Nayanee Silva
Academic and research departments
Centre for Environment and Sustainability, Centre for Social Innovation Management, Institute for Sustainability.About
My research project
A Framework for Measurement and Management of Corporate SustainabilityResearch Project (completed) measured corporate sustainability performance with related themes of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), employee engagement and progress with the net zero transition. The recently completed project had two phases. Phase one assessed and compared sustainability performance of companies using a holistic new sustainability framework (7E Model) developed and tested during the project, featuring four case studies of companies in the tea sector with deep insights into sustainability strategy and management, CSR and employee engagement. Phase two measured sustainability in 40 companies of varying sizes, from various industry sectors to further demonstrate the flexiblity and scalability of the 7E model for SMEs and listed companies.
The 7E model, developed for sustainability performance measurement, considers economic, environmental and social impacts and includes seven measurement pillars. The study applies this model to measure economic sustainability, emissions and materials management , ethical business, energy consumption, waste, circular economy approaches, social impacts and governance. The outputs included a practical framework that can assess the impact of corporate activities (Scopes 1 & 2), benchmark sustainability performance for comparability and improve business sustainability action.
The findings have been presented at international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.
The research launched 'The Sustainable Business Project' - a repository of sustainability journeys and best practice, that continues for sharing corporate sustainability knowledge and support for improving organisational sustainability.
Supervisors
Research Project (completed) measured corporate sustainability performance with related themes of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), employee engagement and progress with the net zero transition. The recently completed project had two phases. Phase one assessed and compared sustainability performance of companies using a holistic new sustainability framework (7E Model) developed and tested during the project, featuring four case studies of companies in the tea sector with deep insights into sustainability strategy and management, CSR and employee engagement. Phase two measured sustainability in 40 companies of varying sizes, from various industry sectors to further demonstrate the flexiblity and scalability of the 7E model for SMEs and listed companies.
The 7E model, developed for sustainability performance measurement, considers economic, environmental and social impacts and includes seven measurement pillars. The study applies this model to measure economic sustainability, emissions and materials management , ethical business, energy consumption, waste, circular economy approaches, social impacts and governance. The outputs included a practical framework that can assess the impact of corporate activities (Scopes 1 & 2), benchmark sustainability performance for comparability and improve business sustainability action.
The findings have been presented at international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.
The research launched 'The Sustainable Business Project' - a repository of sustainability journeys and best practice, that continues for sharing corporate sustainability knowledge and support for improving organisational sustainability.
University roles and responsibilities
- Corporate Sustainability (MSc) module leader
- Research Fellow, Centre for Social Innovation Management (Surrey Business School)
- Senior Advisor, CIFAL UNITAR (Surrey) Sustainability Programme for Executive Training
Affiliations and memberships
Biography
Nayanee Silva is a business professional and founder with varied experience in business, educational consultancy and coaching. Following a corporate career in the management consulting and finance sector, she transitioned to managing her own business consultancy 25 years ago, working with clients in the UK and abroad. Nayanee is a mentor for the King's Trust, leading mentoring on their Envirobility Programme to support youth into careers in sustainability. She is also the Founder President of a charitable foundation engaged in community projects in welfare, education, capacity building and sustainable development projects in Sri Lanka.
Nayanee's research on corporate sustainability management has involved participation from several UK and Sri Lankan companies, with the development of a new framework for benchmarking business sustainability. She is also the Module Leader for the MSc module on corporate sustainability (Surrey) and is a guest lecturer on other sustainability-related themes.
Nayanee is a Senior Advisor to CIFAL Surrey (Institute for Sustainability), supporting the delivery and engagement for corporate sustainability executive education programmes. She is also a Research Fellow of the Centre for Social Innovation Management at the Surrey Business School.
Nayanee is a Fellow Chartered Accountant, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management (FCMI) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). She also holds membership of the IoD and IEMA. She is a member of the Zero Emissions Enterprise (ZEE) Network of researchers working on decarbonisation policy for SMEs. Nayanee is a steering group member for the Surrey Women's Entrepreneurship Network (SWEN) that supports women entrepreneurs to develop and scale their businesses.
Nayanee's research interests include sustainability measurement and management in organisations, sustainable development, Corporate Social Responsibility and approaches to decarbonisation/ net-zero. Her work has practical implications for improving business sustainability management. Nayanee's research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences and to business audiences. She is actively enagaged in collaborations with business and sustainability groups, through advice and training on sustainable business themes.
News
In the media
ResearchResearch interests
- Corporate Social Responsibility and community engagement
- Circular economy
- Net-zero transition for business
- Sustainability Measurement and Management
- Sustainable development for capacity building
- UKERC Energy Modelling for All - diversifying the energy sector
- Zero Emissions Enterprise (ZEE) - decarbonisation in SMEs
- Supply Chain Sustainability - collaborative SCM
- Modelling Sustainability performance
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.
The energy sector remains one of the least gender diverse and women are significantly underrepresented in the energy modelling research area. This project built a network with multiple resources to encourage persons from different disciplines and sectors to join energy modelling research and practice.
