The University of Northampton (UON) will launch FreshPPact 2.0 on Thursday 29 October, an initiative by its Centre for Sustainable Business Practices (CSBP). The core principle of FreshPPact 2.0 is that many of the most significant sustainability challenges faced by businesses cannot be effectively tackled by individual organisations working in isolation.
This collaborative effort involves the University of Northampton, Aston University, the University of Hertfordshire, and the Sustainable Business Alliance. FreshPPact 2.0 aims to create connections between businesses and researchers, innovators, and other organisations that can offer ideas, expertise, solutions, and potential funding pathways.
The initiative will commence with pre-identified challenges from organisations such as Blue Skies and SEE Limited, offering immediate practical opportunities for involvement.
“"Some of the sustainability challenges businesses face are simply too big to solve on our own. We might understand the problem, but not have the research capability, technology, expertise or resources needed to find the solution. FreshPPact is about widening the net. Somewhere there may be a researcher, innovator, business or entrepreneur with exactly the expertise or idea we need – they could be within our existing networks, just around the corner, or on the other side of the world. FreshPPact 2.0 is about making those connections and then working together to turn good ideas into solutions that can be commercially viable, scalable and genuinely transformative."
FreshPPact 2.0 builds upon the success of its predecessor, FreshPPact 1.0, which facilitated collaboration between businesses and researchers to address plastic pollution within fresh produce supply chains, supported by the UK Government-funded Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) Programme. Lessons learned from FreshPPact 1.0, including its input to Ghana’s National Policy Blueprint for Plastic Alternatives and Non-Plastic Substitutes, will inform the new initiative.
The CSBP anticipates that FreshPPact 2.0 will foster greater connections between businesses facing sustainability issues and the researchers, innovators, and funding opportunities available, thereby accelerating the development of practical and scalable sustainable solutions. Organisations are encouraged to participate by presenting their own sustainability challenges, proposing solutions, contributing expertise, or assisting in identifying funding and scaling opportunities.
The online launch event is scheduled for 10am (UK time) on 29 October. Interested parties can register to participate via Microsoft Teams.
