FutureReady

**How can we make sustainable behaviours more appealing?** Dr. Brandi Shaw Morris suggests that neuroscience can help us catalyse sustainable change by understanding how our brains work and what drives our behaviour. Brandi has worked in both academia and the private sector for more than 15 years. Currently, she is an assistant professor at Aarhus University in Denmark. Conducting research at the intersection between sustainability and neuroscience, Brandi believes that **by understanding our brain's natural tendencies, we can design interventions that nudge people towards more sustainable behaviour.** In this episode, we learn from Brandi about the importance of changing people's minds before we can change entire systems – and about the role of communications and storytelling in doing so.

“Long-term well-being for all is the ultimate goal of an economy.” Putting this insight into practice requires a radical rethinking of business-as-usual. Companies must recognize sustainability as their raison d'être. After all, what is sustainability if not the pursuit of long-term well-being for all? **In this episode, we learn from Dr. Victoria Hurth about how purpose can help companies position sustainability at the core of their operations - for widespread change.**

Building partnerships across sectors is an essential aspect of tackling sustainability issues effectively and holistically. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognise sustainability as always having social, environmental, and economic facets. Addressing the SDGs therefore requires varied approaches -- acting on multiple fronts and involving different actors. It requires the private, public, and non-profit sectors to work together. But joining forces for sustainability is not an easy task. Interests, objectives, and resources vary among stakeholders, and thus many pitfalls might arise. How can partners align on their sustainability vision and make a difference together? In this episode, we hear from Simon Brown about how businesses and non-profits can build strong partnerships for sustainability. Simon is Deputy Technical Director for Economic Empowerment at Sightsavers, an international organization that works with partners to treat and prevent avoidable blindness. With his extensive experience working for both businesses and NGOs, Simon has been building inter-sector partnerships for many decades.

Every industry faces distinctive challenges when it comes to sustainability. But dare we say, **some industries face greater challenges than others due to the nature of the products they manufacture**. The chemicals industry is one of the sectors where sustainability transformations can feel like a real enigma. Chemical manufacturing companies must undergo drastic changes to reduce their negative footprint while maintaining profitable revenues. The size of these challenges means that companies must be reoriented towards sustainability across the board – a single sustainability department is not enough. This is the intricate mission that *Evonik Industries AG - a leading chemical manufacturing company** - is currently in. In this episode of the FutureReady Podcast, host Arne Kötting talks with Stefan Haver. At the time of this conversation, Stefan Haver was working at Evonik as Head of Sustainability. Since January 2023, he has been working as Head of Communications & Sustainability at the **RAG Foundation**. Among many exceptional insights, Stefan shares knowledge about assessing product portfolios, the importance of language, and methodological approaches to sustainability.

Though all industries need to address environmental impact, **the path to sustainability is not homogenous**. Different business models and diverse socio-economic contexts require businesses to find unique solutions to sustainability challenges. Merging creativity with problem-solving, effective design is key to successful sustainability transformations. Did you know that 80% of a product's environmental impact is decided in the design phase? In this episode of the FutureReady Podcast, host Arne Kötting talks with **Frouke Bruinsma** about designing more sustainable value chains from A to Z. At the time when this conversation was recorded, Frouke worked in the Sustainability, Procurement and Legal department at **Fatboy the original – a global home and garden goods manufacturer**. In this captivating chat, Frouke shares valuable knowledge on the importance of product design, the role of consumers in sustainability transformations, the concept of circular economy, and much more.

To successfully navigate sustainability transformations, companies must expand their operational toolkits in response to ever-changing challenges. The urgency of sustainability transformations requires strong strategic thinking, extreme adaptability, and a serious commitment to innovation. Zeynep Özbil understands the complexity of these tasks. She is the Executive Director of Global Communications at Arcelik Group-Beko-Grundig - a global home appliances brand that is setting the benchmark for sustainability in the industry. In this episode of FutureReady, Zeynep talks to our host Arne Kötting about how companies can successfully approach sustainability, develop strategies and KPIs, and create narratives that work for these transformations.

The call for more sustainable business models and corporate cultures is getting increasingly stronger from all sides. To create meaningful change in the long run, companies must weave sustainability into every aspect of their operation – including communication, employee engagement, partnerships, and more. The task is huge and even harder than it sounds! To help you find your way through the sustainability maze, our host Arne Kötting talks with Marina Schmitz about how to create sustainability transformations. Marina is a CSR expert at Polymundo AG and a researcher and lecturer at IEDC - Bled School of Management. In this episode of the FutureReady Podcast, Marina shares unique insights on the differences between ESG and sustainability, the importance of building emotional connections to the issue of sustainability, the shift to impact-driven business models, and more.

Future-ready companies understand sustainability transformations as key to innovation and industry leadership. But many still feel intimidated by the sizable efforts they require. Too often, sustainability transformations fail to trickle down into all departments of a business. They live only in the minds of leadership, in quarterly board meetings, and in yearly sustainability reports. So, how can we win the hearts and minds of employees for the issue? How can we effectively mainstream sustainability across our organizations? In the new Sustainability Series of the FutureReady Podcast, we spotlight stories of companies who have been successfully integrating sustainability into their corporate culture. We hear insights from professionals who are leading the way on sustainability breakthrough practices and impactful communication. They speak to host Arne Kötting about topics such as ESG, sustainability strategy development, partnership design, and more!

Organizational change experts have increasingly been highlighting deep listening, humility, and intense self-reflection as the top qualities of future-ready leaders. At the same time, recent scientific research has been suggesting that the openness necessary to embody these traits can more easily be acquired through psychedelic therapy. Could psychedelics really be an effective ally in the quest for wiser, more compassionate modes of leadership? In this episode, FutureReady host Arne Kötting speaks to Maarten van Huijstee – the CEO and co-founder of Spinoza, an Amsterdam-based company that provides its clients with curated psychedelic experiences. Maarten is a strong believer in the potential of psychedelics to help make us better people – and to create better leaders. He is also a serial entrepreneur, and someone who has occupied executive positions in multinational companies such as Heineken and Unilever. That is to say that Maarten is the perfect person to share insights into the business, spiritual, and scientific sides of psychedelics. Ready to open up your mind?

In 2020, there were fewer female Chairs of the board than male Chairs called John in the S&P 500 companies. In 2015, working in the philanthropy division of a major bank, Diana van Maasdijk felt that she had hit a wall in her mission to advance gender equality. Frustrated by the slow pace of change when it comes to the workplace gender gap, she decided to resort to a powerful, yet controversial tool: money. Diana then founded Equileap – a company that provides investors with data on gender equality in the workplace, allowing them to make more responsible investment decisions. In this episode of the FutureReady podcast, she chats to host Arne Kötting about the current state of gender diversity in the corporate world. She also shares valuable pieces of knowledge and practical wisdom on how to change workplace culture, getting gender equality off the page and into life.