The Challenge
For companies that have launched sustainability initiatives, innovating is critical to taking programs to the next level. Sustainability Innovators want to:
- Continue to set an ambitious vision for their companies and build leading and effective sustainability strategies
- Generate significant business value from their sustainability efforts
- Learn about sustainability best practices, new ideas and solutions
- Stay abreast of important and emerging trends
- Push the envelope on sustainability thinking and leadership in their organization
- Share ideas and lessons learned and network with sustainability practitioners and value chain partners
The Solution
The Sustainability Innovators Working Group (SIWG) is the premier forum for sustainability innovators to tackle critical sustainability challenges, while advancing their sustainability programs in tangible and specific ways that will lead to competitive advantage.
The group is a network of expert sustainability practitioners who collaborate to accelerate their knowledge of sustainability best practices. With guidance from faculty thought leaders and Viridis staff and the support of their peers, the working group will create, learn, and implement new and cutting edge sustainability methods and processes.
The result is real tools and best practices that will help you advance your sustainability program.
The 2011 Group includes new and renewing members. This year we will:
- Identify sustainability management differentiators, advance the execution model, and share perspectives on global trends
- Implement pilot accelerator projects in Employee Engagement, Co-creation, and measurement through the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard – with consulting support from Viridis
- Build sustainability management expertise more deeply within member companies
- Continue to introduce fresh points of view from business and sustainability thought leaders outside of the group
- As always, maintain the leaders-only, small-group dynamic
Sustainability Innovators Working Group 2010
In 2010, the Sustainability Innovators Working Group developed an advanced model for sustainability execution based on the experience of leadership members. Viridis Strategy Group uses the model to assess organizational capacity for sustainability management as an on-boarding tool for new Members and later as a planning framework for taking Members’ practices and strategy to the next level.
For more information, read the Viridis white paper How the Winners Win with Sustainability
The faculty and Viridis team works with each participating company to:
- Conduct a sustainability assessment prior to the first Working Group meeting, through an in-depth interview and the proprietary Innovators Assessment Tool
- Identify best practices and differentiators within the organization
- Identify and prioritize gaps and opportunities in the sustainability program
- Develop a sustainability profile for each company identifying areas where the company excels and/or has developed unique leadership
- Develop a high-level plan to take the company’s sustainability systems and practices to the next level using techniques and practices honed by the Working Group
The Working Group's faculty and staff are actively leading current thinking on sustainability. The Chairman of the Sustainability Innovators Working Group, David Lubin, recently presented a Harvard Business Review webinar entitled "The Sustainability Imperative: A Roadmap for Navigating This Megatrend," in which he outlined a specific strategic approach to sustainability. You can view his webinar report here.
Please direct inquiries about participation in the 2012 Sustainability Innovators Working Group to Jennifer Webber at Jennifer@ViridisStrategy.com or 202.386.7588.
