FabianPattberg.com

Several weeks ago I was invited by the International Business Leadership Forum (IBLF) to give an interview about the importance of communications in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

I talked about the fact that a company’s lack of attention to responsible business and open communication can have a disastrous impact on sales, share value and competitiveness. Furthermore I pointed out the importance of transparency and accountability in the business sector and explained how I envisaged the CSR communications arena progressing a few years from now.

Expert Insight: Fabian Pattberg, sustainability, CSR and social media expert from Shivvy Jervis, IBLF on Vimeo.

Please let me know what you think and if you agree or disagree with any of the points raised.

The topic of the week for me was the decision of the UK government to discontinue the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC).
This decision is a catastrophe for the Sustainability field here in the UK in my opinion.

The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has been a champion of responsible business and government practice since its inception. It has celebrated many successes and nothing will be gained in my opinion by its discontinuation.
So what happened to the aim of being the ‘greenest UK government ever”? I guess it will turn out to be another hollow statement.

We are left to see what effect this discontinuation of the SDC will be. But there is one thing that has been become clearer than ever for me over the past few days: Never trust a politician actually delivering change if we are not in good economic times. Especially if his/her background is in media business such as for David Cameron , the current UK prime minister.

Here are some other news articles about this topic for you to get a better overview of various the reactions:

• Time: British Government Cuts Green Group
• Reuters: Watchdog says green steps can help close budget gaps
• Dash24.com: Shortsighted government to axe watchdog

And not to forget James Delingpole’s blog post about the topic: Government decides Sustainable Development Commission is unsustainable. He is known to take topics such as this apart to a point where they only serve him and his publicity. Obviously I had to comment as I am very passionate about this topic. And I received the public backlash I expected!

So let me know what you think about this decision to scrap the SDC. Do think it is a good decision or do you disagree?

P.S.: I also wrote a news item about this on the SustainabilityForum.com News two days ago.

Let’s start today’s post with a quote that has stuck in my head for many years now (yes, I am a big Star Trek fan):
“The economics of the future is somewhat different. You see, money doesn’t exist in the 24th century… The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity.” (Star Trek: First Contact )

Is this the end goal of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or responsible business practice? Is this what we are aiming for in our campaign to continuously promote a more responsible business practice?

I believe that it is. Here is why:
A society which does not rely on a monetary system has totally different priorities and roles for its citizens and society as a whole. That is also part of the reason why I love the Star Trek series so much. It thrives on aspiration and ethics for humankind. The society of the future has figured out a way to fulfill the needs of each individual while at the same giving its citizens purpose in life and building a prosperous society as a whole.

Yes I know that Start Trek is pure fiction but isn’t it also fiction to think that we can achieve a more responsible business practice in the future? In a way are we all living in a world of hopes and dreams in order to create change within our businesses, when influencing/advising our clients or simply trying to argue with our friends that companies need to do more to fulfill their responsibility in society and that we simply can not go on doing business the way we are at the moment.

What do you think about this? I am I just barking up the wrong tree here or what do you think is the end goal for CSR and responsible business practice?

I love podcasts and the way they enable you to have a great conversation, record it and share this with your network afterwards all at the same time.

That is why I immediately agreed to be interviewed by Paul Smith aka GreenSmith when he asked me several weeks ago if I was interested to be his guest in one of his sessions. Paul and I have known each for years now and I was really honored to be the second person he interviewed in his new series called GreenSmith Sessions.

During our around 20 minute long conversation we are talking about CSR / Sustainability and the BP oil spill disaster, what the US and EU can learn from each other with regards to CSR / Sustainability best practice, CSR / Sustainability reporting and other related topics.

This is the link to the post on Paul’s blog post: GreenSmith Session #2 You can also download it via this link ‘Download Postcast’ or listen to it by visiting Paul’s post here: Listen to GreenSmith Session #2

Please let me know whether you enjoyed the podcast conversation, have anything to add or any other feedback on the topics we discussed.

There are thousands of sustainability related websites out there but as far as I am aware of there are only a few blog / websites networks that specifically run a number of Sustainability-related websites and have them connected into a single network (What is a blog/website network?  – Wikipedia) or run them as part of their website portfolio.

The purpose of today’s post is to introduce you to these blog / website networks that I am aware of. I am also dividing them up into medium and larger networks for better comparison.

Medium sized blog/website networks:

Simple Earth Media
About: Simple Earth Media is an industry-leading environmental new media and social media company whose brand mission is to create a compelling, organic, educational network of environmental online venues that engage an ever-growing audience concerned with sustainable lifestyle habits and business practices.
My opinion: Some really great looking sites with interesting content. One of my favorites together with Live Oak Media.

Important Media
About: Important Media is a decentralized, niche blog network, dedicated to covering those issues which are important to our collective and individual well-being, from humanity’s survival to human happiness.
My opinion: Important Media is a continuation of some sites of the former GreenOptions network. The site itself needs some improvement but the networked sites are really good and useful.

Live Oak Media
About: We are a new media company publishing websites that focus on energy, the environment and sustainable living. By leading the conversation about green issues, LiveOAK aims to advance the principals of sustainability by making them meaningful and accessible to a mainstream audience.
My opinion: This is personally my favorite blog/website network at the moment. Really useful.

