Transforming Tomorrow

It’s not just consumers who need to change their attitudes and behaviours around plastics.

Packaging manufacturers and retailers need to take action too.

Professor Linda Hendry makes a return visit to the podcast, explaining how her work on supply chains unites her interests in plastics as part of the Plastic Packaging in People’s Lives (PPiPL) project and on modern slavery.

We look at how food producers, packaging manufacturers and retailers decide how to package and transport food before it reaches consumers; the role of government and regulation when it comes to packaging design and redesign – and the difficulties companies have in using packaging that meets these requirements; and how consumer attitudes affect how companies operate.

Linda outlines the strategies businesses can apply to cut the plastic packaging and waste they produce, and explains the ‘regrettable substitute’ concept as she tells us why alternatives are not always better.

We cover important issues of the day: Does Jan have a crisp addiction problem? Does Paul give his children too many crisps? Did Linda mislead her kids about how many crisps they had in the house? And how does this all fit in with packaging decisions?

Plus, does Linda – or her domestic engineer – know whether the Ancient Egyptians wrapped mummies in plastic? Is there a serial killer on the PPiPL project? And how do the Minnesota Vikings defensive line of the 1970s fit into it all?

Read more about the seven steps towards sustainable packaging innovation: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_21/10/

And read the PPiPL project’s white paper on packaging here: https://zenodo.org/records/10839787

Episode Transcript

“I just want to say one word to you. Just one word… plastics.”

We don’t have Dustin Hoffman, but we do have a journey into a fascinating world as we take a deep dive into the Plastic Packaging in People’s Lives (PPiPL) project.

Dr Alison Stowell and Professor Maria Piacentini join us as we discover how consumers think and behave when it comes to plastic food packaging, and how PPiPL hopes to change the attitude-behaviour gap.

Discover how the project researchers have engaged with organisations from supermarkets to local government, SMEs to waste management firms, to gain a big picture of attitudes and actions, and make a real-world impact.

What happens in your household when it comes to plastics recycling? Do you say you’re going to do one thing, but then do another? Do you make a concerted effort to buy packaging that can be recycled – or even packaging that is not made from plastic?

There is so much to talk about, and many questions for all of us to consider when it comes to our usage of plastics – including how Nonna can swap out plastic for tea towels to bring a famous family pizza all the way from Glasgow to Lancaster.

And how many words are in the sentence ‘It’s complex’?

Find out more about the PPiPL project here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/ppipl/

And read more from the PPiPL team here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_21/

Episode Transcript

Take a moment to consider what your local area. Do you feel connected to it? Does it feel like a real home?

Morecambe Bay is a natural marvel. Stretching from Fleetwood in the south to Barrow-in-Furness in the north, it encompasses Lancaster, Morecambe, and many small towns and villages along the Lancashire and Cumbria coastlines.

And Paul feels right at home as he and Jan welcome Carys Nelkon and Dr Beth Garrett to reveal the wonders of the Morecambe Bay Curriculum to them.

The curriculum involves more than 140 educators across the Bay and is embedded in day-to-day teaching. It uses the wonders of the area and its people and ties them into the National Curriculum. It allows children to develop a love for their home and take a practical interest in its future, and schools and colleges to take a fresh look at how they deliver education to young people.

From birds to beaches, travel to the energy industry, there is a lot to cover.

Discover why Morecambe Bay is such an important place, what brings its communities – and its schools and educators – together, how the Eden Project Morecambe has provided a spark to reinvigorate the area and develop the curriculum, and how Lancaster’s role as a civic university fits in.

Find out more about the Morecambe Bay Curriculum here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/morecambe-bay-curriculum/

And read about the Beach Schools Network here: https://www.forestschools.com/pages/beach-schools

And as a bonus, here is a starting point for finding out more about Patrick Geddes: https://camera-obscura.co.uk/article/patrick-geddes

Episode Transcript

How can business and management schools help to shape the leaders the world needs? It’s time to examine how we operate, and how we can change to better suit the businesses of the future.

