningful purpose that will make a difference?
Further panel members included Andy Batson, Jake Third, our MD, and Adam Pickering, Environment Editor at LeftLion and Founder of Hockley Hustle / Green Hustle. Plus, it was a wonderful opportunity to finally do some in-person networking and to also enjoy a tour of Nottingham Contemporary’s current exhibition ‘Our Silver City, 2094.’
Jake said: “A really amazing event on Friday night on ethical capitalism at the Nottingham Contemporary. The energy in the room was great and there will definitely be follow-up events. We’ll be exploring more of these themes and picking up this conversation again at the Nottingham Digital Summit – make sure you come along and join us!”
The Nottingham Digital Summit is back for 2022. Get your tickets here.
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