If you carry out fascinating work on entrepreneurship and sustainability, you still need for people to understand it.

Professor Sreevas Sahasranamam, from the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow, pipped Jan and Paul to the Management Publication of the Year Award – but do they hold a grudge? No, they don’t!

Sreevas is a keen proponent of communicating research and expertise in novel and accessible ways. His blogs aim to reach and engage policymakers and government, as well as the public, opening previously inaccessible doors for him, such as opening up access to the world of the G20, and giving his work new impact potential.

We talk through Sreevas’s work in his India homeland looking at the role of digital ecosystems among entrepreneurs, and on how rural entrepreneurship ecosystems are built in remote communities, as well as more broadly on the links between the Sustainable Development Goals and entrepreneurship.

Sreevas has found that despite a lot of talk about entrepreneurs in the Global North engaging with sustainability, it is those in the Global South who are taking the lead – where the impacts of climate change are being felt more keenly.

Discover the difference between SDG awareness and SDG action, the familial links to natural resources in parts of India, and the benefits to business of the spread of cheap internet access across that country.

Plus, buying chai from a small roadside business with contactless payments, the rise of the Chinese sustainability market, and the benefits of QR codes (even for accounting).

Find out more about Sreevas and his work here: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/business/staff/sreevassahasranamam/

And read some of his award-winning blogs here: https://sites.google.com/view/sreevas/media?authuser=0

What is the reality for a small business when it comes to adopting sustainable practices? How hard is it to turn ideals into practical applications?

In the first of our Local Heroes episodes, Steve Parkman, from Cumbrian design studio 42 Creative Thinking talks us through the changes he has made to his company’s operations to make it more sustainable.

Steve has been part of the Transforming Tomorrow journey since before it was a podcast, and he discusses his learning journey in both design and sustainability. We discuss how sustainability has changed fundamentally the role of a designer – when they work in both print and digital; how Steve has switched to solar power for his design work; and the attitudes of the businesses and customers Steve works with towards being greener.

Steve talks us through how print and paper products can be sustainable, the growth of European forests in recent years, how green servers can reduce digital carbon footprints, and the advantages small businesses have when they decide they want to make a switch in their operations.

Discover why Jan turned down the chance to cycle to Malaysia, how the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fits into everything, whether Paul and Jan understand a word of Welsh, and why Steve has gone off the grid.

Find out more about 42 Creative Thinking here: https://www.42creative.co.uk/

What is servitization? Could it be the future for more businesses? How does it link to productivity and sustainability? And why is it spelt with a z? We answer at least three of these questions as we explore an area that is relevant to giant global corporations and small businesses alike.

What if, instead of a crane, you charge by the number of lifts it carries out; if instead of selling a physical tyre, you provide a certain amount of miles; if a company offers you so many air miles from an engine? These are all examples of servitization that already exist – it even applies in industrial food packaging.

Lancaster University Management School’s Professor Andreas Schroeder is a servitization expert, working with numerous firms on how they can change their operations to move to a servitization model to benefit their operations, and others on how they can use their data in new ways.

He tells us about the key differences between products and services; how servitization blurs the boundaries on relationships with customers and suppliers – are they now more like partners?; the differences between rental agreements and servitization; and why it can be easier for smaller companies to pivot their operations to this model.

Discover some of servitization’s success stories, how it can affect a company’s carbon footprint and align profit with sustainability, how it encourages an operation to design and create products for service, repair and circularity, and how data collection, analysis and optimisation can identify where value opportunities lie and improve practical operations.

Paul lets his anger at American spelling take over; Jan discovers a new friend who can put on a Kiwi accent; and everyone becomes fascinated by tyres, hydrogen-powered diggers and aeroplane engines.

Find out more about Andreas and his work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/people/andreas-schroeder

Episode Transcript

A location for romance, violence or murder – sleeper trains in film and fiction are always places for drama. But the reality may be somewhat different.

As a sustainable travel option that is enjoying a resurgence in Europe – and, perhaps surprisingly, in China – they link big cities and are evolving to meet modern needs.

Lancaster University Management School Marketing Lecturer Dr Nicole Bulawa may never have taken the midnight train to Georgia, but her work on sleeper trains tells her that Murder on Orient Express and From Russia With Love may not be the most accurate depictions of the medium.

She tells us why sleepers went into decline and how attitudes towards sustainability played a role in why they came back; the importance of speed – and sometimes the lack of it; how services have evolved to include private mini-cabins for individual travellers; and how issues of logistics tend to lead to arrivals that are either really early or too late for some travellers.

We find out that Jan’s knowledge of 1970s and 80s soul and R&B music is sadly lacking, but that she is the only person in the studio to have been a regular sleeper user; that Paul’s James Bond watching may have put him off this particular form of transportation; and that Austria has been a leader in the sector’s resurgence.

Plus, everyone picks out their favourite train journeys – taking in Sweden, Morecambe Bay, Switzerland, and beyond.

Discover more about Nicole and her research here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/people/nicole-bulawa

Enjoy the drama set on a sleeper train between Glasgow and London that Jan mentions here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002265y/nightsleeper

Episode Transcript

How can we educate university students around the world on important sustainability topics? You cannot talk to them all in the same way as those in other countries – because different countries and cultures have different attitudes and priorities.

