“These are difficult times and we wanted to chip in where we could” - Kushal Gurun. Kushal Gurung of Nepal is not just a Carbon Management Masters graduate of Edinburgh University, but a serial entrepreneur back home in Nepal. He…
Category: SDG 11
XO Bikes
“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the future of the human race” - H.G. Wells, 1866-1946 XO Bikes is not a business with a purpose it is a purpose with a business.…
Feeling good addressing surplus
At a time when global food prices are rising higher and faster than at any time in the last decade, an estimated 1.6 billion tonnes of food is wasted each year. About one-third of the food produced globally contributes some 8…
Rosario Garden Project: urban regeneration seeds hope
“The best way to help a community is to give it the faith and knowledge to help itself” - New Scientist, 2nd August, 1962 Rosario, estimated population 1.7 million, is located 300kms (186 miles) North West of Buenos Aires, Argentina.…
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Nostos Homes sheltering the displaced
The world can be extremely cruel. While the planet is home to some 7.9 billion people, it can also cause considerable human suffering as can the human population itself. Not only do natural disasters bring suffering but so does man’s…
LabCycle – revolutionising the recycling of Laboratory Plastic Waste
wastes pic: Bath.ac.uk While research is intended to identify solutions to problems, laboratory-based research can also contribute to them, in particular to the current sustainability challenge. Annually some 5.5 million tonnes of single-use plastic is produced by life sciences research…
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ZeLoop – the app that rewards for not littering
bottle pic: by tanvi sharma “If bottles were made of gold, nobody would litter them in nature” - Eric Schaffner The damage that plastics can do to the environment is well documented. One million plastic bottles are produced a minute…
Egyptian University ‘Chito-Shrimp’ feeds multiple sustainability projects
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. Formerly known a SIFE (Students into Free Enterprise) Enactus is the world’s largest experiential learning platform.…
Read More Egyptian University ‘Chito-Shrimp’ feeds multiple sustainability projects
Pawprint – digital entrepreneurship with purpose
After graduating in 2001 with an M.A. in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford, Christian Arno set up “Lingo24” a B2B technology-enabled translation service which grew into a £10 million business employing 200 full-time staff in the UK, Netherlands, New…
Riding the Wayve for sustainable, accessible, and safer mobility
According to the World Health organisation, 1.3 million people die each year from car crashes caused by human error, while some 4.5 million people are estimated to die from the effects of air pollution and the particulate matter produced, particularly…
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Effa – Ukrainian eco-business inspires
Having worked as a multinational company project manager for 10 years, but never having felt that she fitted in there, Dasha Kichuk founded Kyiv-based Effa1 in 2018 in partnership with her industrial designer husband, Ilya, a graduate of Kharkiv State…
Supermarket Rebels HISBE Lead the Way
“Why go back to normal when you can go back to better?” - Ruth Anslow HISBE (How it Should Be) is a community of interest (CIC) supermarket in the coastal town of Brighton in West Sussex, England founded by Jack…
Welsh Luxury Hamper Co. showcasing local businesses
In 2019 20-year-old Abigail Chamberlain of Chepstow founded the Welsh Luxury Hamper Company Ltd. to showcase the quality products on offer in Wales. Because of her dyslexia, Abigail left university where she was studying music and enrolled on a different…
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Vivobarefoot’s regenerative steps
"We believe the closer people are to nature, the more they will protect it" - Vivobarefoot Founded in 2012, Vivobarefoot is an innovative London-based shoe company whose pedigree dates back almost 200 years. In 1825 in the village of Street in…
The House of Baukjen
“We care deeply about our people, our customers and our planet” (Baukjen de Swaan Arons). The House of Baukjen is a family-run women’s slow fashion business located in North West London. It comprises two branches, the core brand, Baukjen, and their…
Burns Pet Nutrition Ltd. and Parc y Bocs
"I want to see people feeling that they're proud of working for [Burns Pet Nutrition Ltd] and [for them to] put that bit extra in, in terms of the activities we're engaged in" - John Burns In the heart of rural…
Optim Energy – piezoelectric energy harvesting
