Nayanee Silva
About
My research project
Managing Business Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Private SectorThe aim of this doctoral project is to investigate organisational sustainability performance and management, with related themes of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the net zero transition. The project has two phases. Phase 1 assesses approaches to business sustainability in a developed economy (the UK) and in a developing economy (Sri Lanka). This includes case studies of companies in the tea sector with deep insights into sustainability strategy and management, CSR and employee engagement. The second stage includes assessing sustainability management in a range of companies of varying sizes from various industry sectors.
A holistic new model has been developed for sustainability performance measurement, including economic, environmental and social impacts which includes seven pillars of measurement. The study will apply this model to measure economic sustainability, emissions and materials management , energy consumption, waste, circular economy approaches, social impacts and governance. The outputs will include a practical framework that can assess the impact of production activities, improve knowledge of sustainability towards making potential savings, benchmark and share best practice for implementing sustainability into profitable product strategy and consider social impacts alongside actions towards decarbonisation.
The research also aims to investigate differences in approaches through comparing the sustainability performance of organisations in two countries.
The outputs from this empirical research study are expected to provide a range of insights and a practically useful framework for organisational sustainability management, that can be practically applied by companies across several industry sectors. The participating companies will be provided with insights and analysis to support their sustainability planning and business strategy.
The outputs from stage one of the study has been presented at 2 international conferences in 2023.
Supervisors
The aim of this doctoral project is to investigate organisational sustainability performance and management, with related themes of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the net zero transition. The project has two phases. Phase 1 assesses approaches to business sustainability in a developed economy (the UK) and in a developing economy (Sri Lanka). This includes case studies of companies in the tea sector with deep insights into sustainability strategy and management, CSR and employee engagement. The second stage includes assessing sustainability management in a range of companies of varying sizes from various industry sectors.
A holistic new model has been developed for sustainability performance measurement, including economic, environmental and social impacts which includes seven pillars of measurement. The study will apply this model to measure economic sustainability, emissions and materials management , energy consumption, waste, circular economy approaches, social impacts and governance. The outputs will include a practical framework that can assess the impact of production activities, improve knowledge of sustainability towards making potential savings, benchmark and share best practice for implementing sustainability into profitable product strategy and consider social impacts alongside actions towards decarbonisation.
The research also aims to investigate differences in approaches through comparing the sustainability performance of organisations in two countries.
The outputs from this empirical research study are expected to provide a range of insights and a practically useful framework for organisational sustainability management, that can be practically applied by companies across several industry sectors. The participating companies will be provided with insights and analysis to support their sustainability planning and business strategy.
The outputs from stage one of the study has been presented at 2 international conferences in 2023.
Affiliations and memberships
Biography
Nayanee Silva is a business professional with over 25 years of finance, management and consulting experience. Following a corporate career in the management consulting and finance sector, she has provided mentoring, education and business consulting services through her own consultancy. She is a professional business mentor and an employability mentor for the Prince's Trust. Nayanee is the Founder President of The Aspire Community Foundation, a non-profit foundation working with other NGOs engaging in community projects in welfare, education, vocational training and sustainable development projects in Sri Lanka.
Nayanee is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), the Chartered Institute of Management (FCMI) and the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). She also has membership of the IoD, IEMA and Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (ICRS). She is a member of the UK Energy Research Council (UKERC) (through a UKERC funded project on energy modelling) and the Zero Emissions Enterprise (ZEE) Network of researchers working on the theme of decarbonisation of SMEs.
Nayanee's research interests include sustainability in organisations, materials management, sustainable development, Corporate Social Responsibility, Life Cycle Assessment, renewable energy technologies and approaches to decarbonisation/ net-zero.
ResearchResearch interests
- Materials Management
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Engagement
- Circular Economy
- Net Zero Transition for business
- Sustainability strategy
- Renewable Energy Technologies
- Carbon Emissions
- Sustainable development - impacts of interventions through microfinance, training and education to empower rural and disadvantaged communities
- Member of UKERC for Whole Systems Networking Fund (Surrey project)
- Zero Emissions Enterprise (ZEE) - a group of researchers working on decarbonisation in SMEs
Research projects
A UKERC Whole Systems Networking Fund (WSNF) project. Energy modelling plays a vital role in the transition to a net zero economy and contributes to energy security, with models underpinning decision-making across policy, industry and civil society.
