Scandinavian Music Festival - Sustainability Project
An important mission for the Festival is to become greener and more sustainable.
The ENU student team were asked by the festival’s Head of Sustainability to review the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), examine the social and environmental impacts of the Festival, and recommend which SDGs the organisation should focus on and the associated changes that they can make in the short and long term to improve the festival’s green credentials.
Based on an analysis of literature, secondary data analysis and interviews with the staff from the festival, the team identified five core SDGs for the festival organisers to focus on. These included: Gender Equality (SDG 5); Clean water and Sanitation (SDG6); Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG 12); Climate Action (SDG13); and Life on Land (SDG15).
For each of these SDGs the team made a series of specific recommendations for the organisers to implement in the short and longer term. Each recommendation was made with the triple bottom line approach in mind to ensure that they were not only environmentally and socially responsible, but also economically viable.
The feedback from the client was: “The team did good job, the content is very interesting and valuable for us”.
Global Technology Solutions Firm - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Project
A team of ENU students worked with the HR Business Partner at a Global Technology Solutions Firm to analyse the company’s current approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I), with a particular focus on how they attract, recruit, and hire candidates for engineering roles.
The research-based project involved first reviewing the existing academic and grey literature relating to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) to gain an understanding of the current evidence surrounding DE&I and identify key recommendations for businesses.
Secondary data including local university statistics relating to the diversity of engineering students, the company’s diversity figures, and inclusion policies and a sample of past job advertisements were collected and analysed. An online survey was also completed with potential applicants which focused on how respondents search for employment and the factors they consider before applying.
The analysis of the questionnaire data together with the secondary data and literature led the team to make eight core recommendations on how the firm could improve its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies and practices.
At the end of the project, the HR Business Partner’s feedback was: “A helpful and well researched report that will be of value to the organisation”.
Software and Consultancy Firm – Process Mapping the Cosmetics Industry Supply Chain
The case company has developed a technology platform that maps and monitors the regularity processes across the supply chain in a particular industry to prevent non-compliant incidents. They are well established in their original target industry and wanted to branch out to the cosmetics industry.
The student team were set the task of identifying and examining the compliance processes, steps, and checks that must occur at the various stages (including sourcing/production, processing, and shipping) of a sustainable cosmetics supply chain.
To do this they collected and analysed a range of secondary data sources relating to the key sustainability, regulatory, and compliance considerations at each stage of the cosmetics supply chain. The team then used a process mapping approach to map the key aspects and decisions to be considered at each stage of supply chain and then worked with a developer from the company to create a protype using the company’s system.
The recommendations related to potential improvements following analysis of the prototype, and suggestions on how to market the system to potential customers.
The Business Partner was particularly impressed by the presentation that supported the report stating: “This was an excellent presentation. It was well structured and easy to follow, and the content was well thought through and conveyed. I particularly found the demo to be excellent and incredibly useful. The recommendations were well thought through and articulated. Thank you for all your hard work team!”
Increasing Awareness of a Charity using Digital Marketing
The student team worked with the Founder of a small charity, which distributes hygiene products to organisations that work with people in poverty or areas of deprivation, on an action research project to develop and pilot the charity’s digital marketing strategy using Instagram.
They began by reviewing and evaluating the different digital and social media marketing strategies suitable for the charity. The team then completed a comparator analysis of other similar charities websites and approaches to social media marketing. Following this, they conducted an engagement survey with the charity’s Facebook followers and partnered with a student organisation to run a pilot collection event that was promoted on Instagram.
Based on an analysis of the data collected the team created an eight-point social media strategy for the charity including a four weeks of suggested Instagram posts. This was supported by additional specific recommendations relating to how the charity can continue to develop its wider strategy to increase awareness and donations.
The feedback from the Founder was: “The written report is impressive and will be useful to refer to moving forward”.