Future thinking is the theme for this month’s newsletter with the team working hard to offer insights, networking opportunities and strategic direction for a future 2030 carbon neutral world.
This kicked off with our Unofficial Green Great Britain Week! Due to “preparing for the UK’s departure from the EU” the government postponed the official Green Great Britain and Northern Ireland Week until next year but given that we are in a climate emergency, The Future Economy Network decided to continue with our planned schedule of daily events. So, we enjoyed an evening event on Bristol achieving carbon neutrality, a networking lunch in North Somerset on SMEs role in achieving net zero, a Sustainable Transport Business Breakfast in Bath and a Sustainable Housing evening event back in Bristol. It was a tiring week but so worth it, with 156 attendees and such a buzz of energy and collaboration! The events team then had a well-deserved week off from facilitating events but came back with a vengeance this week, having organised a sold-out Marketing and Sustainability Business Breakfast. Huge thanks to the team for pulling together such a great programme!
The team has also reviewed our events offer in relation to our long-term sustainability impact. As such, from January 2020, we have added £1 to each ticket price which will be donated to our chosen charity, The Converging World to offset the carbon associated with a delegate’s attendance. We have also significantly reduced our ticket pricing for any students as we recognise that there is a huge need to help our future workforce to gain the networking opportunities and skills required to ensure future businesses are sustainable.
This month also saw the opening of our eco-café in our new carbon neutral sustainability hub. Using sustainably-sourced ingredients and reclaimed materials in the fit out, the café is another step in the right direction to The Network walking the talk. And only a few more weeks before we open our retail space, showcasing the latest in green technologies and environmental products and services. Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates on this!
Finally, I attended my third meeting with the Environmental Sustainability Board this week with a lot of fruitful discussions around achieving carbon neutrality and addressing the ecological and climate emergency. Further details will be made available here in the coming weeks.
So all in all, it feels as though things are progressing well with many useful conversations around what the business community can do to achieve true sustainability. If you feel as though your organisation can do more, do get in touch with the Future Economy Network. We can not only help you with knowledge-sharing and collaborations at our events, but we also have a consultancy arm to help you measure and reduce your carbon footprint….oh and importantly, we can also help you eat sustainably at our eco-café….what an offer!
Katherine Piper, Director of the Future Economy Network