ABSTRACT
Innovation and sustainability operate on a range of scales: the organisation, the value chain, sector level, regional economy, national level and global. Leaders in sustainability are advocates for progressive public policy to address global issues such as climate change. Organisations that embrace ambitious programmes to be more innovative or sustainable frequently report that their workforce is more engaged and satisfaction levels increase. Radical innovation and sustainability can be constrained by a lack of ambition and genuine commitment. Many Sustainability Executives will be frustrated by the lack of genuine commitment to sustainability. Stakeholder engagement is typically the responsibility of the sustainability team. For most organisations, stakeholder engagement is about managing perception and responding to external concerns; few have explicitly used these as a tool for promoting innovation. Social and environmental activism has been important in shaping the sustainability agenda and in a more connected world will continue to be a force for change.
