Sustainable Brands comes to Sydney

The environmental and social impact of brands is being increasingly scrutinised by stakeholders, employees and consumers. Innovative brand leaders with their focus on sustainable outcomes will thrive, while those who fail to deliver will dive.

That’s the message underpinning Sustainable Brands, a global learning, collaboration and commerce community convening in Australia this month for the first time.

Over three days of plenaries, workshops and networking events, SB16 Sydney will lead an agenda designed to educate, inspire and motivate cross-sector industries on how to build, integrate and leverage sustainability into their brands. Through an innovative program of collaboration and information, it will provide the tools and partnerships to drive business success and positive impact.

The event will be headlined by Forum for the Future CEO Dr Sally Uren, who works with both individual pioneering businesses and global collaborations designed to address system-wide challenges. Based in the UK and overseeing offices in the US, Singapore and India, Dr Uren leads a number of global projects, including Net Positive (an initiative challenging businesses to put back more into society, environment and the global economy than they take out), Cotton 2040 (a project aiming to mainstream sustainable cotton) and Tea 2030 (a project to deliver a sustainable tea value chain).

“The role of business in delivering solutions to society’s current set of significant and complex sustainability challenges has never before attracted so much attention,” said Dr Uren.

“It’s critical to transform the key systems we rely on and to do that everyone in the value chain must be involved, from the producers and manufacturers right through to the end user, all working together towards a common aim.

“At SB16 Sydney, I will highlight key opportunities such as system innovation, the circular economy, pre-competitive collaboration and closing the circle between government, business and the consumer/community.”

Other keynote speakers will include:

• Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, discussing how businesses can realign their concept of waste and how it can become a brand ROI concept.
• Simon Mainwaring, founder and CEO of We First, who will share his experience in social media helping companies tell the story of the good they do in ways that build reputation, profits and social impact.
• Bern van Son, CEO of MUD Jeans, who will discuss the paradox of tackling the three major issues in fashion of pollution, slavery and recycling while still making fashionable jeans.

“I encourage professionals from all industries including marketing, design, construction, architecture, finance, medicine, communication, technology and so many more to join us in shaping a more sustainable future,” said Dr Uren.

The SB16 Sydney conference will be held from 27–29 June 2016 at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth. For more information and to register, visit http://www.sb16sydney.com.au/.

Image caption: Dr Sally Uren.