“The Only Way is Open” – sustainable business talk at University Centre Shrewsbury

News from our partners University Centre Shrewsbury

Alice Elliott

“You are not alone”- that’s the message to businesses at a free University Centre Shrewsbury session this month which explores ways to be more efficient, resilient and engaging by developing ideas and strategies in collaboration.

Alice Elliott from the University of Chester will present the talk on “Sustainable Business – The Only Way is Open” at Guildhall, Shrewsbury, from 7pm on Wednesday 24 February 2016.

Alice is Head of Sustainability at the University of Chester and a lead on the Good for Nothing Chester Chapter, an international community bringing like-minded people together to collaborate on a range of projects through digital-tech hack events – high-energy get-togethers which use digital resources to create innovative products.

Using examples of successful projects from businesses such as Interface and Unilever, as well as looking at the Good for Nothing model which has boosted the growth of many small businesses and projects, Alice will discuss how exploring solutions to sustainability challenges with peers can help catalyse change for good.

She will outline why purposeful collaboration helps to create businesses that are strong, successful, low carbon and closed-loop – using a supply chain that completely reuses, recycles, or composts all materials.

She will share three tools to help to collaborate, using Open Innovation practices, including how to crowdsource ideas which involves gaining services, feedback, ideas, or content by seeking contributions from a large group of people, especially from the online community.

Alice said:

“In a networked world it is becoming easier to discover the partners and technologies that we need to grow our businesses in a way which doesn’t just mitigate our impact, but creates a positive impact.

“There is a range of techniques available to help businesses innovate and I’m looking forward to sharing more about how, in times of unprecedented change, they can use these to become low-resource and resilient.”

To book places for the lecture email communications@ucshrewsbury.ac.uk or call 01743 297185.

Alternatively, people can visit Rowley’s House, Barker Street, Shrewsbury, SY1 1QH, or Guildhall, Frankwell Quay, Shrewsbury, SY3 8HQ. The helpdesk at Rowley’s House is open 11am to 2pm Monday to Thursday. The information point at Guildhall is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4pm on Fridays.

For further details on UCS events go to www.ucshrewsbury.ac.uk/public-events.