Assessing the company business and essentials for organisational sustainability growth
Habitania Institute hosted a co-creative workshop at the Museum of Technology in Helsinki last week of March. These events are organised by Alisa Mick from Mixi Centre each Thursday for experts to share their ideas, network and collaborate on developing circular solutions.
For this opportunity, Habitania Institute aimed to demonstrate the first two steps of the way of working:
- a company sustainability assessment using a service design approach by adopting a circular business model tool and
- a co-creation process with experts from a circular economy developing new sustainable solutions for the concrete case of Zestii Oy.
A company case that we had privilege to assessed sustainable improvements.
Graphic design: Minaë Tani-LaFleur
We were pleased, for this occasion to partner with Zestii Oy, a marketplace that connects people through food. Start-up has a sustainable business model; it offers sustainable food preparing from sessional local ingredients and delivering services and has a sustainable supply chain sourcing ingredients from local farmers. Besides the positive environmental impact, Zestii strongly emphasises the societal implications of employing cooks with emigrant backgrounds.
Zestii challenges
Before the workshop, we identified three core challenges we wanted to focus on at the workshop: getting feedback and creating new sustainable service concepts for Zestii.
Zestii emphasised the following challenges:
1. Ecosystem and partners collaboration
The ambition is to source local ingredients and sustainably support the local economy; however, we need to know that Finland has a limited period of growing food outside.
2. Use of recourses
This includes using natural recourses (cooking with ingredients from local farmers), technical resources for renting kitchens when these are not in use and reducing energy when using large commercial kitchens (dishwashing, which uses an immense amount of energy and water).
3. Distribution and logistics
The last mile when delivering food to the end user while not using traditional last-mile delivery services, and sessional product logistics between the farmers and cooks when providing these to cooks.
"The novelty of the idea or technology isn't enough. Assessing the possible impacts, both positive and negative, and designing your idea implementation in a way to maximise positive and minimise negative is essential.”
Minaë Tani-LaFleur, Zestii Co-founder and cook of Zestii Oy
Our three step organisational sustainability transformational process.
Graphic design: Habitania Institute
Three step process way of working
To assess the company's level of sustainability, we utilised a Circular Business Model template, developed by Circulab, as an assessment tool to better understand Zestii's different facets of their business, but also barriers and opportunities. Before the workshop, Zestii owners, with the assistance of Habitania Institute, pre-filled a template. Template allowed them to question and evaluate their entire business model and all its different elements from:
- the mission,
- services and customer experiences that they are offering,
- partners with whom they are collaborating,
- different types of recourses that they use in their food preparation,
- who are their target customers, and how are they distributing services to them,
- what it is the next use of their products,
- revenues and costs, and
- what is their positive and but also negative impact on the environment and society.
Once we met with the participants - experts from the field of circular economy, sustainability, service design, organisational development, etc. we went through the entire company's circular business model together and commented on and proposed innovative sustainable solutions, opportunities for business model’s scalability and relevant company cases that could be studied.
Participants' engagement and development of design concepts using Circular Bussines Model.
Left photos Alisa Mick, right photos Helena Sustar.
I am grateful to Helena Sustar, PhD, for leading an outstanding workshop and to Minaë Tani-LaFleur and Holly Conolly for openly sharing their challenges in growing Zestii Oy.
Alisa Mick, Mixi Centre
Three critical elements for the organisational sustainability growth
1. Deep evaluation of the company's internal and external processes
A deep understanding of the company's internal and external business operations and the related challenges is crucial. Therefore, it is important company's transparent sharing of information, for example, information about partners' collaboration and food delivery service options for their customers.
2. Co-creation of innovative concepts with experts
Creating new sustainable business visions and strategies between company employees from different departments and external experts from various fields of a circular economy, organisational transformation, service design, and those outside the sustainability field is essential.
3. Implementation and communication of novel practices
A company must create a concrete sustainability implementation plan of newly developed strategies and practices through daily, monthly, and quarterly actions. Then, it should trace and measure progress, report and communicate the company’s sustainability targets and transformation journey to a broader audience of investors and stakeholders.
Helena Sustar's workshop was an eye-opening experience for me. She is looking at businesses and sustainability opportunities with a masterful eye. During the session, she was able to bring out the best ideas from the crowd and kept everyone focused on the task at hand. I highly recommend her services or attending a workshop run by Helena!
Ulrike Zacharias, Organisational Development & Agile Change Consultant
Fell free to leave your comment below or start your free sustainability assessment by answer 15 mins Questionnaire. After evaluating your answers, we will invite you for 30 mins virtual meeting to discuss your company sustainable actions.
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