Dr Marian Iszatt-White becomes our first return guest as she talks to Jan and Paul about her work on the B-School to ESG School project. Her latest work is looking at how Environmental, Social and Governance should be at the heart of a business school’s operations.

Discover how we can help to ensure our graduates go into the world and make a positive change.

How do students think about environmental and sustainability issues? Do opinions change depending on where they are from? How do lessons learned as a student compare to the reality of going into the world of business?

Marian explains the disconnect between what students are taught and what they see happening across a University; how business schools can embed ESG at the core of their operations; and reactions among senior management and staff to the projects suggestions.

Read more about the B-School to ESG-School project here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_23/47/

What is normal now was not always so. People used to smoke in bars and offices; junk food used to be advertised during children’s TV programmes; drivers and passengers used to travel in cars without seatbelts – but not now, and for some people it feels it has always been this way.

Professor Carlos Larrinaga, from the University of Burgos, talks us through the process by which new ideas spread and become norms – both with and without regulation in place.

With a focus around Carlos’s expertise on sustainability reporting, we look at how voluntary actions start to feel compulsory; and why it is that entrepreneurial heroes and their efforts to force change can take the focus away from important mundane advances that take place in the background.

We ask why some regulations and laws do not change actions and attitudes; why companies can converge on a new behaviour and turn it into a norm without regulation; and how an understanding of accounting history helps Carlos with his work.

Carlos explains how norms can differ from companies’ core values, how behaviours can change to align with new requirements, and whether some companies only comply with reporting in a symbolic way.

And, as Jan and Carlos try to out-humble each other in an argument over who know more than the other, why does everyone want sausages for their dinner?

Find out more about Carlos and his work here: https://investigacion.ubu.es/investigadores/35281/detalle

Jan is a joy rider. And that’s just great.

Not everyone is an elite athlete, but we should all be active.

The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) is doing important work with some of the biggest names in their sector to help make this a reality.

Emma Zwiebler, a World Championship and Commonwealth Games badminton player who is now CEO of the WFSGI, explains how the trade association body operates and how they have put this mission at the core of their activities.

We investigate the issue of global physical inactivity, its wider costs to society, and the actions of WFSGI in trying to address the problem while working with the World Health Organisation.

Discover how Emma and the WFGSI can elevate issues both for business and for countries; how they can influence across industries to deepen their impact; what is already happening, and how this can inspire future change; and how each of us takes a different approach to physical activity.

And we are left pondering the questions of whether the head of the International Olympic Committee listens to Transforming Tomorrow, and if Jan and Paul will be recording future episodes while walking – or running?

It’s Paul’s worst nightmare – a whole episode about ranking and accrediting business schools!

 Learn how business schools build sustainability into their operations; why accreditation bodies – whose backing schools rely on for their prestige – take the issue so seriously; and how important the topic is when it comes to rankings.

Rose White, External Accreditation Manager at Lancaster University Management School, comes ready for Paul to rant about whether rankings should be important to anyone – and she gets just what she expects!

Rose and Jan might be unable to convince Paul of the merits of benchmarks, but is he more open to accreditations? The difference between these two approaches will become apparent in the conversation.

For accreditations, we cover everything from why business and management schools want to be accredited in the first place; who pays attention to these accreditations; the innumerable acronyms that come with the process; how sustainability is a key pillar to overall strategies; and the importance of showing people how we do engage in sustainability.

And as Paul tries to avoid starting a fight over rankings, we discuss their audience; their changing consideration of sustainability’s importance; whether they are as important – or more so – than accreditations; and throw in some breaking and Raygun for good measure!

Episode Transcript

Jan’s considering a new career – should she become a sustainability officer?

Chief Sustainability Officers are among the fastest growing jobs in the UK – but who are these people, what do they do, and does anyone actually listen to them?

