MAKING COLLABORATION HAPPEN: SCALING UP BUSINESS IMPACTS ON SUSTAINABLE LIVING

New sustainable business models can drive a significant change in the way we live our lives, such as sharing products, swapping goods or purchasing services rather than products. How can the impacts of sustainable business models be scaled up from a niche towards a mass market application? Which strategies and key success factors are needed for scaling up impacts of sustainable business models? Which is the right scaling up strategy for which entrpreneurial type? These are questions the BISS project addresses.

 

Sustainable scale-up through business innovation
Responding to the opportunities offered by the increasing uptake of sustainable business models and associated business innovations, the CSCP together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) have initiated the Business Innovation for Sustainable Scale-up project (BISS). It provides the basis for the establishment and development of the Global Network on Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the new hub for scaling up impacts of innovative business practices on sustainable living. The BISS project and the Global Network on Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship were launched in an interactive parallel event at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in June 2012. The event is summed up in this report.

 

Global Network: The Global Network on Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship has been established to connect the many organisations, existing networks, and individuals in the private, public and consumer sectors to create synergies and a critical global mass to

enable a significant business contribution to sustainable living. Please visit the global network to find out more about all the interactive features: You can take part in online discussions, share your success story, interact with other members of the network and discover exciting events, videos and pictures and even post your own ones. Joining the network is free and easy. Please click here to become a member.

 

Webinars: A series of interactive "Scaling-Up Innovation Canvasses" will be published online to provide theory, practical examples, opportunities and challenges on scaling-up business impacts on sustainable living. These canvasses will be customised

to selected stakeholder groups (e.g. entrepreneurs, financial institutions) and will include recorded quotes from practitioners, links to relevant videos and presentations.

 

Workstudios: Furthermore, the project provides some workstudios, where different stakeholders come together and have the chance to exchange their scaling-up mechanisms for sustainable entrepreneurial practices, financial mechanisms, and

innovative solutions. The first workstudio was held on 3rd December 2012 in Bogota, Colombia. Workstudios in Ghana, the Philippines, and Germany will follow. Till December 2013 the CSCP will deliver a range of further collaborative initiatives and multi-stakeholder events to assist with scaling-up business innovations towards sustainable living.

 

Research Framework: A Scaling-Up Innovations Framework to analyse and screen business models representing innovative, sustainable solutions that can be scaled-up and adapted to improve sustainable living in different contexts. It is anticipated that the Scaling

Up Innovations Framework becomes a practical tool for strengthening the link between business and sustainable living and how business can communicate and interact with consumers. Therefore we focus on innovative strategies that go beyond scaling up the administrative boundaries of an organisation, but focus on scaling up the impacts. Concepts such as franchising of sustainable enterprises will be elaborate for scaling up impacts and hence promote more sustainable lifestyles.

 

Reporting: A series of strategic reports will be produced as part of the BISS project to provide practical insights into concepts, strategies, and success factors to scale-up business impacts on sustainable living. Furthermore, the findings from each workstudio will

be documented in summary reports and made available publicly.

 

  

Background

The BISS project is funded by the  German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).