I hadn’t been to the California State Capitol for the longest time—probably since my visit back in elementary school, while growing up in Oakland, California. Fast forward to July 2017, and—after a quick selfie with “the bear” famously guarding the entrance to the...
To mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, national governments and business must be ready to take a big leap forward. The Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS), taking place in San Francisco September 12-14, will prepare these players to take this leap and and...
Hundreds of millions of people around the world lack the energy access necessary to support economic and human development. This “energy poverty” not only severely impairs their quality of life but also has profound implications for the governments, businesses and...
A team from the Ross School of Business immersed themselves in the salmon farming industry in Magallanes, in the Patagonia region of Chile. As part of their multidisciplinary action project (MAP), they worked to identify the qualities that make salmon from this region...
Laughter. This is the sound that will forever remind me of my week in Cuenca, Ecuador, with the women of Casa María Amor. It was the first day of our two-day Women’s Entrepreneurial Empowerment Workshop. As an introductory ideation activity to demonstrate the concept...
The buyer-supplier relationship is changing in more ways than you might imagine. Consumers and retailers are increasingly demanding that suppliers demonstrate their sustainability: How are buyers and suppliers collectively adapting to changes in the market, as well as...
Cobalt is key in emerging low-carbon technologies, specifically lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. It forms part of the cathode active material (for example, lithium cobalt oxide, LiCoO2) that receives positively charged lithium ions during the battery’s...
Report: Dell: Upcycling Ocean Plastics Through Supply Chain Innovation (.pdf abstract) Purchase the full report on WDI Publishing (Case study #7-949-121) – published 06/2018, 30 pages Developed by: Daniel Partin, Luke Sawitsky, and Allison Ward. This case was...
What does an apparel company do when it’s already a leader in environmental manufacturing and has summited the peak of sustainable clothing? If it’s Patagonia, it decides to not only become carbon neutral by 2025 but also build a plan that inspires change across the...
Each year, Erb Institute students join various clubs at the University of Michigan, the Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability. One club that many Erb students join sits at the intersection of business and sustainability: the Social...