Integration of Preventative Concepts & Tools of Sustainable Production & Consumption, Circular Economies & Benefit Corporations into Corporate Business Models & Business Practice in the Post-COVID-19 Era 1

How is your company prioritizing post COVID-19 strategies for the new normals? Participation in this course will help students to learn about and to apply holistic methodologies, circular economy concepts and B-corporation business models, that are essential for the sustainable transition to equitable and resilient supply chains in the context of challenges like climate changes, economic disruptions, pandemics and other crises.

Programme

Course description

This course is comprised of three blocks designed to teach concepts, processes and tools that will help students and their company colleagues to transform current or emerging companies, into socially conscious, sustainable businesses which, will function effectively and sustainably within circular economies in the context of company vulnerabilities due to climate changes, economic problems, pandemics and other challenges.

The course leaders will focus upon holistic approaches for designing and producing cleaner product-service combinations by using cleaner production, sustainable consumption and new business models, such as Certified B Corporations and Legal Benefit Corporations in post COVID-19 contexts. The students will learn why and how to plan and implement changes in their companies so they become more effective, efficient, resilient and sustainable.

The course leaders will provide a wide-array of materials and tools to help the students before, during and after the three-week course. There will be an on-line ‘course repository,’ that will serve as a ‘commons’ for sharing articles, videos and other types of relevant materials with and among the students.

Course content

The content of the course is divided into three blocks. The broad outlines are:

Block-1

Expanding the understanding of roles of the value chain, from product design, product-service system implementation, production, processing, wholesaling, retailing and valorizing wastes to help to facilitate transition to equitable and resilient supply chains and sustainable societies.

Assignment: Corporate value stream mapping for any type of industrial sector.

Block-2

Concepts of benefit corporations for facilitating transitions to sustainable and conscious businesses within sustainable circular economies in the post COVID-19 era.

Assignment: Students’ will discuss their findings and challenges they had as they performed the Corporate Value Stream Mapping in their company. Course leaders will provide useful guidance for follow-up work in the student’s company

Block-3

Why and how cleaner production, sustainable consumption, industrial ecology and circular economy-based business models work. Case studies from the book, “100 Pioneers in Efficient Resource Management: Best practice cases from producing companies,” will be used to teach the concepts, tools, costs and benefits for companies and societies due to implementation of the holistic, preventative approaches implemented by the 100 pioneer companies.

Assignment: Six-months after the course, the students will have the opportunity to discuss with each other and with the course leaders, about the challenges, opportunities and benefits they experienced as they worked to implement changes in their companies.

Type of training

This online course is a combination of e-learning, videos and self-study.

Objective and outcome

1. Deepen knowledge and skills to effectively network and cooperate among company leaders and other stakeholders to implement, Cleaner Production, Industrial Symbiosis, Circular Economy and B-Corporation strategies and procedures in their companies and in their supply chains to reduce their vulnerability to crises such as pandemic and climate changes.
2. Document and analyze the student’s challenges, opportunities and results as they worked in their companies to implement the knowledge they obtained from the course.
3. Six months after the course, all students are expected to provide a written and/or a video report of how they implemented the lessons learned from the course, into their company’s business models, policies, procedures, product-service designs, supply-chain management worker-health and safety and consumer engagement.

Note:

The course leaders will provide in-depth feedback to the students and to other members of their company via written responses and via the online tool. Students are invited to contact the course leaders for advice during the time between the end of the course and the six-month feedback report date.

Language

English

Requirements

Participants would require their own laptop and a stable high-speed internet connection to take part in this course.

Target Group

1. Leaders and senior executives of all companies across all industrial sectors.
2. Supply chain managers, technical managers, product designers, leaders of early start-up companies in producing, assembling, trading, and recycling companies.
3. Graduate students working in new businesses.