How might consciously including women scientists reshape ESG?

Imagine if including women scientists to inform ESG strategies and cultivate the conditions for innovation became the norm.

Here are two really wonderful signals of change – three actually – that I want to share with you, from the recent GESDA conference in Geneva, to bring some new perspectives to your week and deepen your connection to unfolding regenerative solutions.

I'd love it if you thought about how these signals might reshape the way that businesses design products and services, develop ESG strategies with local communities and engage with women scientists as stakeholders.

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1.?????? Deep Subsurface Microbial Ecosystems and Ancient Water Systems Protect Our Planet: In short, way down deep, where ancestral water meets rock, there are ecosystems that protect all life on our planet. Back in the 1970s and 80s, this scientific knowledge didn’t exist. It does now and it's fast expanding. These ecosystems cleanse, restore and contribute to water systems that all life depends on.

Pioneering scientist, Barbara Sherwood Lollar brings a rich understanding about the need to explore and protect these ecosystems. Watch her 20 min talk here: https://youtu.be/UPnj1LvOC8U?feature=shared

Then, as a bonus to shake your soul, I highly recommend reading Elif Shafak’s new book, There Are Rivers In The Sky, as a deeply poetic narrative of the ancestral cycle of water in our lives.

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2.?????? Resurrection Plants Contribute to Food Security: These plants exist today and can come to a standstill for weeks, months and even years. They reveal new ways to find solutions to food insecurity as part of climate adaptation initiatives. In this exploration, they may even contribute to climate mitigation strategies.

Pioneering scientist, Rose A Marks shares incredible insights into her work in some of the world’s harshest environments, to align with the solutions that Nature already provides. Watch her 15 min talk here: https://youtu.be/MGEZUmmvZY8?feature=shared and you can also watch the following panel discussion here: https://youtu.be/F1bpOX1LNoE?feature=shared

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TRY THIS AT HOME: Play with combining these two signals of change, science happening today, which reveal incredible possibilities for climate mitigation and adaptation decisions, to inform your thinking about protecting planet and people. Imagine waking up in 2037. What does it look like because of this work?

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3.?????? Women Scientists Lead the Way: And finally, the third signal? To be in a space where the predominant voices were those of leading women scientists! Amazing. A total gamechanger.

There’s a kind of grief that exists for a woman my age, that this visibility didn’t happen whilst I was in school, university and so many parts of my career. How might all of our thinking have been informed globally, if women had been seen and heard? Where might we be instead of where we are?

For them not to have been visible serves as the weights of the past. For them to be increasingly visible is the push of the present. What might regenerative, flourishing futures look like because of their work and presence as stakeholders in creating climate solutions?

...and yes, I did ask questions at every opportunity :)...I see it as a responsibility to represent the voices of women from future generations and be a catalyst!

Catalyst at Conferences Class 16 October 14h-16h CET

Did you know, that according to research, women are 2.5 times LESS likely to ask a question during a conference Q&A? That’s a gender gap I’d definitely like to close this conference season.

If you want to learn how to use futures-thinking tools to be the ones at conferences, asking questions and sharing reflections that accelerate innovation for sustainability transformations, I have a class called Catalyst at Conferences. The next one is on 16th October 14h -16h CET.

Discover more and sign up here. It's deliberately affordable for you.

Engage Your Stakeholders: Get Your 'S' Together

Get in touch with me about how to map, prioritize and engage your internal and external stakeholders to make your Social strategy fit for purpose, as part of your ESG.

Whether co-creating your stakeholder engagement, designing and delivering workshops with external stakeholders or capacity-building in-house to deepen a culture of innovation for sustainability, let's get started today.

Engaging stakeholders using foresight and futures thinking is THE most effective way to accelerate innovation for regenerative, flourishing futures.

Email me via [email protected] to set up a time to talk.

(c) 2024. Elaine France. Flow In Action. Flourishing Futures Collective.