Sustainable Business and World Surfing Reserves
On Tuesday (22nd November) I welcomed Adam Hall, Head of Sustainability for Surfdome, to Plymouth Marjon University to talk to our Business student's about Sustainable Business. It was an inspiring talk that highlighted the changing role of business, the importance of authenticity in branding, and steps that can be taken to address some of the world's greatest challenges, such as climate change.
Adam and I have worked together over the years exploring different areas of sustainability, both driven by a passion for surfing - not just as a personal activity but also as a way of educating and encouraging change towards sustainability. In Adams role as head of sustainability for the online retailer Surfdome, some of our early research explored the way that Surdome was responding to sustainability, climate change and the increasingly visible problems with plastic pollution.
We also investigated Surfdomes ability to act as an influencer and catalyst for change towards sustainability across the surf, skate and snow industry, prioritising sustainable business models and better practices. Surfdome has over a 1000 affiliated brands, and our research sought to establish a baseline for exploring opportunities and barriers to achieving sustainability within the industry. Results and analysis are published in my book Surfing and Sustainability
North Devon World Surfing Reserves
Adam is also one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the North Devon World Surfing Reserves which was successfully nominated by the Save the Wave Coalition this year. The establishment of the reserve has received local, national and international recognition. The story has been covered by the BBC, The Guardian
and the New York Times, amongst others.
In the coming months we will be exploring the economic value of the North Devon World Surfing Reserve - applying surfonomics methodologies to our research and helping to better understand the value of the incredible resource that is often underestimated when it comes to policy, legislation and coastal management. The resource of course are waves.
Speaking of which - it looks like the tides right - its a bit blown out but still worth getting wet
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