“We Need to Come Together Around Purpose!” Alexander Mannweiler has joined the CSCP as Senior Project Manager in the Sustainable Infrastructure, Products, and Services (SIPS) team. Currently, his focus is on promoting awareness for biodiversity in businesses and business associations in Germany as part of the UBi (Business & Biodiversity) project. In this interview, he shares his ideas on how to make positive change happen. How do you think you can make a positive change as part of the CSCP? Sustainability is certainly a complex topic, that’s why it often gets ‘stuck’ in many organisations. I believe that with a systematic and holistic approach to sustainability we can create long-term sustainable business opportunities, enable disruptive innovation and add purpose to economic growth. This will inevitably make our societies more resilient as well as help mitigate the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss. The CSCP is a space to come together around purpose and with a clear orientation towards impact. This is that kind of set up that enables changemakers to act. How does your past experience relate to the work we do at the CSCP? Throughout my career, I had the opportunity to align consumer expectation and product innovation, creating value for suppliers, the company, and the consumer alike while reducing the environmental impact in the supply chain. Digging into the product development process from initial idea to launch made me aware of the multiple levers we have to create more sustainable products. There is a huge potential if only leverage points are identified in time and made use of properly. The way we work at the CSCP – holistically and collaboratively – offers much room to deploy and advance this experience and knowledge. From food consumption to transport, what are your favourite sustainable tips? Actually, a quite simple one: no food waste. Worldwide, almost one third of produced food is wasted. If this stops, it would be a game changer. We need to raise awareness that how we go about food individually has an impact on a global scale. This is why I urge anyone: If you want to make a positive change, start by more food appreciation and less waste. For further questions, please contact Alexander Mannweiler.