Who are these fantastic entrepreneurs who want to run something of their own and at the same time contribute to something bigger, you're probably wondering now? You can see them on the map below, they are a bit scattered in our area:
With us in this project we also have three consultants who each contribute important perspectives, experience and knowledge about Sustainability. Mats Thorburn from Fjärdhundraland stands for the more social dimension of sustainability with a focus on collaboration between entrepreneurs. How can many small things together become something bigger? Of course the economy benefits from this too, I don't mean that we think in terms of drainpipes, but each of the consultants still has their niche. Louise Hård Af Segerstad from AlbaEco contributes mainly to the ecological dimension. What choices should I make to benefit the planet as much as possible? How do I build a resilient business that can handle change? Of course Louise is also into the social and economic aspects, with the ecological aspect being her specialty. Last but not least we have Pia Anderson from Uppsala2030/ Sweden 2030. She mainly contributes with the economic perspective. How can you increase the profitability of your company through brand development and well-crafted business plans? She also relates a lot to ecological and social sustainability, especially by using the global goals.
Imagine these three in a combo!
A force for change that is permeated by different backgrounds but with a common goal - that we can locally participate in driving development towards a sustainable future.
This is what we did on day 1:
Memoirs from day 1:
Pia's lecture
- Tells about how she started her business.
- What it means to start a business. As a self-employed person and with 4 children, a life puzzle, you rearrange old truths, "work - life balance".
- Tells about his company Sweden:2030
- Tells about SDGs. Agenda 2030. They can give a greater purpose to what a company does.
- Task: What were your favorite games when you were a child?
- Task: The year is 2050. Reflect on how you feel and what the world looks like.
- How to start a business in a smart way so you can live the life you want to live. Make money and have your own time.
- Talk about how to build the brand. Promise and delivery. What are the customer expectations or the idea of how to change. Build a brand where customers feel proud to buy (because it is sustainable).
- 5 P's: Promotion, Place (e.g. smell and hearing have a big impact), Product & Service (talks about circular economy), Price (pricing strategies), People (not just employees, but everyone who has any connection to the company).
- Pia shows a film about leather bag companies. Connect a story behind each product.
”"PO.P second hand" is a good example of how you can hand in clothes in exchange for money for new ones.
- Storytelling in products. ”Sandhussein” example
- Dream customer, target group. Task for the participants: What is a dream customer?
- Participants share their thoughts about dream customers for their own companies.
- Pia recommends talking to these dream customers as market research. Speak to your favorite customer and everyone will hear what you say. IF you try to speak to a broad customer group or ”everyone,” no one will hear what you say:
- It's important to have a network. Organizations with similar interests can be very valuable.
Lunch. After lunch we will get to know a person in pairs and they will introduce each other to the public.
Louise's presentation on resilience
Resilient entrepreneurship 20231109_pres
- Research journey of different theories leading to Agenda 2030:
- Sustainable development, triple bottom line (three pillars of sustainability).
- “Embedded view” in the three pillars of sustainability. Nature lies at the bottom, everything is embedded in nature/the biosphere.
- Research on Ecological footprint, threshold effects (Planetary boundaries), Holocene.
- Kate Raworth. The Mine – Safe and Fair Development
- Sustainable development, triple bottom line (three pillars of sustainability).
- What dependencies do we create in our businesses? How can our business ideas contribute to less vulnerabilities and more fairness in our systems?
- Discussion about Agenda 2030, global VS local, many contradictions in theory.
- The commodity is the product> The individual is the product (data)> The community is the new product of the future?
- Sustainable Business canvas – tool for sustainable business development
- Activity outside with Louise Hård- Triangeln- about complexity in adapting to changing systems. Complex dynamic systems.
Mat's lecture – collaboration
- Definition of collaboration
- Collaboration means the same thing
- Mats talks about his background. Life in the countryside, how modern the food system is designed?
- Worked on building collaboration in Fjärdhundraland. Since he moved to the current house in the Fjärdhundraland area, many businesses have grown and, for example, more local food is available for purchase. Many small things become something big
- Create local pride. How do we create synergy effects. Sense of authenticity/closeness. An understandable transaction and social cohesion.
- Create added value to be able to charge higher prices and find the right customers who can pay for it.
- A big part of why it works is the driving forces behind it.
- ”Inspiration is cheap”, it is commitment that is valuable and where the important thing (collaboration) comes to the fore.
- Different people have different opinions about collaboration between companies, such as selling each other's products, marketing, etc.
- Dependent on each other. We need context.
Jenny's Workshop
- Everyone chooses a sustainability goal and tells a little about why they chose it; ecosystems/biodiversity, implementation and partnerships, good health and well-being, oceans and marine resources, combating climate change, education, sustainable consumption and production, sustainable cities and communities, good education for all, no poverty, no hunger.
- Jenny and Louise talk about the Sustainable Business canvas.
This is what we did on day 2:
We also started working with Sustainable Business Canvas, a tool for sustainable business development, developed by, among others, Stockholm Resilience Center.
Memoirs from day 2:
Louise presents
- Iceberg metaphor exercise: ”Hot summer 2018”
- Effects: Hunting on water, Forest fires, Dry bait, Medical visits, Feed shortage
- Trends, patterns: Climate change, lack of preparedness,
- Underlying structures: Short-term economic gain, on-demand structures, rationalization
- Mental models, paradigms: Idea of predictability, willingness to change, crisis awareness, idea of security, anthropocentric, cognitive dissonance.
Mats presents
- Individualism while being dependent on your fellow human beings
- Task: sketch everyone around you. Family, customers, network, etc...
- Reflect on how the people around you mean a lot to both your professional and personal life.
- Task: Collaboration built on similarities and differences
- What similarities do we have that give us a reason to collaborate?
- What differences do we have that give us a reason to cooperate and complement each other?
Jenny Workshop on Sustainable Business Canvas
- What do I enjoy doing most?
- Who would I want as an advisor?
Jenny concludes.
- Louise recommends working with the Sustainable Business Canvas before the next meeting to be more prepared for the next meeting.
- We will design a map (Martina's idea) with contacts and pictures.
That's all, thank you everyone, see you again soon!
