
Dr Nayanee Silva
Academic and research departments
Institute for Sustainability, Centre for Environment and Sustainability, Surrey CIFAL training centre, Centre for Social Innovation Management.About
Biography
Nayanee Silva is an Associate Lecturer in Corporate Sustainability at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Surrey, UK. She is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Innovation Management at Surrey Business School and a Sustainability Fellow at the Institute for Sustainability at Surrey. She also serves as Senior Adviser in Corporate Sustainability and Strategic Partnerships at CIFAL/UNITAR (UN Institute for Training and Research) Surrey, where she is a member of the faculty for UN-certified courses on sustainability.
Nayanee completed her doctorate in Environment and Sustainability at the University of Surrey, where she developed a holistic new framework for measuring, and managing organisational sustainability. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Reading, and Fellowships with the Institute of Chartered Accountants (UK), the Chartered Management Institute (UK), and the Royal Society of Arts. With over 30 years of varied experience in finance, consultancy and business management—including extensive engagement with stakeholders across both private and nonprofit sectors, Nayanee made the transition from a global corporate finance career 25 years ago to establish her own business consultancy, where she is Managing Partner. She has provided education consulting services for students, strategy and sustainability consultancy to companies and startups for UK and international clients.
Her research, published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences and to business audiences, examines corporate sustainability management, corporate social responsibility (CSR), employee engagement, the energy transition, and approaches to sustainable development. She founded The Sustainable Business Project, a platform to share sustainability research, best practices, and strategic insights. Through research and data-driven insights, she provides strategic consultancy and training for business. Beyond academia, Nayanee serves on the steering group of the Surrey Women’s Entrepreneurship Network and leads development initiatives as President of a nonprofit organisation she founded, focused on capacity building, women's empowerment through enterprise, development and education projects in Sri Lanka. She is a mentor and accredited coach for various organisations including the King’s Trust. Nayanee is deeply committed to advancing sustainability education, supporting responsible business, and conducting research at the nexus of corporate sustainability, innovation, and collaborative social impact. She is passionate about supporting young people into careers and education, through her volunteering work at Surrey, UK-based charities and in Sri Lanka.
Areas of specialism
University roles and responsibilities
- Senior Advisor Corporate Sustainability and Strategic Partnerships CIFAL Surrey
- Sustainability Fellow
- Research Fellow CSIM
- Module Leader (Associate Lecturer) Corporate Sustainability
My qualifications
Affiliations and memberships
Business, industry and community links
News
In the media
ResearchResearch interests
- Sustainability Measurement and Management
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Sustainable Development & SDGs
- Supply Chain Sustainability - collaborative SCM
- ESG frameworks
- Net Zero Transition for business
- Approaches embedding sustainability in business
Research projects
The Sustainable Business ProjectA collection of shared approaches to business sustainability. Group to share sustainability best practices, sustainability tools, and new research.
Organisational members can have peer mentoring and gain access to expert sustainability advice.
Research interests
- Sustainability Measurement and Management
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Sustainable Development & SDGs
- Supply Chain Sustainability - collaborative SCM
- ESG frameworks
- Net Zero Transition for business
- Approaches embedding sustainability in business
Research projects
A collection of shared approaches to business sustainability. Group to share sustainability best practices, sustainability tools, and new research.
Organisational members can have peer mentoring and gain access to expert sustainability advice.
Teaching
- Module leader for MSc module in Corporate Sustainability (ENGM305)
- Teaching faculty for the delivery of CIFAL UNITAR Sustainability Masterclasses (executive training) - Holistic measurement and management of corporate sustainability
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 in any industry sector.
- Managing organisational sustainability and corporate social responsibility: perspectives for sustainable development
- Comparative study of UK and Sri Lankan companies' approaches to sustainability - with benchmarking framework
- Employee engagement cluster model provides insights into sustainability-related behaviours
- Approach to decarbonisation comparisons between UK and Sri Lankan companies in the study shows that developing countries such as Sri Lanka are also in an energy transition.
Managing corporate sustainability involves consideration of the economic, environmental and social impacts of business activities on communities and society. A successful corporate sustainability strategy and sustainable operations must include an engaged and committed workforce. It has been seen that employees are increasingly seeking more purpose at work, with an awareness of environmental and social issues. Research has shown that employees engaged in corporate sustainability practices perceive their work as meaningful contributions to business performance. This empirical study explored sustainability performance in the tea industry, measured with a holistic sustainability framework, and investigated the linkages between corporate social responsibility (CSR), employee engagement, and corporate contributions towards sustainability. The operations of participating organizations measured via a ‘7E’ model to benchmark sustainability performance, were compared with how employee engagement is influenced by CSR and wellbeing aspects. Data was collected from company sustainability surveys and surveys of 1146 employees in the tea industry. The results were analysed using a cluster model to assess employee attitudes to CSR and corporate sustainability practices towards sustainable development. The findings show that companies with strong company sustainability performance and developed social sustainability with CSR activities have employees with higher participation at work and outreach engagement. Dimension reduction and the two-step cluster method were used to classify employee responses, showing that the most engaged employees exhibited ‘shared values’ characteristics aligned with corporate engagement and social outreach. These results contribute to research on sustainability management from corporate and employee perspectives, with insights for sustainable development through CSR and sustainable business operations.
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 strategies. 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.