By Bill Mountain (ACrew4U) & Sam Wilson (Syntiro Associates)
EVCOM are proud to have partnered with Bill Mountain (Acrew4U) to produce a Sustainable Corporate Production Guide, which aims to take sustainability from the abstract to the practical. The report provides ‘how to’s’, workbooks, case studies, further reading and training modules and is free to download here.
As part of the project, Bill Mountain spoke to Sam Wilson, sustainability consultant of over 20 years, who runs the consultancy Syntiro who have worked with many of the biggest names in Events and Production. Sam implores agencies to take a holistic approach to any sustainability initiatives if you want to succeed long-term and look beyond mere carbon emissions to your firm’s entire strategy. In this extract from the guide, Sam gives a valuable perspective on taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture.
Best Practice starts with strategy
International best practice always starts with strategy; an assessment of your material impacts, risks and opportunities, and clarity over your vision (where you want to be) and ambition (how fast you want to get there).
Getting clear on this enables you to take targeted action on the things that matter most and meaningfully measure your performance.
People often say to me ‘I don’t know what tool to choose.’ Without clarity over what you want to build it is impossible to know what tools to use or how to use them.
What makes our industry different?
Our unique value as an industry is that we can inspire people to think, feel and act differently. Of course, we need to manage our risks and reduce our impacts but making our intangible value tangible is our point of differentiation.
We have created a ‘potential for positive change’ metric, inspired by B Corp, that measures this.
A systematic approach reduces the risk of Greenwashing The above diagram illustrates our value as creatives. Most people try to jump to “3” (Purpose Driven Sustainability) but it is essential to also address risk and impact.
A system enables you to manage and deliver on all three areas of sustainability without risk of green or blue washing.
Everything is connected
I am a lover of systems – everything is connected – the point of connection is where the amplification opportunity lies. The wonderful thing about a system, like ISO 20121:2024 is that it incorporates strategy and operations in a feedback loop of continual improvement “Plan Do Check Act.”
Futureproof your efforts with an integrated system
As a system is a framework, you can build in B Corp Criteria, UN SDG alignment and any other certification you may need in the future. One integrated system that you can expand to meet any growing business needs and opportunities.
It also means you can communicate confidently without fear of greenwashing or bluewashing.
This is the danger of just focusing on environmental issues or specific topics like carbon – these will not be your only material issue. Do not fall into that trap.
Sustainability is about feeling comfortable about being uncomfortable
There is no such thing as perfect sustainability – you will always be pushed and pulled by the competing forces of People, Planet, Profit.
This is why we talk about the BOSS (Best Overall Sustainable Solution) as a practical principle that you can use to ensure you have stretched yourself to do the best you can.
Have you BOSS’d your project? Is it really the BOSS? Can we do better? Can we be more creative?
If you start with ‘end of pipe solutions’ such as a specific material, you will be restricting innovation.
Although there is the reality that some materials are less negatively impactful than others, the BOSS may differ from one project to another.
There is no one size fits all – back to strategy!
We have been using a strategic planning and performance tool called the BOSS for over five years. The BOSS measures risk, impact and purpose-driven change and includes best-in-class plans spanning People, Planet, Profit. It incorporates a Carbon Action Indicator that can be used in conjunction with your organisational footprint to avoid having to measure carbon on every project.
Again, strategic thinking at the start means that the rest becomes so much easier!
Read the full report, and hear from other sustainability experts, here.