“Young entrepreneurs and innovators are working hard to create a low carbon energy market” - Jeremiah Thoronka Mankind needs an alternative to fossil fuels. Solar, wind and water-generated energy are all possibilities, but with the present technology, they can be…
The washing machine project improving lives
Humanity is the washerwoman of our society that wrings out its laundry in tears - Karl Klaus, 1874-1936 The handwashing of clothes is a simple but time-consuming and energy-sapping task that has been a significant source of invention for centuries.…
Riversimple, driving change
"If GM (General Motors) had kept up with technology as the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1000 MPG" - Bill Gates “Buy cars and other products that have the least impact environmentally” -…
GEW2021 interview: the mind behind the investing in others for sustainable futures
Kay Luan Tay, the recent Vice Chancellor of the International University Malaya-Wales and author of three book on Social and Business Sustainability has wide but unique experience in managing and delivering value across both commercial and non-commercial enterprise. A strong…
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GEW2021 interview: the mind behind Women in Enterprise in Wales
Bev is an experienced practitioner in enterprise, social enterprise, gender equality and rural development/community. She has been and continues to be instrumental in ensuring that the role of women in Wales is consistently enhanced and progressed. As a special GEW2021 deep-dive,…
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Bringing hope back to to the valleys
The extraction of oil, coal, and minerals brought, and still brings, a cost to the environment -- Irish singer/songwriter, Bono, 1960 A HES case study based in Wales to celebrate #GEW2021. Wales, often referred to as “the land of song”…
Float8, sustainable and cost-effective solutions to land shortage
“Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill” (Stephen Hawking, 1942-2018). One aspect of the sustainability challenge, all too frequently…
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Argan oil harmonious ventures
oil pic credit: Pixabay “The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield” - John-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) Today Argan oil is considered the most effective anti-ageing oil in…
“The people who give you their food give you their heart” (Cesar Chavez, 1927-1993)
The tragic scenes of refugees fleeing from war-torn Afghanistan bring home, all too vividly, the plight of the “barefoot entrepreneurs” – those people who live ”primarily in marginal, poor and excluded places and contexts” (Imas et al. 2012). While the problem is…
Read More “The people who give you their food give you their heart” (Cesar Chavez, 1927-1993)
“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world” (Margaret Mead)
Antur Cymru (Welsh Adventure) is a social enterprise providing support for businesses in Wales. Owned by shareholders in the community who do not profit individually from their investment, they have agreed surpluses should be reinvested in the company. It was…
Read More “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world” (Margaret Mead)
‘Modest’ Trends
Empowering women to work and have more freedom in how they dress is the aim of “Modest Trends”, a Cardiff-based clothing business stocking fashionable lines intended for generation M Muslim women, aged 16-35, who want to dress fashionably but in accordance…
“May it be a light to you in dark places when all other lights go out” (J.R.R. Tolkein)
Originating in the 16th century, but not becoming commonplace until after William Murdoch’s invention of the gaslight in 1802, street lights are now regarded as an essential feature of modern living. Not only do they aid security but they contribute…
Read More “May it be a light to you in dark places when all other lights go out” (J.R.R. Tolkein)
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that” (Martin Luther King)
WaterLight (E-Dina) According to SDG 7, by 2030 the aim is to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. The problem is that in 2021, only 9 years away, some 940 million people (13% of the…
Read More “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that” (Martin Luther King)
“He was a wise man who invented beer” (Plato, 427-347 BC).
Beer is one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drinks in the world. Its origin dates back some 5000 years, possibly more, and by 2018 188.79 million kilolitres were being consumed, the equivalent of approximately 298.2 billion bottles. However,…
Read More “He was a wise man who invented beer” (Plato, 427-347 BC).
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