Two Beedie sustainability initiatives garner prestigious Clean 50 honours

The Embedding Project, led by Beedie associate professor Stephanie Bertels, has developed developed a framework for embedding sustainability that helps companies inventory, prioritize, and focus their efforts to embed sustainability.

Two sustainability-related initiatives with their roots in the Beedie School of Business have been named among Canada’s top 15 sustainability projects for 2016.

The Embedding Project, led by Beedie associate professor Stephanie Bertels, and VeloMetro, co-founded by Beedie MOT MBA alumnus Kody Baker, were named on the prestigious Clean50 Top15 Projects list, which each year recognizes Canada’s leaders in sustainability for their contributions over the prior two years.

The Clean50 selects initiatives from 16 diverse categories that transcend numerous industries, academia, different levels of government, and thought leaders and advocates. In being named among the Clean50 Top15 Projects, VeloMetro and the Embedding Project are recognized for their innovation, and their ability to inform and inspire other Canadians.

The Embedding Project is a public-benefit research project that is a part of the Network for Business Sustainability and hosted at the Beedie School of Business. Using strong social science research methods, the project brings together thoughtful sustainability change agents from across industries and around the world, and harnesses their collective knowledge to develop rigorous and practical guidance that benefits everyone.

The project team has developed a framework for embedding sustainability that helps companies inventory, prioritize, and focus their efforts to embed sustainability. Working with notable companies such as ConocoPhillips, TD Canada Trust, and Teck, the project team helps these companies apply the framework while facilitating a safe space for companies and change agents to effectively and efficiently share their knowledge and ideas.

“We are delighted to be recognized by Clean50 as one of Canada’s top 15 sustainable initiatives for 2016,” said Lisa Leong, Manager of Research, Strategy and Development at the Embedding Project, and a Beedie MBA alumna. “The Embedding Project has made some great strides in the last few years, and we will soon be adding more resource tools to our website to aid organizations in embedding sustainability. This award serves to validate the hard work we are doing.

VeloMetro is producing a new alternative mode of sustainable transport. A cross between a car and a bicycle, the new vehicle – called a Veemo – is set to transform Vancouver’s urban transport scene.

The Veemo is a three-wheeled, fully-enclosed bicycle that takes the power input of the rider and multiplies it through a battery pack, resulting in speeds of up to 32km an hour. Able to operate on bicycle lanes, the Veemo does not require users to posses a driver’s license to operate it – something some fifty percent of Vancouver residents under the age of 25 don’t possess.

“We are incredibly proud to be recognized for the work we have done in our development of Veemo,” says VeloMetro co-founder Baker. “It has been an exciting period of development and testing, and we’re looking forward to seeing our Veemo sharing service launch in the near future.”

For more information on the Embedding Project, visit embeddingproject.org/, or for information on VeloMetro, visit velometro.com/