Social Justice
Social justice is an interactive process, not an outcome, in which members of a community seek: fair (re)distribution of resources opportunities and responsibilities challenge the roots of oppression and injustice empower all people to exercise self-determination and realize their full potential and build social solidarity and community capacity for collaborative action (School of Social Welfare, […]
Sustainability Champion
An indication of the sustainability community’s adoption of the term is that both University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized employees as Sustainability Champions for the first time in 2009. UCSB launched a new awards program and the EPA renamed its decade-old environmental awards program Sustainability Champions.
Systems
Systems are a set of elements or parts that is coherently organized and interconnected in a pattern or structure. This pattern or structure thus produces a characteristic set of behaviors, often classified as its “function” or “purpose” that form a united whole (Meadows, 2008). Resources: Meadows, D. (2008). Thinking in Systems: A Primer. White River […]
Smart Grid
Smart grid technology enables suppliers & consumers to better monitor energy needs. Up until now, utility companies have had very little insight into the energy demands of their consumers and therefore they have not been prepared for peak energy consumption, which results in blackouts. Smart grid is a two-way communication between the consumer & supplier […]
Social Impact Bond
A Social Impact Bond is a financial instrument where private individuals invest in “public” or government programs, where a return on investment is made if certain metrics are achieved. Resources: Social Impact Bonds (n.d.). Social Finance. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from http://www.socialfinance.org.uk
Sustainability Helix
A tool for helping organizations drive sustainability into the DNA of their corporate structures and funtions. The Helix helps organizations assess their level of involvement as well as ways to integrate sustainability over time across many organizational functions. Co-developed by Natural Capitalism Solutions and graduates from Presidio School of Management, it tracks efforts in 6 […]
Sustainable Market
Ideally, a market that is capable of operating continuously while meeting today’s (global) economic, environmental, and social needs without compromising the opportunity for future generations to use the market to meet their own needs. In practice, a sustainable market is a market that is moving toward that ideal.
Sustainability Marketing
The process of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service in a sustainable market in such a way as to educate customers of the multiple benefits of valuing human, economic, and natural capital.
Sustainable Management
The ability to direct the course of a company, community, organization, or country in ways that restore and enhance all forms of capital (human, natural, manufactured, and financial) to generate stakeholder value and contribute to the well-being of current and future generations.
Synergy
Derived from the Greek words for “cooperation” and “working together,” synergy is the result of two or more people or companies working together to produce an effect that is greater than the sum of their individual efforts. In business, synergy is often a stated benefit of a merger or acquisition. Unfortunately, this effect is often […]
