eCommunications for global organisations

Cloud-computing and ICT technology as such has changed our society. A development of our Web2.0 culture is just one small part of the impact. The way we communicate, the way we interact, the tools we use.


Even if we often are not aware of the environmental impacts of our actions - it is evident, that our changed behavior with the availability of computing tools and new ways to interact has an impact on the environment.


Nothing to be afraid of – there are positive and negative impacts: Did you know that a modern laptop consumes less energy than an old light bulb?


As Jorge Zapico who is currently researching the intersections of ICT and Sustainability at the Centre for Sustainable Communications in Stockholm points out correctly, that there are many ways in which we can enhance the positive impacts. For example an open source approach to sharing information, using the net to mobilize the environmental movement and taking advantage of technologies that make our life more (energy) efficient.


Which does not mean we should neglect the negative ones like the hidden hardware in many data centers that is running our beloved Internet cloud (slide 13). Enjoy Jorge’s presentation on this topic:

This is a crosspost from Ideaplants.org.

Our team has just recently launched a website on Carbon Aware Travel Choice - a project that is co-financed by the European Union under the 7th Framework Programme for Research.

CATCH brings together government officials, scientists and transport experts of cities in Europe and beyond to communicate on Transport issues. The project specifically aims to support cities to encourage climate-friendly decision-making among their citizens, and to showcase learnings from good and bad examples.

As part of the project the CATCH team is developing an online knowledge engine that will help provide further details on carbon emissions which will also be very interesting tool for legislators on Carbon Emissions aiming to increase awareness of the environmental impacts of mobility, map out potential solutions to their management and to enable travelers to make informed climate-friendly travel choices.

The site includes Web2.0 tools like Youtube channel & Twitter and provides an interactive overview on Stakeholder opinions and current developments around Carbon legislation, climate facts and involvement of local authorities on this issue.

No one really seems to have grasped what sustainability really stands for. One of those concepts that is so broad that anything could fit in and so complex that noone really knows how to transform it into something practical.

Especially corporates seem to be struggling in making sense of it and putting the topic in a context that speaks to the individual, to management and serves the company purpose. Let’s be honest here - it’s a real challenge. There’s no off-the-shelf solution on how to turn a successful corpoate business into a successful sustainable one. And it’s surely not about the process but much more about the indivudual that drives change in the organization.

Boston University has built their concept around ‘Corporate Citizenship’. They recently released a report on Leadership Competencies for Community Involvement that shows what it takes to be a change agent in driving a big organization towards taking an active role in corporate citizenship. Have a look it’s an interesting read.

Best wishes, Mira

(This is a cross-post from ideaplants.org)