Last week I gave a presentation at the International Certifications seminar on Environmental Management Systems. In this presentation I tried to provide some insights on what it takes to develop an effective environmental management system. I gave an overview of the tools and techniques that can be useful to engage staff, establish buy-in from senior management and collaborate with stakeholders. The ecoWheel framework is introduced as a tool to establish and implement an environmental sustainability strategy and meet the requirements of the ISO 4001 standard. You can watch a video of my presentation here:
I think the presentation provides a good insight into the relevance and importance of sustainability, especially for New Zealand companies.
I have experience using the suggested software, ecoPortal, and I can assure that it is very easy to use.
It facilitates communication among people within a company, but also allows consultants to support companies without driving there all the time – how sustainable to avoid transport emissions!!
Since it allows to involve staff members so easily, it helps to make sustainability an important part of the company’s culture.
Right now I do research in the area of life cycle management for primary SMEs and I wonder whether the tool would be useful for these businesses as well. Maybe we can try and create an ecowheel for them. I think issues such as water management, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions play a major role in these industries. What do you think?
Hi Helene – great to hear that you are considering using the ecoWheel as a basis for your life cycle management research in the agricultural industry. As you know, I developed several industry ecoWheels as a result of my research and consulting work. For example I developed a generic wood panel furniture ecoWheel on the basis of my understanding of the environmental issues and best practice in that particular industry. This generic wheel can now be used by other companies in this industry as a basis to develop their own sustainability strategy.
I think it would be really great if you were able to develop ecoWheel templates and associated tools for the agricultural sectors here in NZ. There is fantastic potential to use the ecoWheel as a way of communicating between different stakeholders and facilitating mutual learning in the industry.