Large scale blog/website networks:

Mother Nature Network
About: The mission of Mother Nature Network (MNN) can be found at the top of every page on our site:  “Improve Your World.”  But while many sites limit “your world” to only ”your planet,” MNN defines it in much broader terms. Just as your world encompasses many different aspects—your family, your health, your lifestyle, your business, your community……and your planet—so too does MNN.
My opinion: A really wide variety of topics that are usually always helpful.

Discovery Channel
About: Discovery Communications is the world’s number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 180 countries.  Discovery empowers people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity through 100-plus worldwide networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery, Planet Green and HD Theater, as well as leading consumer and educational products and services, and a diversified portfolio of digital media services including HowStuffWorks.com.
My opinion: By far the largest network for a reason. A lot of money is being spend to build this. The content is generally good but often very mainstream as well.

These are the blog / website networks I know of that either focus on Sustainability topics or have them as part of their portfolio. If I have missed any others please let me know.

Today’s video is another TED.com video on ground breaking sustainability ideas. This time: Sustainable architecture with a special twist.

Have you ever imagined that a normal residential house could be grown instead of being build in the traditional way. And yes we already can. This is no sci-fi fantasy. Watch the video if you do not believe me.

A really interesting and different idea about how architecture can make an enormous contribution to our sustainable future. You might not like to go as far as growing your own ‘meathouse’ but the idea in essence is pretty amazing and at the same time feasible. We just need to start……

I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the first ever virtual CSR conference titled ‘ Engage CSR 2010’ this week.

The whole setup as a virtual conference is a new concept in this field. But in my opinion of  the conference was a huge success in bringing like-minded Sustainability / CSR people together and have them share information and experience at the same time. I believe I am not the only one looking at the feedback it got on Twitter and the coverage within the blogosphere so far.

Here are the links to reviews of the virtual conference that I have found as of today.

• Caroline Kawashima: Key Trends from Engage CSR 2010
• Leon Kaye: Engage 2010 Conference: A Virtual Immersion in CSR
• Julie Lloyd: The true benefits of reporting
• Elaine Cohen: Engage CSR at #CSRExpo: totally engaging
• Mags Shapiro: Virtual Conference Covers CSR and Social Media Best Practices
• Julie Urlaub: Did you Attend PRNewswire’s Engage CSR 2010 Virtual Event? Archive Available

Did I miss any reviews? If so please comment below or l let me know via Twitter or the contact forum on the About Fabian page.

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/narcosislabs/2225724305/

Last week was a great week for two main reasons: 1) It was our 8th wedding anniversary week. Anne and I had a lovely dinner and a great time. 2) I was finally able to purchase the domain CorporateSocialResponsibility.org for a very fair price.

I would like to develop this great domain name into a website that helps promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The purpose of this post is to ask you the readers what the main theme of this developed website in your opinion should be.

This is the poll I have started in order to enable you to have your input on the decision what the website will be about.

I will do another post with the results and further information on the next steps of creating this website once the poll is closed. So please vote.

The video interview below I believe represents a very interesting best practice example of how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Cause Marketing can be successfully linked in order to improve products, increase sales, build reputation and do good for the cause that is being supported. In this case, the quality of dog food and the support of dog shelters across North America.

Here Chris Jarvis of 3blMedia interviews  John J. Anton, Marketing Director at Mars Petcare about their integration of CSR and Cause Marketing.

I have been watching parts of the first day of the UN Global Compact Leadership Summit via the webcast yesterday.

The key message from the speakers and sessions (especially UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon) I was able to follow was, that we are now at a tipping point of the Sustainability / CSR practice across the globe. We just need renewed commitment by all parties involved to make this world a better place with regards to Sustainability / CSR and responsible business practice.

But are we really? Or are we just fooling ourselves to make us feel better?

I am an optimist and promoter of Sustainability / CSR by heart but we need to see the current global political reality here. I agree that we are at crucial phase of the Sustainability / CSR field but are we actually at a tipping point towards a more responsible business practice? Or are we actually making steps back at the moment with the BP oil spill crisis, failure of the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, etc?

Here is why I think we are actually making one step forward and three steps back at the moment: We are being told by our political leaders that we need to consider the current situation of our economies first of all. Governments are not really looking to invest in supporting a more responsible business practice and a more sustainable energy future with the financial austerity measures nearly every economy is now looking to implement. It is now about keeping the global economic growth going as they will tell us (an argument which I do not agree with, but this is a topic for a different post).

I bet that this will also be the main message of the upcoming G8 and following G20 summits in Canada. It will be about financial austerity and not the promotion of a more responsible business practice and investment in a more sustainable energy future.

Taking this all into account, is it then really fair to say that we at a tipping point towards a more sustainable future and responsible business practice?

I am not so sure. I certainly hope we are but looking at the current global political developments I doubt that Sustainability / CSR is at the top of the agenda of global leaders.

This is what I think. But what do you think?

Picture Credit as per creative commons: http://www.flickr.com/photos/toddography/12034661/