The Book Chain Project (BCP) have finally released their Design Guide to the public.

After researching design processes, collecting data on every stage of the supply chain, and interviewing publishers and suppliers, BCP are sharing this guide to help inform all actors in the design process about the environmental and social impacts of different materials and processes that can go into making a book.

The purpose of the Design Guide is not to tell readers which materials and processes they should or should not use – the purpose is simply to give everyone at all stages of the design process the tools they need to further understand the impact of each material and process in order to make informed choices about the spec of their publication.

The Book Chain Project is a collaborative initiative run by Carnstone, involving 28 leading book and journal publishers, over 400 print suppliers and more than 300 paper manufacturers. The publishers participating in the Book Chain Project have one common aspiration – to make informed buying decisions and minimise the impact their books have on the environment, as well as those who manufacture or read their books. 📚

With a powerful foreword by Christiana Figueres, this report is a progress update and a call to arms for media companies. Focusing on what we call the ‘brainprint’, the report is concerned with media’s superpower: the ability to shift hearts and minds, and the enormous social, political and environmental change this can create.

In the report, we explore how the sector’s management of its content impacts has moved on since the publication of Mirrors or Movers I in 2013. Media responsibility has often been creative and innovative, putting the sector’s talents to good use. But our research shows that rigour and measurement now also characterise media responsibility. This is timely, because society's expectations of what it means to be a 'responsible' media company have developed rapidly.

Based on our insights from convening the Responsible Media Forum for over 15 years, as well as interviews with experts within and beyond the sector, the report also outlines a framework for good practice in content impact measurement and six steps to impact.

As conveners of the Book Chain Project, we’ve produced this guide to help publishing companies make informed decisions around the design, purchasing and production of their books, magazines and journals. It contains an overview of the current situation, looks at some of the common misconceptions, charts the new developments in this area, and presents good practice from other sectors.

In the face of rapidly changing reading habits what does the future hold for printed books? Will they still be around in ten years? And if so, how might they be made?

Our publishing initiative, the Book Chain Project, helps publishers to better understand how, where and from what their books are made. It’s been ten years since the first part of the Project began by gathering data on the tree species used in paper. We wrote this report to reflect on that past decade, to better understand our current reading habits, and finally to gaze into the crystal ball to see what books of the future might look like, and how and where they might be made.

Based on current trends we’ve identified four underlying stories of the book:

• Digital print: New printing technology is significantly affecting how books are made. It’s allowing print-on-demand, local production, and personalised content, and allowing publishers to revive their archived titles, and take opportunities to trial new authors.
• Digital conversion: In some cases digital clearly offers benefits over print when we look at connectivity and interactivity. Where the changes are happening, they’re happening quickly.
• Digital interaction: Print and digital can complement one another in blended approaches where digital interactivity can help to bring print to life.
• Digital distraction: In our desire to avoid digital overload from the ever-present screens and devices in our lives, are books one of our last remaining bastions of escapism?

We go on to predict three possible futures for the book and ultimately what this means for our future work on the Book Chain Project.

The report’s findings are informed by our desk research, in-depth interviews with the Project’s publishers, and guest presentations from our 2016 seminars in London and New York.

Obviously, all companies have a desire to stay alive and be profitable. But above and beyond mere survival, increasingly we expect businesses to play a positive role in society or at least reduce their negative social and environmental impacts as much as possible.

How do such concerns apply to the media sector? What are the key impacts of media companies? How will society hold them to account in the future?

In our newest report, The Future of Responsible Media, we articulate four interrelated challenges, the management of which, we believe, will set ‘good’ companies apart from the ‘bad’ over the next 10 years. We summarise these four challenges as follows:

• The future of privacy – getting serious about understanding users’ appetite for
  personalised content vs privacy;
• Coming to grips with being movers – owning up to the fact that media content doesn’t just mirror society, it moves it;
• Becoming organisations without walls – finding ways of managing impacts in an increasingly splintered media landscape; and
• Managing the workplace of the future – rethinking existing notions of ‘purpose’, ‘progression’ and ‘hierarchy’ as the competition for critical talent heats up.

Further to this, we identify eight social and technological forces that are likely to transform society generally and the world of media more specifically.

The report is based on rigorous desk-research, the collective insights of the 25 companies participating in the Responsible Media Forum as well as input from some of the brightest sparks in business, politics and academia.

