When all is said and done - grading

This just in: the teaching team has gone through all the portfolios and has graded them. Here is the feedback they gave me. 😊 

Hi Heli,

Since you wrote your portfolio in English, we are going to give the feedback in English as well. It’s interesting to see the wide variety of portfolio styles, yours is the first done as blog, and first one in English. We remember that you mentioned your passion for English language already in class so happy to see you were able to bring the passion to this portfolio as well.

There are plenty of things that we would like to cover in our feedback but we can’t do them all so instead we will have random thoughts below after reading each blog post. First, we like your sentence: “lack of willpower once you realize that the prize is not "just around the corner"” – indeed, while there are some quick wins, reaching sustainability it’s a long-term process and brings to mind Helsinki Bus Station theory (you can read about it here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/feb/23/change-life-helsinki-bus-station-theory) – it’s not around the corner but requires both work and commitment.

Also, it is important to point out that you came to this class to learn and it would be hard to find people who would have all the knowledge about sustainability, responsibility and even more so about transformative learning – all topics are so wide and deep that one could dedicate their life to studying these topics. We were hoping to plant a seed and let you start your journey, as you put it, down the rabbit hole.

Cost of being carbon neutral – yes, it is not going to be free to make the change but at the same time, we also have to take environmental costs into an account. It is hard to make any predictions about the war in Ukraine at the moment but some climate experts have suggested that it could fast-track us to more carbon neutral societies. It remains to be seen, and of course, the price is extremely high in lost human lifes and other devastation.

Good discussion about Tarja Ketola’s book (which in terms of sustainability is already quite dated but it covers the most important aspects). Environmental aspect of sustainability is quite clear, at least the basic aspects are, but social can be harder to grasp. We have it good in Finland, but if we go a bit beyond what we see – those clothes that we buy come from factories that are likely quite far from being ethical, some of the food items we eat (bananas, tomatoes etc.) have a long history of abuse etc. We need to look the big picture.

Quite impressive how your updated mind map is already looking much more complete than the one in the beginning – indeed, trust the process as you mentioned in the beginning! All in all, we definitely enjoyed your reflective portfolio a lot. This was exactly what we were hoping for – not some polished Word document where everything appeared perfect but description of your path with positive and negative experiences. Well done, Heli! We gave you grade 5.

All the best for your studies!

Teaching team

This is what it's all about

The European Green Deal is currently The Program with an ambitious goal to transform the EU into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, ensuring:

• no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050
• economic growth decoupled from resource use
• no person and no place left behind

The program is taking actions on climate, energy, agriculture, finance, environment, finance and regional development, and so much more. It's a huge joint effort where countries are committed to work towards common goals. It's all very overwhelming but one of the pursuits is that no-one is left behind so that all of EU can work together as one front.

https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en

The program takes into consideration all three aspects of corporate responsibility: ecological, economical and social. This program was also the first thing I learned about when I hadn't even started my studies yet, because it was used as a material for the entrance exam.

The image above paints a beautiful picture of the future where all the goals of the Green Deal have been met. There are, however, many possible obstacles and difficulties on the way before we reach the finish line. I'm hoping to get into them on my next post. But until then, let's enjoy this beautiful picture of the desirable future.

I have to say, that this self learning has so far been really rewarding. Even though some of the things have been somewhat familiar, I have learned something new through each of my posts. Writing has also made me think about what I am writing about and why. It has made me wonder the direction I am going and whether it genuinely serves the purpose of this course and myself. I really hope to get answers to these questions in the upcoming small group discussion called Inhale 3.

https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en

From words to action

Diving into two (2) interesting books I learned even more about what makes business responsible and resource-wise. But not only that, I learned about something I have never heard of before: the concept of compliance as a way to force companies and organisations to do business in a responsible way or "face the consequences" as an alternative.

Let's start with by what rules a society, consumers and governments are expecting the businesses to operate in order to "do it right". Do it right by whom? I would say, by you, by me, by us and by them. Tarja Ketola (2005) divides corporate responsibility in three categories in her book Vastuullinen liiketoiminta - sanoista teoiksi (Corporate responsibility - from words to action):

1. Economical responsibility which first brought to mind the owners of the company or the stock holders. Ketola, however, reminds that even though it's a necessity for the business to keep the owners and financiers happy, corporate economical responsibility goes also towards the workers, suppliers, contractors and partners. Also paying taxes is considered a way to be economically responsible.

2. Social responsibility. For me this concept was harder to grasp but luckily Ketola is here to 

guide me! I wasn't able to see the bigger picture but Tarja Ketola describes corporate social responsibility covering for example taking care of the well-being and safety of the people (workers, consumers...) and honoring the basic human rights. I guess this was hard for me to realize because things are so good in Finland. It's hard to see and analyze something you take for granted but obviously things aren't the same all over the world. Child labour, insufficient pay and dangerous working conditions all fall under social responsibility.

3. Ecological responsibility was the most familiar category. This, for me, feels so obvious it wouldn't even need to be mentioned separately but at the same time it's so important I'm not sure it can be emphasized enough. Businesses need to consider the ecological side in every move they make: the smaller the ecological foot print, the better it is for the environment, and for us. Using less packaging, producing goods that work longer and can be fixed, using recycled materials, saving energy and resources for example through joining forces with other businesses.

So bear in mind those three categories of corporate responsibility as I briefly tell what I found 

out about compliance when I read Niina Ratsula's (2016) book explaining the concept. The term compliance refers to compliance with laws, rules and regulations. Today, however, it is no longer enough to follow just these, but organizations are supposed to comply with the moral and ethical requirements of society. Corporations are therefore expected to act responsibly in all their activities. A violation of compliance therefore occurs when an organization violates the requirements imposed on it. This is all explained in Compliance - eettinen ja vastuullinen liiketoiminta (Compliance - ethical and responsible business) with much more detail. 

In one of my previous posts, I briefly considered ways in which companies could be encouraged or compelled to act responsibly and resource-wisely. The compliance program, described by Ratsula, is an in-build activity and it's often juxtaposed with ethics. Compliance in it's smallest and at the same time biggest form is the way each staff member acts. 

A company builds a compliance program which defines the obligatory laws and regulations the company must follow as well as the values and the ethics of the company itself. With the help of the program, companies are then able to bring more emphasis on their will to act responsible, assess possible compliance risks and promote ethical and responsible practices. More over, they can act as an example to others.

Kuva iStock by Getty Images

Hmm... now that I read what I wrote, I perceive that I totally misunderstood the whole idea of the compliance at first. I thought it was a tool for punishment but I see now that it is actually a helpful tool for the organizations to manage their operations responsibly and ethically. Even though Ratsula points out many ramifications that might follow a compliance violation, I still feel that the compliance program is meant to work as tool to help avoid those violations rather than coming up different ways to punish companies for any wrongdoings. 

Ketola, T. 2005. Vastuullinen liiketoiminta - Sanoista teoiksi. Helsinki: Edita.

Ratsula, N. 2016. Compliance - Eettinen ja vastuullinen liiketoiminta. Helsinki: Talentum.