A Feasible Sustainable Business Strategy for a Co-working Space
26 June 2015 - Ekaterina Larsson

Impact Hub Stockholm is looking at integrating a sustainable business strategy into its operations. We met with Fredrik Petterson from Track Record CSR and Communication, to ask him a few questions about the process and what it entails.

How did the idea about a sustainable business strategy come about?
I was contacted by Gabriella (Silwferbrand) and asked if interested in doing a sustainability study and helping include sustainability in the Impact Report in the autumn. So we started using ISO 26000 standard for reviewing the Impact Hub Stockholm operations. Analyzing a company from a sustainability perspective can be done in many different ways and using ISO 26000 is one of them.

Where does one begin when looking at a sustainable business strategy?
The first point of action is to find out what impacts on society and environment are associated with your business throughout the value chain. Many people believe that environmental care for example means recycling paper and turning off lights in the office. However, for most companies, these actions have a relatively minor impact in the big picture. There are several aspects to look at – suppliers, clients, the products and materials used are some of them.
In order to apply this thinking to a co-working space we need to look at our own operations first. In the Impact Hub Stockholm’s case – we are renting a space and providing an inspiring co-working environment for social entrepreneurs with added benefits like accelerator services and a networking community. The whole purpose of Impact Hub is to help make the world a better place. So for a co-working space the goals of profitability and sustainability are intertwined since efficient resource use is good for both.
Fredrik-Pettersson-CSR-konsult-hallbarhetscoach-kommunikation-Track-Record-portratt

So what areas are you looking at for the Hub?
Some areas we look at are related to the building we are housed in, such as energy used for example. We buy renewable electricity but we may not be able to influence what kind of energy the landlord buys to heat the building. The quality of the water used we cannot affect but we might be able to affect how much is used. Compared to an industry, water use is normally not a big issue for an office building though. So we have to look at the important operations inside the space. Heating, renewable energy, materials used, do we buy second hand furniture? Do we recycle?
We also look at where everything comes from. Where do we buy things we need? If we look at a car manufacturer such as Volvo for example, they buy a lot of things they need from manufacturers. When creating a sustainable business strategy companies need to look upstream – i.e. what comes into the ops, and downstream – what goes out and what is the impact in the hands of the customer, after the material/ products left the company. For Volvo, a downstream measurement would be the fuel used per mile for example – an SUV uses more than a small car. One needs to look at whether the material is recyclable after the consumer has used it as well.

What are the limitations for Impact Hub Stockholm when considering a sustainable business strategy?
The limitations are that we cannot influence everything and do not have the resources to do everything. So we need to focus on the things that are most important for us and that we have influence on. We also look at the resources for implementation and at things that we are not systematically doing already. We do buy ecological and Fair-trade already, but up until now there hasn’t been a formal purchasing policy for example.
We believe that the sustainable business strategy will help Impact Hub Stockholm become stronger in its value proposition to the members and the community. We see ourselves as the natural choice for people who think that sustainability is important and would like to be the most sustainable co-working space possible.

So what is the next step now?
At Impact Hub Stockholm we have looked at our operations, looked at the upstream and the downstream chains. But we don’t know everything and others may prioritize differently, so now we’re asking for stakeholder engagement. And this means asking the different stakeholders what they think is important to include in the sustainability strategy. This is considered a fundamental ingredient in sustainability communications.
We are using WorldFavor, which is an online platform for working with ISO26000. It allows companies to go through and consider all the aspects of sustainability, and be transparent about their sustainability work online. As one part of the stakeholder engagement process we have chosen to invite our members and our network to give input on what aspects of social responsibility are most important for Impact Hub to address. If you would like to participate please follow this link and answer the survey. Your input will be very valuable for our choice of strategy.

So what are you going to do with the result from this survey?
The feedback will be summarized and used at a strategy meeting to take into consideration when we revise the strategy for Impact Hub. Then we aim to continue the dialogue about sustainability with stakeholders.

Author

Ekaterina Larsson is a freelancing Digital Communications Consultant and Marketing Manager who has worked with organisations including Stockholm International Water Institute and Greenpeace.