Sustainable Business

"On a singular occasion at a specific point on a chronological continuum there lived a trio of ursine quadrupeds" 'Once upon a time'. A great opener. The great opener in fact. It sets the scene, it frames what's coming next (whether it's three bears or a damsel in distress) and has a reassurance to it that guarantees a level of understanding and expectation from the reader or listener. 'On a singular occasion at a specific point on a chronological continuum' on the other hand, does none of the above. It creates a disconnect – an onus on the reader to read and re-read to untangle the sense of what is being said. Something we are in danger of doing with the language and jargon we use about sustainability according to one regular columnist this issue. But jargon, says one contributor to the piece, is a necessary shorthand in any industry. An absolutely valid point, that is until that language is used to communicate with the outside world, with clients, customers, with business. And, until that language becomes a barrier to their understanding. As the sustainability sector has matured, and become a business in itself, the danger is that this kind of business babble, or pseudo-academic convoluted language actually does more to turn business off than engage with it. So changing the way we communicate and the language we use to do it is important. If we want to engage with people we need to talk to them in a way they understand. So, if once upon a time is how the majority of people understand the start of a story, why needlessly complicate it. But what if it's the story that needs to change? What if it isn't just the language we're using that needs to be addressed, but what we're actually saying? And if we need to re-write the story, what do we want it to say? Fundamental, rather than incremental, change is needed argues Michael Townsend as he suggests some of the chapters our new story might include in this issue. And change is good. Change is part of any journey and here at SB we're about to take the next step on ours. We are joining forces with our site brand edie.net to bring our combined readership the very best of both brands. After this issue, SB's new home will be on edie.net and all the regular SB content will be delivered via the edie website. We'll bring you the same features, analysis, interviews and comment, but with the added benefit of daily news and newsletters, exclusive research reports, webinars and much more, including a fully searchable supplier directory. If you're reading this, you already have an edie username (your email address) and password, as you'll have used it to access the issue, so you're ready to join us in the next chapter of Sustainable Business' story. And each individual stakeholder shared in contented cohabitation in perpetuity. Editorial Will Parsons

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