I have just attended Sustainability 2013. This must be one of the most anticipated annual events in the region for sustainability professionals and practitioners. An opportunity to get refilled, showcase your credentials, and interact with other professionals and businesses. Held usually in May at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, the event which consists of presentations, workshops and exhibitions, attracts sustainability focused businesses from Norfolk, Suffolk and beyond.
Sustainability professionals and practitioners do need a lot of refilling! Many people keep implying that under the current economic circumstances, sustainability ought to take a backyard role to make way for other priorities such as profitability. This is a gross misinterpretation of this vital concept and suggests that sustainability is one of those extra niceties like the artificial smile you give to someone you don't care about with your jaw briefly lifted toward your nose and eyes slightly closed or dietically speaking just icing on the cake.
One of the speakers, Dr Alan Knight, did real justice to the matter. He emphasized that sustainability was not about protecting the planet but about protecting your business from the finite limits of the planet. You had to put yourself in the shoes of the CEO of Planet Earth plc facing the Nine Billion Challenge. According to him, the overarching unifying goal of the concept is to achieve less poverty and more prosperity. To achieve this we need to face up to the Supply Chain Challenge.
The next speaker, Graham Lindsay, reiterated that there was nothing we could do about the finitude of planet resources meaning we just have to live within its means. More importantly he emphasised that the word "environment" in environmental sustainability goes much and far beyond what is green.
There was this speaker (name withheld) who bored the audience with monotonous reading of his speech that he sent one conference participant (name withheld) snoring so loudly and others discreetly giggling in response.
What particularly makes me feel good about this event is the realisation that I am an established part of this large network of sustainability professionals. I was quite impressed with the number of existing acquaintances in attendance. Managed to exchange business ideas and areas of collaboration.
Funny that before in such events people were asked to switch off their phones and tuck them away. This time, as part of the housekeeping announcement, people were encouraged to actively tweet the event throughout using the hash tag #Sustainability2013. We indeed live in the Twitter age!
Oh, I forget to indicate on the feedback form that if the organisers are looking for ideas for next years, they should consider inviting Prince Charles. He has so much to say on this matter. Well, that's if he has not ascended the throne by then.
And for that icing on the cake, I later received a phone call saying that I am the winner in one of the raffle draw at the event. To participate, I did have to guess answers to few questions such as the number of landfills in the county and what percentage of wastes are recycled.
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| My little win |
Best takeaway point for me "he emphasized that sustainability was not about protecting the planet but about protecting your business from the finite limits of the planet."
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