Article 13: A View from the field

It’s not the sector you’re in. It’s the commitment you have

"If you want to travel fast, travel alone. If you want to travel far, travel together." It’s an African proverb quoted recently by Zahid Torres-Rahman, founding director of Business Fights Poverty in a Q+A round-up on Guardian Sustainable Business

Sustainability thinking doesn’t stand still

When it comes to sustainability thinking, there’s one thing we can say with certainty. It doesn’t stand still. New ideas. New ways of looking at how we interact with each other and with our physical environment. New approaches to how we can put right what we’ve put wrong in the past. For example…

Plastic Fantastic

At Article 13, we have long argued that attitudes and behaviours are as crucial to a truly sustainable future as technological innovation. But we have always fully appreciated the importance of technological innovation. And two recently reported-on developments are particularly worthy of mention

Governance – as much about mindset as about making rules

Despite so many best efforts being made by so many, it is still sadly true that high level corruption, avoidable armed conflict, human exploitation and environmental degradation on a seriously large scale are very much a part of our world. And, paradoxically perhaps, the biggest problems often occur when the potential for something truly beneficial is at its greatest.

It’s Easy To Get Star Struck. Try Not To.

While it’s undeniably true that some of the world’s most high profile businesses are undertaking – and very effectively communicating – some exciting, innovative and important sustainability initiatives, it’s important to remember that global economic activity isn’t all glossy

Social Media and Beyond

The importance of social media in the sustainability communications mix is becoming more and more widely appreciated. These days, if you’re not blogging, tweeting and facebooking, the risk is that your stakeholders will fail to notice all the big, important stuff that you’re doing. And you won’t get the full credit you deserve.

Not just good, but good for business

The integration of Sustainability (in its broadest sense) into an overarching corporate vision need no longer be an act of faith – build it and they will come. Rather it is becoming a compelling, evidence-based imperative – we have to build it because they’re already arriving

Preaching to the converted. Never a good idea

Members of Generation Y have been categorised by various commentators in lots of different ways. But for our purposes, they are significant in a particular way – theirs is the first generation to have been schooled, often quite literally, in sustainable development and to have grown up in a world of climate change consciousness.

The virtues of keeping it simple

Guardian Sustainable Business has just published a wall poster that captures some of its subscribers’ sustainability resolutions, including one that cuts to the heart of how Sustainability initiatives should be communicated…

Have you really thought about the ‘T’ in SWOT?

Every traditional business model, irrespective of the final product, is ultimately predicated on breathable air in cities, plentiful access to water and fertile soil. But none of these taken-for-granted basics can be taken for granted in the future if we all continue as we are. As they decline, so too will the pool of available employees and customers with the wherewithal to buy.