In Lagos, furniture maker Joy and fashion entrepreneur Yetunde have forged a partnership to take offcuts from Yetunde’s dresses and turn them into upholstery for sustainable furniture. Rita Abiodun on an inspiring collaboration that grew out of an Oxfam Novib programme to support small businesses in Nigeria.
People before profits: why we need responsible businesses
The future of business lies in being “regenerative by design” and looking for alternatives to the shareholder-first model. Fiona Jarden and Winne van Woerden share insights from last year’s Oxfam Novib forum about responsible business.
Water that works: how an alternative management model for rural water supply is proving its worth in Nepal
Traditional models of managing drinking water have delivered progress – but where these are failing, we now need to look at alternatives, says Oxfam’s Anjil Adhikari. In a blog for World Water Day, he shares a new model that could deliver a significant boost to water system performance and governance in rural Nepal and beyond.
The journey and challenges in measuring sustainable water in Oxfam’s impact evaluations with the HWISE Network
“It’s easy to see that water is an issue the world over. Either too much, too little or unsafe” How can we effectively measure sustainable water? How can we understand the impact and effectiveness of our work in relation to water insecurity? For World Water Day 2020, The Real Geek Series discusses how research, measurement and evaluation are essential tools …
Assessing the positive impact of business schools
Creating a positive impact for society has not been considered core to business schools, but demand has steadily increased in the past decade. The Positive Impact Rating responds to these demands. Whilst business schools are usually rated on factors such as alumni salary, employment rate and return on investment of graduates, The Positive Impact Rating (PIR) is a new rating conducted by students, for student. The rating looks beyond contribution …
Communicating the vision of a good life for all within planetary limits
Is it possible to achieve a sustainable future where the social needs of all are met without exhausting the planet’s resources? Dr Julia Steinberger shares lessons learnt from communicating her research findings. Earlier this year, my colleagues and I published an article entitled “A Good Life For All Within Planetary Boundaries” in Nature Sustainability. In this article, we aimed to …
Novel partnerships in an era of global environmental change
The sustainability research community needs to develop new alliances if they want to have real impact argues Georgina Cundill Kemp, Senior Program Officer at the International Development Research Centre in Canada. “He who becomes the slave of habit, who follows the same routes every day, who never changes pace, who does not risk and change the color of his clothes, who does not speak …
How programme learning in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) led to piloting a new approach to governance and protection
As we publish a new research report, Protection and Governance: Linking good practice in protection and governance programmes in the DRC, Annabel Morrissey reflects on what Oxfam has learnt about the cross over between governance and protection and how this learning is being used. hen, for the first time ever in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), people refused to …
Measuring WASH sustainability in a Payment by Results context
Payment by Results (PbR) is bringing new ways to fund water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes. Here Mimi Coultas from Plan International UK, reflects on a recent joint side-event at WEDC Conference which explored the opportunities and challenges to this new way of funding. ustainability of WASH programmes is a key concern for everyone involved in the sector: country governments, …