Sustainability Unwrapped

Where are we headed with Sustainability and Ethics in the Banking Sector?

Sustainability, and especially Ethics, are not the first words that come to one’s mind when thinking about the Banking Industry. Although banking activities are largely based on trust, banks do not benefit from a positive image. Scandals of money laundering, links to cartels, and terrorist organisations have generated quite a lot of bad publicity for the sector.

In recent times, sustainability has gained a lot of attention and momentum in the banking sector, especially after the financial crises of 2008-09. The United Nations has recently launched a new framework for driving sustainability in the banking system: Principles for Responsible Banking. The objective is to help the industry to demonstrate how it can make a positive contribution to society.

Do global guidelines sincerely increase banks’ positive impact on the society? Are they just a way to polish their image? Is it banks’ role to steer other businesses, via their financing decisions, toward more responsible activities? How can banks stop money laundering?

In this episode, Emilia Vähämaa, Associate Professor in Finance at Hanken is discussing these very questions with Nebojsa Dimic, Assistant Professor at the University of Vaasa and Mika Leskinen, Chief Investment Officer and Head of ESG at FIM.

Will the banks play an increasing role in steering the sustainable changes that the world needs? As we say “the one who has the money can set the rules”, so hopes are high! But can we trust the banks in changing the world for the better?

Why Corruption needs to be addressed in the quest for Sustainability?

Every year, $3.6 trillion end up in individual’s pockets via systems of corruption. Lots of money, right? According to Transparency International’s corruption perception index, which scores and ranks 180 countries by levels of perceived corruption, 98% of countries are corrupt, only 2% are least corrupt, and no country is clean.

On the other hand, the United Nations estimates that $5 to $7 trillion per year is needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally, with the estimates being $3.3 to $4.5 trillion per year in developing countries.

Corruption, which is defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, is the biggest impediment to achieving the SDGs.

In this episode, Neema Komba, doctoral researcher in Entrepreneurship, Management and Organisation at Hanken, invites Matthew Jenkins, knowledge and research manager at Transparency International, and Prisca Kowa, senior officer at Policy Forum, a network of over 70 Civil society organisations in Tanzania.

The episode digs into questions like why should we care about corruption when talking about sustainability and the SDGs? What are the different forms of corruption in different contexts? Why is corruption an issue that concerns us all, everywhere in the world? What can we do about it as individuals and citizens?

The world’s food system account for over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity according to a recent study, but food´s relationship with sustainable development does of course not end there. 

Globalization has had a major impact on food systems around the world according to a report by FAO. It allows giant food corporations to enter new markets (often at the loss of local actors), resulting in standardization and a less diverse food culture globally. Also, it has aided in creating global food production systems with complex and often obscure supply chains, which can have unethical and negative environmental and societal consequences.  

As a countermeasure, there have emerged alternative food networks that are based on values such as environmental sustainability, social justice, and animal welfare. In this two-part episode of Sustainability Unwrapped, we hear experiences from two different alternative food networks in Finland and how the networks have self-organised.  

In part one, Maija gives us an inside look into community supported agriculture through the food co-operative OmaMaa. In part two, we get to hear Anders Norrback’s experiences in founding a REKO Ring, a network that lets consumers purchase produce directly from producers. Norrback is a farmer, small business owner and a member of the Finnish Parliament. Both episodes give insights into the multitude of dynamics that these types of community initiatives need to consider, the value they bring, and lets us in on what is needed to start a similar network of our own!  

These episodes are produced by master´s students as a group assignment in the Sustainable Organizing in Times of Crisis course at Hanken School of Economics. Part one is produced by Minja Orava and Mathilde Pierroux. Part two is produced by Anja Hummel, Ellen Norrback and Sofie Sundqvist. 

The world’s food system account for over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity according to a recent study, but food´s relationship with sustainable development does of course not end there. 

Globalization has had a major impact on food systems around the world according to a report by FAO. It allows giant food corporations to enter new markets (often at the loss of local actors), resulting in standardization and a less diverse food culture globally. Also, it has aided in creating global food production systems with complex and often obscure supply chains, which can have unethical and negative environmental and societal consequences.  

As a countermeasure, there have emerged alternative food networks that are based on values such as environmental sustainability, social justice, and animal welfare. In this two-part episode of Sustainability Unwrapped, we hear experiences from two different alternative food networks in Finland and how the networks have self-organised.  

In part one, Maija gives us an inside look into community supported agriculture through the food co-operative OmaMaa. In part two, we get to hear Anders Norrback’s experiences in founding a REKO Ring, a network that lets consumers purchase produce directly from producers. Norrback is a farmer, small business owner and a member of the Finnish Parliament. Both episodes give insights into the multitude of dynamics that these types of community initiatives need to consider, the value they bring, and lets us in on what is needed to start a similar network of our own!  

These episodes are produced by master´s students as a group assignment in the Sustainable Organizing in Times of Crisis course at Hanken School of Economics. Part one is produced by Minja Orava and Mathilde Pierroux. Part two is produced by Anja Hummel, Ellen Norrback and Sofie Sundqvist. 

If there is something we can be certain about, is the fact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming societies, business and nature of work. However, there are a lot of open questions and confusion that persist around what constitutes AI and what does not? What is the role of data science and design? What is the untapped potential of AI and how could its trans-formative ability contribute towards solving some of the biggest sustainability challenges of our times?  

