Record-breaking round the world yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur will today officially launch her latest charitable venture – one that aims to find long-term solutions for a sustainable economy.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation aims to bring together young people in
education and
business innovation to "re-think" the entire way we run our economies. It adopts the framework described as 'The Circular Economy’, where, for example, waste becomes food for another cycle or process and prices reflect the true cost of any activity.
Ellen MacArthur, who is a regular columnist in
GreenWise, said her foundation would help "equip young people with the business and life skills" to ensure a sustainable economy.
Re-designing how we make and use things
Working closely with educational establishments and with the support of major corporates, such as National Grid, BT, B&Q and Cisco, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is looking at areas such as product
design,
transport,
energy and communications to explore how they can fit the Circular Economy model.
"There is a way of re-designing how we make and use things," said MacArthur. "The Foundation is supporting a longer term approach based on the principle of 'using things’ rather than 'using things up’. We feel it’s time for a big re-think, and together with the next generation, re-design our future by intention."
MacArthur, who is launching her Foundation at the Science Museum later today, where guests will include Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne and a number of UK and European business leaders, said our economy was still based on "a linear 'take, make and dispose’ model", which was not sustainable.
"Just taking a bit less, making a bit less, and
recycling a bit more, isn’t going to fix everything. Efficiency is crucial, yes. But it’s not the 'cure-all’," she said.
MacArthur, who as well as a sailor is an experienced businesswoman, has spent the last four years working behind the scenes and talking with Government, business, NGOs and the public sector to understand the challenges we face in a world of shrinking resources. She gained personal experience of how to manage finite resources while aboard her yacht in 2005 when she single-handed sailed non-stop around the world.
Sustainable business
B&Q, which has sponsored MacArthur’s sailing in the past, said it was supporting the Foundation because of its focus on education and business sustainability.
"Not only do we strongly believe the Foundation’s long term approach to education is vital, it also takes us on our next step of the journey towards being a sustainable business," said Euan Sutherland, ceo of B&Q and Kingfisher UK division. "We will involve our employees and bring new perspectives and skills to the business, engage our suppliers and through this partnership ensure that more young people leaving school are better equipped to build sustainable homes, businesses and lives for the future."
Talent pipeline
Steve Holliday, chief executive of National Grid, added: "With an estimated £200 billion of energy infrastructure investment required in the UK over the next decade to meet the challenges of creating a low carbon sustainable future, it’s an absolute necessity that we have a strong, thriving, engineering talent pipeline. We need to engage, encourage and enthuse tomorrow’s engineers today, and inspire them to think radically about how best to meet these challenges."
The Foundation is working with leading educational bodies such as the Nuffield Foundation to deliver classroom ideas and resources while a post-graduate certificate in the 'circular economy’ is already under development at Bradford University. The Foundation is also piloting 'Project Redesign’, a series of regional workshops where students can model a sustainable, circular economy and win business apprenticeships.
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Related links:
www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org