Adapteo goes Cambridge

I have always been convinced that sustainable transformation at speed and scale is a team sport. The more brainpower, willpower, innovation power, and sheer bloody mindedness we can throw at this big hairy challenge, the better our odds will be. And sometimes you have to venture way out of your?comfort zone to find new angles, ideas and ways forward.?

Yesterday, yours truly touched down at Cambridge University, one of the top 5 universities in the world, founded in the 13th century, and alma mater to 121 Nobel Prize laureates. You may well wonder (as I did) - what on earth am I doing here?

I'm beyond thrilled to have been given the privilege to be one of a handful of supervisors for the 27th cohort of the Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business (PCSB ), held by Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL ).

Over the next nine months, a diverse, global cohort of postgraduate students will, in parallel with their (mainly) corporate day jobs in mid- to senior roles, explore the cutting edge of sustainability leadership, how to embed sustainability in organizations, and accelerate the transformative change that the world so desperately needs. And I am lucky enough to join their ride.?

Many years ago, my professional life ignited in academia, more precisely at Lund University in Sweden, where I spent many happy years studying and eventually came out the other side with a doctorate in ecology. I decided early on that academia wasn’t to be my career, and have since found myself at home in corporate sustainability roles. But once a scholar, always a scholar, I guess.

For the next few days, Homerton College is my home, as the venue for the first of two intense on-site workshops, bringing students, supervisors and teacher together for an immersive initial experience.?

While football history ultimately was not written for England last night, as Spain conquered the Euros final 2 to 1, history was definitely written for me personally. And maybe in some small way for Adapteo, too. I am here to supervise to the best of my ability, yes, but equally importantly to learn and draw on the collective experience and knowledge of CISL, the lecturers, supervisors and students alike. I will surely take home new insights and perspectives to Adapteo, and will happily share whatever we have learnt so far. And I hope you want to tag along.