Dr Katherine Ellsworth-Krebs, from the University of Strathclyde, brings gifts from her allotment to the studio as well as an avid interest in all things sustainability that started in childhood in Washington state, USA – where she was surprised to learn not all other youngsters had the same obsession. She also comes with a healthy dose of cynicism!

Through her work with a whole host of sustainability managers, we discover which businesses are leading the way by employing sustainability managers; what regulations are in place to encourage companies to have one; the importance of getting everyone on board when it comes to sustainable behaviour; and the stresses facing those pushing the sustainability agenda.

How does Jan slip up when it comes to her attitudes towards reporting? Why has Katherine stolen Jan’s ‘keystone actors’ term to apply to sustainability managers? And what will Paul do with his orchard’s worth of cooking apples?

Find out more about Katherine and her work here: https://www.strath.ac.uk/staff/ellsworth-krebskatherinedr/

And listen to the episode with Dr Carolynne Lord covering her work with Katherine on sustainability fairy tales here: https://pod.co/transforming-tomorrow/fairy-tales-and-mermaids

Episode Transcript

Bring back the accountants – and the taskforces! It’s time to look at how companies identify and report on nature-related impacts and opportunities.

We make an investigation of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and its work with the Pentland Centre’s Dr Neytullah Ciftci – Neo to his friends – who works with Jan on that very topic.

Discover how companies can change nature; how these changing ecosystems could be a risk to your business; and the importance of analysing supply chain impacts as well as your own operations.

We look at how companies are adapting to the TNFD framework, and how widespread reporting is; discuss how TNFD fits in with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD); gain an understanding of the different biodiversity scenarios for companies looking up to 100 years into the future; and hear Paul wonder if he knows too many accounting acronyms.

Reporting under the TNFD is moving quickly, with new reports expanding our understanding of the reporting framework. Here are the four most complete biodiversity scenarios within TNFD reports we have found to date, and the TNFD’s guide on scenario analysis.

KAO TNFD Report: https://www.kao.com/content/dam/sites/kao/www-kao-com/global/en/sustainability/pdf/biodiversity-tnfd.pdf

Kyuden Group Integrated Report 2024:

https://www.kyuden.co.jp/english_company_news_2024_h240925-1.html

Norinchuking Climate & Nature Report 2024: https://www.nochubank.or.jp/en/sustainability/backnumber/pdf/2024/climate_nature.pdf

Sekisui TCFD & TNFD Report 2024: https://www.sekisuichemical.com/sustainability_report/pdf/2024_TCFD_TNFDReport_E.pdf

TNFD (2023) Guidance: https://tnfd.global/publication/guidance-on-scenario-analysis/

Find out more about Neo and his work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/people/neytullah-ciftci

And catch-up on the previous episode that covered the TCFD with Duncan Pollard here: https://pod.fo/e/272bf5

How can businesses have a positive impact on nature? We hear a lot about the negative effects organisations have on the planet, but they can also be a force for good.

By helping to restore nature, firms big or small, local or global, can help themselves and their operations – and maybe all of us. But what are they actually doing, and why can it be so hard for them to tell us?

Dr Tim Lamont, a marine biologist in Lancaster Environment Centre, explains his work on corporate reporting around nature restoration, and how the subject fits in with his expertise on tropical coral reefs and how we look after them.

Discover how humans have damaged the planet, how the current generation is equipped with tools to repair it, and why Jan was described as ‘not a complete idiot’ and how her accounting expertise fits into the picture.

Can Paul’s inherent pessimism be overcome as we discuss the different ecosystem restoration practices from around the world; the importance of involving local people in restoration efforts and of long-term commitment over short-term attitudes; what can be done to drive change; and whether companies are more than just evil, faceless entities?

Plus, a bonus discussion on the size of Cumbria and how it could be used as a term of measurement.

Find out more about Tim and his work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lec/about-us/people/timothy-lamont

And read his paper co-written with Jan and others here: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/201803/1/CombinedPDF_Lamont_adh2610_accepted.pdf

Episode Transcript