The 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:
- An online Energy Modelling Network with international members, to build connections for future discussions among the peer community.
- An online platform with open learning resources (e.g. reports, publications, presentations) on multiple energy models and fundamental training.
- Workshops with bespoke mentorship from professional energy modelling practitioners and a long-term mentorship scheme beyond the lifetime of this project.
Two workshops have been completed and resources shared with the Network. Further engagements are planned with the network community.
The Sustainable Business Project
A collective repository of organisational sustainability journeys and best practice, for sharing corporate sustainability knowledge and support for improving organisational sustainability.
Sustainability stories recently launched will include organisations sharing best practice and their sustainability stories.
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
- Corporate Social Responsibility and community engagement
- Circular economy
- Net-zero transition for business
- Sustainability Measurement and Management
- Sustainable development for capacity building
- UKERC Energy Modelling for All - diversifying the energy sector
- Zero Emissions Enterprise (ZEE) - decarbonisation in SMEs
- Supply Chain Sustainability - collaborative SCM
- Modelling Sustainability performance
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.
The energy sector remains one of the least gender diverse and women are significantly underrepresented in the energy modelling research area. This project built a network with multiple resources to encourage persons from different disciplines and sectors to join energy modelling research and practice.
The 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:
- An online Energy Modelling Network with international members, to build connections for future discussions among the peer community.
- An online platform with open learning resources (e.g. reports, publications, presentations) on multiple energy models and fundamental training.
- Workshops with bespoke mentorship from professional energy modelling practitioners and a long-term mentorship scheme beyond the lifetime of this project.
Two workshops have been completed and resources shared with the Network. Further engagements are planned with the network community.
A collective repository of organisational sustainability journeys and best practice, for sharing corporate sustainability knowledge and support for improving organisational sustainability.
Sustainability stories recently launched will include organisations sharing best practice and their sustainability stories.
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.
Teaching
Module leader for MSc module in Corporate Sustainability (ENGM305)
Publications
Highlights
- Case studies of tea sector provide useful insights into sustainability approaches.
- 7E model provides a benchmark for corporate sustainability performance in SMEs and large companies.
- A sustainability framework that measures net zero actions, materials management and sustainability strategies.
- Corporate sustainability measurement includes Sri Lankan companies in a developing country context.
- Managing organisational sustainability and corporate social responsibility: perspectives for sustainable development (2025)
- Original paper from presentation at the Eureca Pro conference 2023 on Responsible Production and Consumption
Managing organisational sustainability is complex, with multiple aspects including decarbonisation, sustainable finance, management of material flows and waste, to reduce harmful impacts and integrate sustainable approaches into business strategy. To improve sustainability, organisations must measure and manage the impacts of operations on the environment and society. This empirical study featuring case studies in the UK and Sri Lanka, examines the economic, environmental and social activities of company operations in the tea sector to evaluate and compare sustainability performance. The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach is expanded through a holistic sustainability framework proposed in this study, to support organisational sustainability measurement. We propose a ‘7E’ sustainability model that measures activities across seven operational areas of the organisation to create an overall sustainability score for benchmarking that aids sustainability improvements with an interconnected approach. The model supports organisations to identify savings, explore greener materials and energy choices through detailed insights and allows for ranking and comparison of companies using a sustainability index. A mixed methods approach is used to provide an analysis that offers granularity and comparability for sustainability strategy. Best practices from case studies, insights arising from the analysis of company surveys, interviews and employee surveys provide useful information on sustainability performance and decarbonisation progress. This research demonstrates the use of the 7E model as a practical tool for managers and organisations to improve sustainability management.
Managing corporate sustainability involves consideration of the economic, environmentaland social impacts of business activities on communities and society. Successful corporatesustainability strategy and sustainable operations must include an engaged and commit-ted workforce. It has been seen that employees are increasingly seeking more purpose atwork, with an awareness of environmental and social issues. Research has shown thatemployees engaged in corporate sustainability practices perceive their work as meaning-ful contributions to business performance. This empirical study explored sustainabilityperformance in the tea industry, measured with a holistic sustainability framework andinvestigated the linkages between corporate social responsibility (CSR), employee engage-ment, and corporate contributions towards sustainability. The operations of participatingorganisations measured via a ‘7E’ model to benchmark sustainability performance, werecompared with how employee engagement is influenced by CSR and wellbeing aspects.Data was collected from company sustainability surveys and surveys of 1146 employeesin the tea industry. The results were analysed using a cluster model to assess employeeattitudes to CSR and corporate sustainability practices towards sustainable development.The findings show that companies with strong company sustainability performance anddeveloped social sustainability with CSR activities, have employees with higher partici-pation at work and outreach engagement. Dimension reduction and the two-step clustermethod was used to classify employee responses, showing the most engaged employeesexhibited ‘shared values’ characteristics aligned with corporate engagement and socialoutreach. These results contribute to research on sustainability management from corpo-rate and employee perspectives, with insights for sustainable development through CSRand sustainable business operations.