Does the headline surprise you? It doesn’t really sound like the usual topics that I write about – PR, social media, marketing. And that’s true because today I want to dig deeper and put you on a journey that will help you learn so much about our current crises and the reasons behind it.

How am I going to do that? Well, I want to present to you my new infographic – number five in my arsenal of infographics – this time in collaboration with Giles Hutchins, author of The Nature of Business and The Illusion of Separation, the latter being the focus of the infographic.

But before I get to the visual itself, I want to tell you the story behind it and how I got to work on this project with Giles.  

About three years ago, Giles held a guest lecture at Plymouth University about 'The Firm of The Future'. It was his talk that for the first time opened my eyes to our current reality and sparked my interest in sustainability. He spoke about the challenges we and our planet are facing and that today’s business paradigm is unsustainable. What followed after that for me was an entire research about sustainability and the use of social media communications.

What is sustainability? You've got 15 seconds to define it in one sentence! Go! Tough, right?

It's difficult for businesses to describe what sustainability is, but it's even more difficult for consumers to understand it.

Companies have already recognised the value of sustainability to waste and energy reduction, cost savings, increased profitability over the long term and a prosperous future for all of us on our endangered planet, but has the mainstream consumer realised that? Does she see the need to adopt and demand sustainable consumption?

Sadly, I think no.

And that's the biggest barrier for sustainability. The real problem behind making sustainable consumption mainstream is the lack of awareness among people that such products and services exist, and that these are a big part of the solution towards solving pressing global issues such as resource and water scarcity, pollution and waste, carbon footprint, urbanisation etc. I'm not saying that companies don't have an important role here, I am only saying that if companies were facing much stronger demands from consumers for sustainable products, then companies wouldn't have any other choice but to respond to that pressure in a timely manner and transform their business models. If that were so, then the process of aligning sustainability with overall business goals and especially financial strategy as well as embedding sustainability within the entire business, including developing metrics to track progress and tie in with external factors (e.g. environmental costs), would have already been largely adopted. And so would have consumer behavioural and consumption change already been mainstream. It's a viscous circle...

Did you know that countless fruits and vegetables are needlessly thrown away every day by mass producers, yet the only thing wrong with them is that because they are disfigured, ugly or misshapen they are deemed unworthy and out of the norm? In reality, they are just as delicious and just as good for you as the "pretty", perfectly shaped ones. This is why French supermarket company Intermarché decided to do something about it. They launched a film, print, poster and radio campaign called the Inglorious Fruits&Vegetables, promoting the beauty of not-so-perfect fruits and veggies and so fighting food waste.

French consumers can not only enjoy healthy, fresh foods, but also save money as the previously deemed unfit for consumption fruits and veggies are offered at 30% less. The French supermarket chain buys the foods from farmers who would usually throw them away. This way the company also supports local production.

The overall aim of the campaign was to send an important message: it's not what fruits and veggies look like, but how they taste that matters – disfigured, hideous or ugly fruits and veggies are just as delicious and should not be tossed simply because of their "looks".

Global warming, extreme weather events, resource scarcity, food and water crisis, instability of financial institutions – these are all interconnected global risks that we are facing today and that require us to act as fast as possible as they have major systematic impacts. But do you ever wonder who is going to solve these issues? Is it governments? Or companies? Or non-profits? Or regular people? I'm afraid I don't have the answer, but here's an interesting suggestion – it might be a whole generation.

Meet Generation Z – the bold rebels with the cause to save the world.

Gen Zers are the ones born after the mid 1990s. They now account for more than a quarter of the world's population, with that number rising steadily.

In many ways, Gen Zers are the opposites or extreme versions of Millennials, aka Generation Y – the previous generation.

Digital disruption is today's reality. Even in the relatively new field of corporate responsibility (CR) and sustainability digital and social media are forcing companies to make a 360-degree turn and revamp their communications, marketing, supply chain operations, and basically every part of the business. Why? Because digital has penetrated our personal and professional lives at every level, making direct two-way communications between consumers and brands possible anywhere, anytime. This, in turn, has resulted in increased customer expectations for brands to shift to an experience-based, consumer-centric approach to sustainability in digital channels.

A recent survey sheds some light on the rise of social media for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability.

The Lundquist CSR Online Awards Survey examines how experts in corporate responsibility, sustainability professionals and other stakeholders engage with companies. It also analyses how well Europe's top 100 companies respond to stakeholder needs with their corporate websites and associated digital presence.

Over 350 CSR experts and sustainability professionals from 44 countries have contributed, allowing to develop a clearer picture of the trends and user expectations about the use of social media for sustainability communications and stakeholder engagement.