About the Project
The Sustainable Business Project is a part of a PhD research study at the Centre for Environment & Sustainability, University of Surrey led by Nayanee Silva, supervised by Dr Walter Wehrmeyer and Professor Richard Murphy.
Phase 1 of the study has been completed with four detailed case studies of business sustainability which demonstrate a new 7-part sustainability framework (7E Model). These phase 1 results have been presented at two international conferences. Reports and academic publications are in process.
Phase 2 is currently underway. This will include several entities from various industry sectors to take part in an online sustainability survey. SMEs and large, listed companies are welcome to take part.
Each participating organisation will receive a benchmark score of their sustainability performance using the new 7E Model framework developed for this project and a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) score.
We have also developed an Employee Engagement survey which assesses attitudes to work, community engagement and wellbeing. The results of this survey provide insights into employee behaviour using statistical analysis to help understand employee attitudes and characteristics which are unique to your organisation. Phase 1 results analysed gave insights to the organisations taking part.
The Research Team
The research team can be contacted at the University of Surrey. Please direct all enquiries to Nayanee Silva.
Nayanee Silva
FCA FCMI FRSA
Nayanee Silva is a researcher in Organisational Sustainability at the University of Surrey. She has over 25 years experience in finance, business consulting and managing global projects.
She is the founder of a business consultancy and a non-profit foundation for sustainable development and capacity building.
Her research interests span business sustainability, materials management, sustainable development, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), employee engagement, the energy transition and Circular Economy.
Nayanee is a member of a UK Energy Research Council (UKERC) research group and the Zero Emissions Enterprise (ZEE) Network supporting SME decarbonisation.
Dr Walter Wehrmeyer
Walter Wehrmeyer is an Associate Professor at the School of Civil Sustainability and Environmental Engineering, University of Surrey.
His research interests include corporate environmental behaviour, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development, organisational approaches to innovation and sustainable development, participatory approaches to decision-making, and corporate social responsibility, in particular, the role of culture and ethics in defining and forming business strategies.
Prof Richard Murphy
FIMMM FRSA
Richard Murphy is Professor of Life Cycle Assessment and University Sustainability Research Theme Champion at University of Surrey.
Richard is a past President of the Institute of Wood Science (now part of the Institute of Materials) and is a member of DEFRA's Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee, BRE's Advisory Panel and BSI committees. He is a founder and Director of LCAworks Ltd and was Chief Scientific Officer of Mycologix Ltd. He has advised the UK Climate Change Committee on LCA for bioenergy systems.
Gallery
Photos from Phase 1 case studies in the tea sector. Company sustainability surveys and employee surveys were completed.
Pictures are shared with permission.