Dr Stephen Homer has gone from being a commercial fisherman and a fishmonger to a leader on sustainability education at Sunway Business School in Malaysia, inspired by his experiences before moving into academia.

He tells us all about the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) and how they help management and business schools make sense of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Stephen explains the need to educate students on sustainability actions, so they take values with them into their careers; how different universities take varying approaches to sustainability; and the importance of understanding what students want to learn.

We talk about Malaysia’s chocolate and palm oil industries; the desire of students in Malaysia to achieve economic success, and how his can be balanced with sustainability; the challenges of delivering a sustainability education that is interesting and engaging to the country’s different ethnic groups, and to those on a wide range of programmes; and the problem of accountancy students (to Jan’s disgust).

Discover more about Stephen and his work here: https://sunwayuniversity.edu.my/sunway-business-school/staff-profiles/dr-stephen-thomas-homer

Find out about PRME here: https://www.unprme.org/about/

And read Lancaster University Management School’s PRME report here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/media/lancaster-university/content-assets/documents/lums/PRME-Report.pdf

Episode Transcript

Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity have become dirty words in some quarters recently. But not on Transforming Tomorrow.

We want to talk about the need for greater gender equality in business, the challenges the movement is encountering in the face of Donald Trump and other vocal critics, and how Malaysia measures up when it comes to EDI.

Sunway University’s Professor Yuka Fujimoto has spent years travelling from country to country and has built and interest and expertise on diversity and inclusion as a result.

We discuss how the political climate can change corporate behaviour; how organisations can foster harmonious workplaces and encourage varied perspectives – and how this can affect productivity and innovation; and whether the battle is, as some people would have us believe, already won.

We ask how Japan, Malaysia and Australia measure up to each other – and the rest of the world – on diversity efforts? Why is Malaysia such an inclusive society? What do we mean by affirmative action? Why is EDI such a political football – and are people misrepresenting it on purpose?

Plus, we look at how nature can be a part of EDI considerations.

Discover more about Yuka and her work here: https://sunwayuniversity.edu.my/sunway-business-school/staff-profiles/professor-yuka-fujimoto

Episode Transcript

Economic inequality from childhood impacts on all aspects of life, affecting work prospects, educational attainment, and health outcomes. Reducing inequality, therefore, is central to building a better future for millions of people.

From the site of a former mining operation just outside Kuala Lumpur, we are joined by Professor Mahendhiran Sanggaran to discuss how the location is now home to Sunway University, a leading light in Malaysian sustainability research and development for more than 50 years.

Mahendiran’s work includes the Desa Mentari project, and we discover how work among low-income communities can benefit young and old who might be caught up in a polycrisis of health, economics, environmental and social factors. Through encouraging better access to education, the programme assists families in bettering themselves and inspires hope among residents. The models used there could be applied in other housing projects in Malaysia and SE Asia – and even links in with our own Morecambe Bay based initiatives.

Beyond that, we look at the importance of higher education across Southeast Asia – and how students who used to leave the region and never return are now starting to both study and work back at home, thanks in part to partnerships such as that between Sunway and Lancaster University.

Mahendiran tells us about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is made up of 10 nations across the region and home to more than 670 million people. The ASEAN committee is being chaired by Malaysia in 2025, and the words ‘Sustainability and Inclusivity’ can be seen on signs across the city.

We discuss how ASEAN can help close societal gaps within and between countries, how it can ensure long-term sustainable development, whether an integrated transport system across member nations could become a reality, and how this could affect other areas of society and industry through a GRID economy.

Plus, Paul and Mahendiran bond over Liverpool FC, there is more chat on Malaysian thunderstorms – and the effects of climate change on Mahendiran’s own home. Meanwhile, Jan explains what a ‘green’ taxonomy is.

More details on the Desa Mentari project can be found here: https://sunwayuniversity.edu.my/desa-mentari/about

You can find out about ASEAN Malaysia here: https://myasean2025.my/about-asean-2025/

Learn more about the 10-10 MySTIE framework here: https://stip.oecd.org/stip/interactive-dashboards/policy-initiatives/2023%2Fdata%2FpolicyInitiatives%2F99991585

Episode Transcript

We’re by the pool in the Malaysian sunshine. But we’re not here to sunbathe – we’re talking all things sustainability in a country with challenges both familiar and foreign to Western Europe.

Jan’s ‘academic granddaughter’ Dr Ann Marie Sidhu is a chartered accountant who works with business and government in Malaysia on the challenges of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

We discuss what Government and industry in Malaysia need to do to achieve the SDGs – especially energy transition in an economy where the petrochemical industry is dominant – how an emerging economy deals with regulations around sustainability, the potential for green financing, and how the underprivileged in society – the Bottom 40 – might be affected by changes.

Ann Marie reveals the attitudes of the companies she works with towards sustainability, how SMEs are acting, and what help small firms need in seeing value in enacting sustainability.

And as the word ‘sustainability’ is plastered on posters and banners across capital city Kuala Lumpur (KL), we talk about the need for sustainability education in Malaysian schools and universities, and the biodiversity considerations for a country that is still developing and reliant upon palm oil as a major export.

Plus, the effects of climate change on the monsoon season and flooding in major cities such as KL; how Malaysian companies react to EU and other overseas regulation; the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM!) and its effects; and Malaysia’s leading role in Islamic finance, and how this complements the SDG principles.

Episode Transcript