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Our first event in February on Tuesday 2nd saw the Future Economy Network host ‘Behaviour Change: Making Sustainability Accessible’, which was attended by a wide range of delegates. Our speakers covered a range of approaches to ensure sustainable behaviour change is accessible to all. Before the event began, attendees enjoyed some pre-seminar networking in small break out rooms.
Katherine Piper, Director of the Future Economy Network, highlighted the benefits of joining the Network and also shared updates about The Future Economy Network’s Carbon Neutral Hub in Bristol, Future Leap. Katherine briefly updated attendees on the plans for the Festival of Sustainable Business.
Jon Gibbins, Digital Accessibility and Sustainability Consultant at Dotjay Ltd., spoke on the importance of achieving equity through expanding inclusive technology use. He highlighted that focussing on a ‘Leave No One Behind’ approach will produce more sustainable, resilient outcomes, as well as benefitting businesses and customers. Jon then mentioned the Sustainable Development Goals in relation to disability accessibility and provided actions which should be considered in business planning. The talk was followed by a Q&A.
Next, we welcomed Martin Preston, Founder of Kingfisher7 Consulting, who spoke about solving accessibility challenges through innovation. He interacted with attendees and expanded on research from Harvard University concerning the Productivity Gap (P-gap), showing a 55% increase in productivity when staff are satisfied and inspired. Martin applied these findings to improve sustainability outcomes in companies through using the GC Index. He highlighted the importance of this approach in utilizing employee’s strengths to generate a high energy environment, maximising successful outcomes. Martin offered some member-to-member discounts for the FEN community. The talk was then followed by a Q&A which drew on applying the GC Index to small businesses.
Last but definitely not least, Sophia Cheng, Founder of With Many Roots, gave an inspiring talk drawing on the gap between the understanding and communication of climate science. She spoke about the role of emotion in influencing individuals to meet their and others’ needs and encouraged attendees to express their feelings towards the climate crisis. Sophia talked about resolving a problem of this scale by integrating emotions and climate knowledge to create system change. Attendees participated in building With Many Root’s Climate Collage which was successful in communicating the bigger picture of the climate chain. Sophia offered some member-to-member discounts for the FEN community. This was then followed by a Q&A which touched on the best strategies to approach climate-deniers.
During all discussions, the audience were invited to ask questions and take part in the conversation throughout. Multiple attendees made use of the 60 second pitch opportunity, including Garrett Creative, Sustainabubbles, FBC and Heather Meacham. Everyone was then able to network in different groups using facilitated break out rooms before the event finished. A huge thank you to the speakers and attendees of this event, without which our events calendar would not be possible.
Write up by Beth Gerrard, Level 3 BSc Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science Student, University of the West of England