Simon Hodgson looks behind 'Net Positive', the next big topic in sustainability, and asks whether we've yet to clarify what it really means.

Simon Hodgson argues that conflating morality and the responsibilities of business isn't always helpful.

The fourth CR Salary Survey report contains some illuminating findings. The CR sector is evolving and growing at a faster pace than ever in spite of the uncertain economic climate. As was the case with the previous survey, in 2010, the results are taken from the responses of individual professionals in consultancies and in-house departments across the world. This report identifies the highlights and is supplemented by commentaries from significant industry figures.

Simon Hodgson and Richard Welford, Chairman of CSR Asia, have been exploring the changing expectations that companies face, in terms of their supply chains, both at home and a key sourcing market, China. The two companies looked at how far a company’s responsibility stretches and the latest challenges to those responsible for supply chains that involve Asia and the UK.

For the second time, Carnstone and Acre Resources have collaborated on a global survey of professionals working in climate change and carbon space. Nearly 1,000 respondents from around the world have provided an in-depth picture of the carbon job market. The survey includes information on: global salary and bonus levels; the different roles and responsibilities currently undertaken; and the educational backgrounds of those working in this growing area of activity sector. The report also contains commentary from leading figures in the sector together with the conclusions of the project partners.

This year, we’ve gone global. The Corporate Responsibility Salary Survey now provides the most accurate picture of how the industry looks on the ground, from those people working day-to-day in corporate responsibility around the world. As in previous years, our survey was based on individuals working both in-house and for consultancies in CR and sustainability. We conducted the survey online throughout January and February 2010 and this year’s results show some of the most exciting insights ever.

Over the past few years, the management of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has become one of the core corporate responsibility issues. The focus of this activity has evolved from a concentration on direct and indirect (i.e. electricity) emissions, to one that considers wider emissions across the value chain. This report, produced in collaboration between Carnstone (then Acona) and Insight Investment, sets out our views on current practice on GHG emissions in the value chain and aims to catalyse discussion on how corporate practice may evolve over the next two to three years.

The Carbon Salary Survey is a collaboration between Carnstone (then Acona), Acre Resources and Thomson Reuters. The global survey is aimed at professionals working in the climate change and emissions trading markets to gain understanding into their roles in this quickly evolving field. Nearly 1,200 practitioners completed the survey throughout April 2009, the findings of which are presented here along with commentary from senior professionals within the industry.

Carnstone (then Acona), in conjunction with Acre Resources and Ethical Performance, has undertaken the second detailed study of remuneration, working conditions, background and principal activities of those working on corporate responsibility (CR) issues. The fact that more than 350 people (a 26 per cent increase on last year) took the time to complete our questionnaire suggests there is considerable interest in the survey and its results among practitioners.

Carnstone (then Acona), in conjunction with Acre Resources and Ethical Performance, has undertaken the first detailed study of remuneration, working conditions, background and principal activities of those working on corporate responsibility (CR) issues. Nearly 300 people participated in what is intended to be an annual survey. The results cover those employed in-house, as well as the growing number of external consultants operating in this field, and provide information on average salaries and bonus levels, location and experience of CR practitioners, and how they spend their time.

A clear trend is emerging; more companies are increasing their involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and more customers want to trust that business practices are ethical. Yet customers are sceptical of the validity of ethical claims, and businesses have doubts about the sincerity of customer interest. In an effort to better understand why businesses are often slow to engage customers on CSR, this report looks firstly at the evidence for customer interest in environmental and social issues, then secondly at some of the common barriers preventing businesses from engaging with customers and markets on the subject of CSR. Finally it reviews best practice in this area to identify approaches taken to overcome some of these barriers and suggests practical steps for better customer engagement.

The report presents an outline framework for what, in the authors' view, Best Practice in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) governance looks like. This framework consists of seven basic principles covering: director competence; director roles and responsibilities; culture, standards and values, strategic implications; performance management, internal controls; organisational structure.

Corporate Responsibility is often challenging, and there are already heavy demands placed on Directors of large companies. However, effective Board action on sustainability issues need not involve onerous work. The secret of success is to ensure that - in choosing strategy, approaching regulation, designing incentives, shaping the organisational culture, and overseeing internal control - 'virtue' is rewarded.