From past to future

The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius already knew: ‘Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current’. The year 2012 is already coming to an end and it is time to take stock: which sustainability successes can we show? What does this mean for next year? A bird’s eye view.

Energy-efficient

In 2012 Improve4all provided sustainability support for the business of chip machine producer ASML: the Sustainability Report 2011 was successfully completed. Eric Meurice, President and Chief Executive Officer van ASML: ‘We see it as our mission to develop machines that manufacture more efficiently integrated circuits, which themselves will enable more energy-efficient electronic products. Our sustainability strategy goes hand in hand with our business strategy.’

EFQM-training

Working together on creative & inspiring solutions,
to improve us all.

An excellent organisation requires an excellent approach. During the year Improve4all, as member of the faculty of trainers, provided various EFQM-training courses around the world. At the EFQM offices in Brussels, but also on location in Abu Dhabi for instance, managers were trained in ‘the excellence practices’: how do you determine if a business is organising its people and processes in an optimal way? How does an organisation make sure that their business results are balanced with their customer results, employee results and society results? And which part are leaders playing here?

Zero Impact Growth

The journey towards a sustainable world is not an individual journey, many, and each in their own way, work at making the world a better place. Some are very inspiring. Take John Elkington who, in his book The Zeronauts – Breaking the Sustainability Barrier, set the new standard for sustainability this year. The idea is: the world is confronted with some enormous challenges, better known as the 5 P’s: population growth, pandemics, poverty, pollution, and proliferation. The only remedy for a healthy future is to place our bets on an economy that grows without any negative impact on the planet. In short: Zero Impact Growth.

Plans for 2013

This is only a fraction of all beautiful experiences of the past year. In 2013 this path will partly be continued: several training courses and assessments are on the agenda, and for ASML the completion and publication of the Sustainability Report 2012 is on there too. Next to this some new developments can be reported: Improve4all will extend the European base (run from The Netherlands) and also set up a hub in the Middle-East. Since the capacity will be enlarged there will be room for new initiatives. So please feel free to spar and brainstorm, who knows this might lead to sustainable insights …

Firm base

Improve4all is working on their next steps with the deeply rooted belief that truly excellent organisations make the world a better place. By inspiring leaders to find innovative and sustainable solutions for their organisations Improve4all stimulates organisations to achieve and sustain outstanding levels of performance. That is why, in 2013, we will strongly focus on sustainable excellence again.

But until that time Improve4all wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!