CAD and the WBCSD have been commissioned to develop a study about future tendencies of sustainable innovation in companies.

Sustainable development aims at creating solutions to structural changes at the social, environmental and economic level. Regarding the impacts of climate change, demographic growth and urbanization, as well as the attention to the environment in general, it is evident that traditional models of production and consumption cannot be maintained. In this context, companies play a crucial role and corporate management is facing the challenge to respond to the questions of how to integrate sustainability into the companies’ strategies. Managers have to be aware of the necessity to create models of production and consumption that allow for a lifestyle which respects the limits of our planet. This will only be possible by using innovative processes in order to achieve a balanced sustainable development.
Family owned businesses, because of their set-up of inter-generational administrative structures and long-term oriented vision, are well positioned to lead some phases of the transition towards sustainability.
CAD and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (www.wbcsd.ch) have been commissioned by the Spanish Institute of Family Owned Businesses (Instituto de Empresa Familiar) to analyze the opportunities of sustainable innovation and the initiatives that family owned businesses support at the national and at an international level, regarding the three main pillars of sustainability: Planet, People and Processes. The report serves as a source of inspiration for corporate management when it comes to develop initiatives that lead to a sustainable society, and at the same time recommends a range of policies to the Spanish government as well as the governments of the autonomous regions of Spain, designed to create an adequate regulative framework and a market environment that boosts sustainable investment.

For further information, visit: Spanish Institute of Family Owned Businesses and WBCSD