This report describes the key areas where businesses have requested better knowledge. The top ten issues have been identified by our Leadership Council: a council of managers from leading organizations across major sectors of the economy. The purpose of this report is to inspire new research in these issues. Armed with this knowledge, researchers, managers and others can collaborate to innovate new solutions.
Every year, the Network for Business Sustainability funds systematic reviews on two of the priorities identified by the Leadership Council. Each project systematically reviews and synthesizes the rigorous information from academic and practitioner sources on a given topic, with an emphasis on completeness, replicability and transparency. It provides a solid foundation of knowledge upon which managers and researchers can build. The priorities studied annually via systematic reviews form the foundation of our other NBS activity. The top issues identified for 2011 were:
- Which outcome-based government policies are most effective for addressing sustainability issues? Read the Systematic Review on Effective Environmental Policy
- How do individuals make decisions regarding social and environmental issues? To be released in Winter 2012
We hope this report galvanizes researchers to study the questions posed and inspires industry and funding agencies to support these efforts. By collaborating to address these important issues, we can improve business in Canada and around the world.