Imagine a business that functions more like an ecosystem...
GLOCAL
We know that changes in technology and resource prices are challenging the globalised production of products and services. The question is at what point will it make sense to manufacture more things locally and what should those things be? When it will be economically more efficient to produce locally, when we see now the cost of fuel increasing? Because we believe the best way to predict the future is to create it, we have created a pilot GLOCAL will pilot this approach so that we can continually learn rather than try to predict.
Imagine a business model that delivers products based on the optimal use of locally available resources that can endlessly be re-grown, re-cycled or re-used.
Imagine having lots of small production units driven by and improving the local context, but under a global knowledge network.
GLOCAL is an experimental project to explore producing cleaning products using local ‘waste’ materials, local manufacturing methods and global knowledge. The end goal is to find a commercially viable way of doing this and develop the ultimate sustainable business model for the emerging bio-economy.
We are running GLOCAL in Mallorca. Why Mallorca? Because it is very easy to clearly define what we mean by local (it is an island), it has abundant natural resources (both renewable energy and waste from agriculture e.g. citrus, grapes, almonds and olives) and it uses a lot of cleaning materials (a massive tourism industry). Currently Mallorca imports much of what is needed to support its tourism industry and the environmental and social consequences are becoming more and more obvious. There is a clear need for local solutions that don't compromise the natural environment - one of the main reasons people visits the island.
We have a great team of people working with us on the project including Ecover, the University of Barcelona, Daniel Wahl, Rezatec, Artifex Baleares, Tot-Herba, Ecoquimic and the University of Balearic Islands. If you want to know more, please write me an email to [email protected], you’ll be able to find out more about what we’re doing, what we’re learning and who is involved on the GLOCAL website soon.
“GLOCAL is helping us envision a model in which Ecover goes beyond producing and distributing globally to become a knowledge centre and a catalyst for local production and local businesses.” Tom Domen, Long Term Innovation Manager, Ecover
Rodrigo Bautista, Senior Sustainability Advisor - Innovation, Forum for the Future