Centre for Sustainable Business
In collaboration with
- Research Centres
- Centre for Cultural History
- Centre for Education, Innovation and Equity
- Centre for Future Technologies
- Centre for Health and Allied Sport and Exercise Science Research (CHASER)
- Centre for Sustainable Business
- Centre for Workforce Development
- Centre of Excellence for Childhood, Society and Inclusion
- °ËØÔ±¬ÁÏ Centre for Critical and Creative Writing
- °ËØÔ±¬ÁÏ Centre for Fairy Tales, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction
- Creative Industries Research Centre
- MOVER Centre
- People and Well-Being in the Everyday Research Centre (POWER)
- Creative Research Methods Lab
- Child and Adolescent Socio-Emotional Development Lab
- Cognitive Ageing and Dementia Research Lab
- Cultural and Social Cognition Laboratory
- Human Attention Laboratory
- Employee Well-being in Work & Organisational Psychology (EWWOP) Lab
- Lab for Global Research on Gender, Sexuality and Identity
- Functional Behavioural Science Laboratory
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Lab
- Quantitative Criminology Lab
- Sexualised Violence and Abuse Research Lab
- Research in Practice Hub
- Vocal Communication Lab
- Qualitative Research Hub
- The Iris Murdoch Research Centre
- Social Work Collaborative Research Hub
- PhD and MPhil Degrees
- Research Excellence Framework
- Research Governance
- Research Office
- ChiPrints Repository
About
Finding practical solutions to real-world problems
The Centre for Sustainable Business was established in 2015 to bring together °ËØÔ±¬ÁÏ researchers and business communities and find practical solutions to real-world problems. Our work operates at the intersection of applied research, practice, consultation, knowledge transfer and continuing professional development (CPD).
Through over a dozen regional sustainability initiatives, working with a wide range of businesses and government bodies, we have helped hundreds of sustainability workers in the Channel region to reframe and implement policy in economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable ways.
Our research-led interventions have led to the development of sustainable supply chains for offshore wind farms, the enforcement of EU competition rules governing Channel Tunnel freight flows, and the widespread adoption of policies to prevent the pollution of rivers and coastal waters.
We have ongoing relationships with a wide range of partner organisations, including the Brighton-based specialists in organisation development and design, Mayvin Ltd, the Humanistic Management Network, and the Environment Agency.
People
Dr Dawn Robins
Professor Rob Warwick
David Goodman
David Grindel
Paula Jenkins
Sue Lavender
Dr Robert MacKenzie
Projects
Searching for sustainable solutions to business problems
Working with a wide range of partners, we have attracted considerable external funding for our research – particularly from the EU INTERREG programme, which supports cross-border cooperation and searches for solutions in areas such as sustainable energy, transport and the environment.
Since October 2017, this €4m EU INTERREG-funded project has been focused on improving the water quality of rivers and lakes in the South of England and the North of France by encouraging farmers and landowners to adopt more environmentally sustainable practices. The Centre for Sustainable Business is the lead partner on the project, among ten others from both sides of the English Channel.
The project works by piloting PES (Payment for Ecosystem Services) initiatives across the Channel area. The schemes offer financial incentives to farmers to encourage them to reduce the levels of nitrate water pollution in the run-off from their land, maintain soil health, and increase crop yields through increased crop diversity.
Maritime industry in the Channel region has often been challenged by disconnected and incoherent strategies and procedures, as a result of which adherence to regional trade regulations has often been inconsistent.
The Channel Arc Manche Integration Strategy () was a 21-partner EU INTERREG IVa-funded (with the Centre awarded €350,000) programme aimed at designing an integrated in the Channel area that recognised how cultural, administrative and geographical factors were preventing policy adherence.
We worked specifically on maritime clustering and transport, concentrating on topics such as marina clustering, port centricity, and offshore renewable energy.
In 2017, the Centre for Sustainable Business received funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development to undertake research to support sustainable development policy in the Manhood Peninsula, a coastal region near °ËØÔ±¬ÁÏ that suffers from economic isolation.
Sustainable Tourism on the Manhood Peninsula () was the result, replacing the expired Destination Management Plan (DMP) for the Manhood Peninsula in 2018. Our decision to prioritise development plans in conjunction with a wide range of local residents, businesses and councils laid the groundwork for sustainable planning, whilst also attracting funding from local tourism businesses.
The research recommended the formation of a locally-focused Destination Management Partnership to facilitate regional development (). It also recommended that the local authorities’ practice of promoting a short summer tourist season was holding back the growth of yearlong tourism, which is steadier and more dependable than a seasonal business model.
Our researchers drove improvements in leadership capability and organisational development in two Sussex-based NHS Trusts and the UK Civil Service’s Organisational Development and Design (OD&D) Service.
They achieved this through an iterative process of research and leadership development carried out between 2013 and 2018, which drew on our distinctive research base in action learning and leadership impact.
Publications
Impact
How we're helping create change
Our work has led to significant and far-reaching impact for a diverse range of stakeholders in the Channel region.
The Channel Payments for Ecosystem Services (CPES) project is producing considerable changes to agricultural practices and the wider environment. In Normandy, there are already more than 75 farms (of various sizes) contracted to PES, while in England the project is also influencing major environmental stakeholders, including Natural England and the Environment Agency – all of which have embedded CPES research into their sustainability policies. A suite of reports and spin-off initiatives are ongoing that will drive home the importance of PES schemes in tackling pollution in rivers and water courses.
Our work on renewable energy clusters led to three projects focused on renewable energy: Kent, Rampion and Channel-Mor. We also undertook research into the region’s most important shared territorial asset, the Channel Tunnel, where we found significant problems with the level of freight traffic caused by issues concerning the Tunnel’s ownership and operational practice. As a result of our interventions, the EU Commission sent a public letter to Eurotunnel enforcing regulatory compliance, and the British Government debated the issue.
Closer to home, our researchers’ work with public sector leaders was credited with generating wide-ranging cultural improvements in the Civil Service’s Organisational Development and Design (OD&D) Service, and contributing towards the most significant improvement in one NHS Trust’s Care Quality Commission rating ever achieved.
Events and News
The Centre for Sustainable Business holds regular research seminars, talks and publication launches.
Look out for upcoming events listings on this page.
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