In this episode of Sustainability Unwrapped, Robert Ciuchita, Assistant Professor in Marketing at Hanken, uncovers different aspects about AI as a follow-up to his episode in last season where he touched upon inclusivity and ethicality of AI. He gathers Akanksha Malik, Data Scientist at Telstra Purple and Director at Women Who Code, based out of Melbourne, and Mauro Rego, Design Lead at Google based out of Berlin in Germany to dig deeper into the complex world of AI and its potential to contribute to some of the grand sustainability challenges. 

The episode uncovers these questions through very relatable examples that will help the listener grasp the subtle and not- so- subtle nuances about AI. The episode also sheds light on some of the resources one could use to know and learn more about AI. 

Tune in for an intriguing conversation on AI and its potential impact on sustainability.
Connect with the host and guests on their social media: 

• Robert Ciuchita  
• Akanksha Malik  
• Mauro Rego 

Social innovation is often touted as one of the keyways in which we can address various sustainability challenges. It is understood as an innovation process that can stretch the boundaries of creativity and flexibility to develop new and pragmatic solutions.  

While the concept and the process of social innovation are important tools for societal development, there are different understandings of what social innovation is or should be. Contemporary scientific and policy discourses tend to ignore the social in the process of solving challenges. Oftentimes, the offered solutions are technology-, organisation- or market-oriented, putting a lot of emphasis on the end results rather than on the ethical and social aspects.

In recent years, different social and environmental justice movements have caused many to wake up to the injustice suffered by marginalized groups and made us aware of the struggle’s they face due to their identity, ethnicity, culture or pollution of their environment. Still, in much of the mainstream discussion there has been a lack of indigenous perspectives on these topics.  

In this episode of Sustainability Unwrapped, we get an insight into the struggles of the Arctic Indigenous People of Europe, the Sámis, and how their way of life and livelihoods are endangered by government supported development projects and regulations.  

Maria Ehrnström-Fuentes, assistant professor in Management and Organisation at Hanken School of Economics discusses with Petra Laiti, Sámi activist and Hanken alumn about how the Sámis defend and organise their ancestral lifeforms in Sápmi. Also, we get to hear about how the Sámis’ relation to land and water upholds a particular kind of sustainability that can be difficult to understand from the non-indigenous viewpoints, and how important it is for the survival of the Sámi culture to create awareness and support among non-Indigenous allies 

Sápmi, the Sámi homelands stretch over the northern parts of Finland, Sweden, and Norway, as well as parts of the Kola Peninsula in Russia. The total Sámi population is estimated to be 80,000 people, of whom approximately 10,000 live in Finland. 

Tune in to learn more about indigenous perspectives, how Sámi culture and communities are being threatened and what can be done to support the Sámi in a way that aligns with their way of life! 

As we grapple with some of the biggest sustainability challenges of our times such as extreme poverty, climate crisis, pollution, increased inequalities, there is a clear need for organisations to rethink their business models and value logics to reflect the challenges and opportunities thus created.   

In this episode of Sustainability Unwrapped, we delve deeper into novel business model design for sustainable development with a focus on environmental and societal impact. We address questions such as ‘’why do we need a new paradigm when it comes to business models?  What are the elements of business model for sustainability-as-flourishing, i.e., creation of net positive impact”? What tools can organisations use to develop new sustainable business model pathways.’’   

Man Yang, Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Researcher and Assistant Professor in Management and Organisation at Hanken in Vaasa, invites Maya Hoveskog, Associate Professor in Innovation Management, Halmstad University in our neighboring country Sweden and Nicole Norris, Manager at the Centre for Changemaking and Social Innovation, Georgian College located in the other side of the world in Canada, to discuss these and many more questions.  

In particular, Man and the expert guests discuss Flourishing Business Canvas, which has introduced a new paradigm by focusing on both value co-creation and value co-destruction and multiple value logics, i.e., social and environmental in addition to monetary value.  

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Want to know more about this innovative and novel business model for sustainability-as-flourishing, and how to apply it in practice and be more inclusive? Tune in to get your answers! 

Want to explore the topic further?   

-Become a member of the global community of first explorers, sign up here 

-Keep yourself updated and join Strongly sustainable business model group on LinkedIn,  

-Check out the New Business Models conference in June 2021!   

For additional readings, please visit the podcast website: https://bit.ly/3eHFamE 

What would the world look like if women and men shared care equally?  

How do families and their situations sometimes ‘fall between two stools’ when they don’t fit the ‘norm’? And how can their situation be addressed and improved?  

The social relations of care, home and work constitute very fundamental aspects of gender relations in society. Globally many economic, social, and political discriminations and inequalities are founded upon inequalities around gender, care, and work. 

”From the economy of work to the care economy” discusses the deeply rooted divisions of paid and unpaid work and its effects, such as the gendered and aged phenomenon around social sustainability.  

Episode is moderated by Charlotta Niemistö, GODESS institute Director at Hanken School of Economics, with guests Jeff Hearn Professor Emeritus and Research Director at GODESS Institute, Hanken School of Economics, Nikki van der Gaag, an independent gender consultant and Senior Fellow from Instituto Promundo and Anna Moring from Monimuotoiset perheet(Diverse families). 

For extra readings visit: https://blogs.hanken.fi/sustainability-unwrapped/2021/05/06/from-the-economy-of-work-to-the-care-economy