BSSB Boonah Workshop 1
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The document introduces the Building Sustainable Small Business (BSSB) workshop which aims to help small businesses understand and implement sustainability. It offers three free introductory workshops covering sustainability fundamentals and emerging issues. It also provides a mentoring and training program to help businesses develop sustainability plans. The workshops aim to build networks among sustainable small businesses in the region.
BSSB Boonah Workshop 1
- 1. Sustainability Workshop 1 Mid Course Correction: Introducing sustainability to small business
- 2. … . Thank you BSSB partners, supporters, funders, mentors, workshop participants
- 3. BSSB was created to help small business take advantage of opportunities and prepare for challenges: It’s a first for practical, relevant, common sense sustainability: - Small business knowledge and skills - Hands-on sustainability for small business - Small business networking, collaborating, influencing, showcasing
- 4. BSSB has 3 key sections: Free workshops at Beaudesert, Tamborine Mountain, Boonah Mentoring, Training & Leadership Program Networking, influencing and showcasing sustainable small business
- 5. Free Workshops Series of 3 at Beaudesert, Mt Tamborine, Boonah 1 whole of shire strategic workshop late 2008 Introduction to the big issues and how they could affect your business (opportunities and threats) Very practical and hands on – relevant to your business Great networking opportunity
- 6. Mentoring, Training, Leadership Program Fits your business, family and life commitments – time-friendly Practical, hands-on, real and relevant outcomes for your business 3 x half days with business mentor Accredited progress towards Cert 4 studies with Permaforest Trust 6 classes over 5 months self-directed research and planning for your business Workshopping, networking, peer support Real outcomes for real businesses Subsidised fee that includes everything $619
- 7. Shire-Wide Networking BSSB website with resources and links Creation of sustainable business network to influence and lead Development of sustainable business directory to showcase your business 2009 Beaudesert Eco Expo – showcase your business Help create a clean and green region – maximise opportunities for your business and the region
- 8. How to get involved: Come and talk to us (Jan and Sally) Fill out an Expression of Interest and leave it with us tonight Let your friends, neighbours and colleagues know about these opportunities
- 9. Now to the Workshops The Aims of our workshops include: Developing practical understanding about sustainability and how it’s relevant to small business Recognising emerging issues, opportunities and threats for small businesses within external drivers like climate change, peak oil, water scarcity Revisiting and reviewing your business in light of external threats, to better understand your business story and consciously include sustainability Linking practical, relevant sustainability tools to your business that also address emergent issues Identifying relevant sustainability tools for your business Identifying sustainability-linked incentives, rebates, grants and other resources that are available to small business Bringing together small business players in the region to network and collaborate and evolve local economies and enterprises
- 10. Workshop 1 Topics Mid Course Correction: Introducing sustainability to small business What is sustainability and why is it important to business? What are the ingredients of a sustainable enterprise? Emerging issues and threats – what’s already happening and what’s on the horizon? Benefits of sustainability – what’s in it for you and your business? Strategies and methods for implementing sustainability
- 11. Workshop 2 Topics Bringing Local Business and Economy Home The local business and economic landscape in the community and region Globalisation and localisation (including the rise of localisation Relationships and collaboration – beyond marketing to meaningful relationships Sufficiency – living within our means
- 12. Workshop 3 Creating Your Own Sustainability Story Local inspirations – real life case studies and examples Creating your own sustainable story – beginning with your business to create or adapt a business plan that includes sustainability Exploring the Sustainability Toolkit – links, resources, information Reflection and next steps
- 13. What is Sustainability Sustainability is all about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. There are limits imposed within sustainability because the foundation of life on earth, human society, the economy and business is the ability of the Earth to function effectively – clean air, water, soil, the flow of sunlight energy, biodiversity. The Earth also needs to be able to absorb the effects of human activities while functioning effectively. Sustainability is a journey – it’s a process of change and adaptation.
- 14. Why is sustainability important to business? All economies, communities, cities, towns, households, businesses and enterprises – all humans depend on a healthy, functioning planet Enterprise is different to business – it’s about local needs and conditions, it’s adaptable and it’s universal The ‘Affluenza’ endless growth economy cannot be sustained – population growth, consumption growth, resource scarcity, waste, poverty and social injustice. Even wellbeing and happiness are compromised The four pillars of sustainability are: Ecological Economic Social Cultural
- 15. Sustainability has been around a long time First Nations and Indigenous People were the masters In Australia the Aboriginal People lived in deep sustainability at every level “ Treading Lightly” by Tex Scuthorpe and Karl-Eric Svieby tells this vital story
- 16. What are the basics of a sustainable business? The Trinity of Management – Great product, great marketing, great financial management (Ernesto Sirolli) - Good systems, structures and governance 2. Resource management – energy, water, ‘waste’ - Pollution, emissions and other impacts – compliance - Reducing, reusing, recycling - Reducing, controlling, stabilising and avoiding costs - Regenerative practices – within the business, in the community, with the Earth - Passive and moving infrastructure – materials, embodied energy, orientation
- 17. What are the basics of a sustainable business? Culture, Values, Heart - Enterprise can be solutions-driven – an opportunity for positive change - Relationships, networks, partnerships, alliances - Localisation, local investment and building community - Leadership and influence - Social justice, equal opportunity, participation, living wage - Learning in and from action - Observing, monitoring and maintenance
- 18. The Ray Anderson Story Interface – 21 years of business as usual Compliance Paul Hawken’s “Ecology of Commerce” – the spear through the chest Daniel Quinn’s “Ishmael” We have become ‘takers all’ Restorative enterprise Reduce, reuse, reclaim, recycle, redesign Adopt best business practices - then advance and share them Sustainable technologies – use and investment when viable Challenge suppliers Threshold of the next industrial revolution Biomimicry – emulating nature’s systems Available income not natural capital Cyclical practices not linear Do well by doing good
- 19. Emerging issues, threats and opportunities – the bottleneck Climate change Peak oil Energy costs and issues Resource scarcity – water Thomas Homer-Dixon “The Upside of Down” Ian Dunlop “An Unholy Trinity” “ A Crude Awakening” There are innovations, solutions, opportunities “ Think Global: Eat Local” Rural Futures for the region Localisation, decentralisation, resilience and innovation
- 20. Benefits of business sustainability What’s in it for you and your business? Creating an aware, informed, nimble, resilient and adaptable business Creating networks and collaboration – strength in numbers Efficiencies – resource use and costs Green is the new black – consumer awakenings and emerging markets Government legislation, incentives, grants, support Values alignment for you and your staff
- 21. Reflection and Action A short story “Being in family, community, country” What’s in that pack of yours? What’s made you sit up and think? Reflecting upon your own business and its direction One action you can take from tonight The Regional Network and Directory Mentoring, Leadership and Training Program Come back for workshop 2 – focus on our region and home economy
- 22. Contact Details Building Sustainable Small Business in Scenic Rim Region c/- Ethos Foundation Beechmont Q 4211 Ph: (07) 5533 3813 BSSB Email: info@bssb.org.au Ethos Foundation Email: info@ethosfoundation.org BSSB Web: www.bssb.org.au Ethos Foundation Web: www.ethosfoundation.org
- 23. “ We want and deserve the delight that comes with working communities. Wandering into a cavernous Wal-Mart is a desolate experience. Cheap, but cheap in every way. Wandering through a town where you depend on the people around you, and they depend on you – that’s called living. Humans were built for it…” Bill McKibben