With increasingly growing awareness about the impacts of climate change and the depletion of natural resources, it is time for businesses to take a more active role in promoting sustainability and circularity in their operations. During TheNTWKSummit23 we held a number of discussion panels & workshops on how digital innovative strategies can leverage collaboration to create a sustainable future - and why doing so is not only good for the environment but also for the bottom line.
For any sustainable business to be effective and efficient, there is no single right way. Some companies will react exclusively to government regulations upon mandatory sanctions, some will act based on their resource dependencies, while others are truly committed to the cause and are willing to engage in the voluntary shift. The last ones deserve the necessary support, both on tax policies and investor funding as they are the ones who open the door and validate the business model innovation in that space to provide sufficient proof of concept to the followers.
“Circularity and ecosystems are moving together” - Catherine Schoendorff, Founder & CEO DIVVA.
Top 7 Key Takeaways For Sustainability & Circular Economy
1. Track, Trace & Act. Visibility and trust is what digital can bring to the sustainable businesses. It can provide better resource management, better collaboration to build a circular business across the supply chain, better capacities to calculate and hold the stakeholders accountable.
2. Making products and services desirable is what every company wants. So in order to resonate with the current decision-makers both in corporate, VC and government, sustainability needs to become sexy from a business standpoint. Sustainable business needs to be price competitive. This can be achieved for example by tax regulation on circular materials.
“Government, shareholder, & customer demands for sustainability are driving the growth of circular marketplaces.” - Tom McFadyen, CEO & Author McFadyen Digital
3. Educate people, both children and adults. By raising awareness we are able to create consumer pressure on the companies. An aware customer can make conscious choices and spend their money elsewhere if the company doesn’t show enough engagement towards sustainability.
4. There is a need to overcome cultural and geographical challenges. To ensure that these solutions are effective and scalable, businesses must adapt to local contexts and be sensitive to cultural differences.
5. Regenerative ecosystems goes beyond sustainability by actively seeking to repair and restore damaged ecosystems, creating a more resilient and abundant future.
6. To drive sustainability and circularity at scale for ecosystem and partnership, businesses must form alliances across industries, governments, and NGOs.
7. Digital technologies, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence, can help enable sustainable business models by increasing trust, transparency, efficiency and collaboration.
Discover the latest trends in ecosystems and communities by downloading #TheNTWKSummit23Report and reading the articles:
"Ecosystems - a Friend Or a Foe of The Sustainable Future", by Marta Agrech, CEO of IVY; Juan Cristobal Vicuña, CEO of Foodia; Emanuele Musa, CEO of Babele Create Together ApS; Angel Bou, CEO & Co-Founder of Simplr; Mathilde Hebert, Co-founder of Ma Petite Planete; Stephan Fester, Co-Lead at SAP Circular Manufacturing Practice.
"Scaling Regeneration Through Platform Strategies", by Lucía Hernández, Platform Economy Expert Regenerative Design International Consultant at United Nation.
"Revolutionizing Sustainability: How Blockchain Is Fueling The Circular Economy", by Fleur Boos, Founder of The Value Department; Bob Gravestijn, Strategic advisor at The Value Department.
"The Circular Advantage on Innovative Business Models", Catherine Schoendorff, Founder of & CEO DIVVA; Timmy Melote, Co-Founder TraceChain; Sam Maguire, Sustainability Lead and Principal Consultant Clarasys; Rikka Olli, CEO & Co-Founder Menddie; Stephan Fester, Co-Lead at SAP Circular Manufacturing Practice.
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