However, the energy sector remains one of the least gender diverse and women are significantly underrepresented in the energy modelling research area. Therefore, it is essential to build a network with multiple resources to encourage women from different disciplines and sectors to join energy modelling research and application.
This project will bring together academic researchers, companies along the energy supply chain, policymakers in both central and local government, NGOs and practitioners.
The outputs include:
- A social media group for connection building and future discussion among the peer community.
- An online platform with open learning resources (e.g. reports, publications, presentations) on multiple energy models and fundamental trainings to get started.
- A series of events with bespoke mentorship from professional energy modelling practitioners and a long-term mentorship scheme beyond the lifetime of this project.
The Sustainable Business Project is a PhD at the Centre for Environment & Sustainability, University of Surrey led by Nayanee Silva, supervised by Dr Walter Wehrmeyer and Professor Richard Murphy.
Phase 1 of the study has been completed with four detailed case studies of business sustainability which demonstrate a new 7-part sustainability framework (7E Model). These phase 1 results have been presented at two international conferences. Reports and academic publications are in process.
Phase 2 is currently underway. This will include several entities from various industry sectors to take part in an online sustainability survey. SMEs and large, listed companies are welcome to take part.
Each participating organisation will receive a benchmark score of their sustainability performance using the new 7E Model framework developed for this project and a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) score.
We have also developed an Employee Engagement survey which assesses attitudes to work, community engagement and wellbeing. The results of this survey provide insights into employee behaviour using statistical analysis to help understand employee attitudes and characteristics which are unique to your organisation. Phase 1 results analysed gave insights to the organisations taking part.
Research collaborations
Zero Emissions Enterprise (ZEE) - a group of 60+ researchers from University of Oxford, Open University and Sheffield Hallam working on the challenges of decarbonisation for SMEs.
Research interests
- Materials Management
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Engagement
- Circular Economy
- Net Zero Transition for business
- Sustainability strategy
- Renewable Energy Technologies
- Carbon Emissions
- Sustainable development - impacts of interventions through microfinance, training and education to empower rural and disadvantaged communities
- Member of UKERC for Whole Systems Networking Fund (Surrey project)
- Zero Emissions Enterprise (ZEE) - a group of researchers working on decarbonisation in SMEs
Research projects
A UKERC Whole Systems Networking Fund (WSNF) project. Energy modelling plays a vital role in the transition to a net zero economy and contributes to energy security, with models underpinning decision-making across policy, industry and civil society.
However, the energy sector remains one of the least gender diverse and women are significantly underrepresented in the energy modelling research area. Therefore, it is essential to build a network with multiple resources to encourage women from different disciplines and sectors to join energy modelling research and application.
This project will bring together academic researchers, companies along the energy supply chain, policymakers in both central and local government, NGOs and practitioners.
The outputs include:
- A social media group for connection building and future discussion among the peer community.
- An online platform with open learning resources (e.g. reports, publications, presentations) on multiple energy models and fundamental trainings to get started.
- A series of events with bespoke mentorship from professional energy modelling practitioners and a long-term mentorship scheme beyond the lifetime of this project.
The Sustainable Business Project is a PhD at the Centre for Environment & Sustainability, University of Surrey led by Nayanee Silva, supervised by Dr Walter Wehrmeyer and Professor Richard Murphy.
Phase 1 of the study has been completed with four detailed case studies of business sustainability which demonstrate a new 7-part sustainability framework (7E Model). These phase 1 results have been presented at two international conferences. Reports and academic publications are in process.
Phase 2 is currently underway. This will include several entities from various industry sectors to take part in an online sustainability survey. SMEs and large, listed companies are welcome to take part.
Each participating organisation will receive a benchmark score of their sustainability performance using the new 7E Model framework developed for this project and a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) score.
We have also developed an Employee Engagement survey which assesses attitudes to work, community engagement and wellbeing. The results of this survey provide insights into employee behaviour using statistical analysis to help understand employee attitudes and characteristics which are unique to your organisation. Phase 1 results analysed gave insights to the organisations taking part.
Research collaborations
Zero Emissions Enterprise (ZEE) - a group of 60+ researchers from University of Oxford, Open University and Sheffield Hallam working on the challenges of decarbonisation for SMEs.