The Hedge Chair

A chair, leaning, living,
A maker, learning, loving.
Learning about living, making a leaning chair,
Loving the learning, learning that leans and lives,

Private ethics and public conflicts

Recently a senior civil servant who was chief of shareholder investment section in the Department of Finance left his position to take up a new job. He was in charge of the Department’s (the public’s) policy and enforcement of the banking regulations and agreements. His new job however, is with the Bank of Ireland,

Horse meat burgers and sustainability!

The headlines today offer a clear example of the problems with our current food policies. In this story there may be no danger to human health

Business Ethics

SustainEd duo Victor and Tim have been asked to deliver a module on Business Ethics within the American College’s International Business degree programme. The course will be held over this coming semester and is allied to their existing module on Sustainable Business which they have been running for the past six years. The role of business […]

The wider perspective

It is sometimes a good idea to take a step back from daily business and consider the wider perspectives to ensure that whatever strategy we are pursuing is supported by the broader forces. Market trends and their demands can blind

Food exports up in 2012

News in today that Ireland’s agri-business exports for 2012 surpassed €9 billion for the first time ever according to new figures released by Bord Bia. The storngest sector was bmeat and livestock (€3 bn), drinks (€1.26 bn) and seafood was a strong €463 million. There are strong signs of confidence in the agri-business sector with 77% […]

Italy, food and sustainability

I am writing this from Italy where I have come to visit my daughter for Christmas. The Italians are a serious food nation, in ways it is difficult to understand without actually being here. Families can fall out over some food detail – she roasts the pine nuts too much, his balsamic vinegar is too sour!

Energy Audits

Businesses regularly examine their processes in order to identify weaknesses, waste, and ways of becoming more productive and profitable. That’s exactly what a sustainability audit entails.

Shared value – Sharing Values – a must for sustainable business

A more sustainable future will require that we devise ways of developing and sharing value. Many of the problems we face are not ones that can be addressed by an organisation on its own. We hear a lot of talk now about stakeholders

A recession or a crisis?

There is a real difficulty in starting a business in Ireland right now. The almost complete sense of hopelessness that persists across all sectors of society. There is a sense that the answer is no! No matter what the question is. This comes from the top, the lack of leadership,