2023-12-21 13:05:02
Thursday, December 21, 2023, 12:05
Copy link
X
Telegram
Forum Trade Next He also wanted to focus on the importance of the local economy. Because, as he highlighted Javier Garcinuñogeneral director of Bilbao Ekintza, “new consumption models are rapidly changing” the scenario, so we must see “digitalization as an opportunity.”
And precisely opportunities were what the experts gathered in the ‘Proximity economy and city’ panel discussed, in which representatives from Bordeaux, Amsterdam and Barcelona discussed some of the public commercial policies that have been implemented in the three cities.
In the case of Bordeaux, the strong demographic evolution and the tourist development that the city has experienced put on the table the need to develop “a sustainable commercial urban planning strategy”, as explained Chantal Becot, head of Proximity Economy at Bordeaux Métrople. All of this with the aim of being able to offer the possibility that “each person can make their basic purchases within a limit of 500 meters from their homes,” stated Becot; which involves “having sustainable development between large stores and small merchants,” pointed out the French expert.
Nienhuis and Dippel, Ballarín and Becot at different moments of their interventions.
When talking about Amsterdam, Boris Nienhuis y CJ Dippel, representatives of the city’s Department of Economic Affairs, pointed out three main challenges, “online sales that threaten local retail commerce, the increase in the mobility of inhabitants that makes more and more purchases outside the cities, and a “older population that, in general, buys less.” To this end, they have launched a policy that highlights actions such as “the creation of retail clusters distributed evenly throughout the city and the controlled increase in stores only when the population increases”; in fact, “we have prohibited opening new tourism-related stores,” Nienhuis and Dippel warned.
Because, if something needs to be clear, as he pointed out Montserrat Ballarín, professor of Financial and Tax Law at the Pompeu Fabra University and former Councilor for Commerce and Markets of Barcelona, is that “like commerce, like municipality.” And what’s more, “to have commerce you need the entire ‘tribe’, from city councils, to commercial sectors and neighbors,” Ballarín highlighted. And she gave as an example the ‘PIPA Barcelona Plan’, which establishes that “all actions must be aligned with concepts of proximity, technological innovation, professionalization and commercial associations,” the expert concluded.
Challenges and opportunities
The Economist Agustin Markaide moderated the session ‘The commitment to effective sustainability in the commercial sector: development keys and social control instruments’ in which they discussed what sustainability can do for this sector and how it should be done. For now, the expert assured that “sustainability has disturbing dimensions because our feet do not take us at the speed that the objectives need.” And he emphasized that “clear leadership on this path must fall to the public.”
Also Monica Chao, an expert in sustainability and business, stressed that commerce is a sector “for which sustainability makes things complicated” due, among other things, to realities such as changing regulations, the prices and costs of processes and materials, and the new ways to buy. “You have to look for efficiency, have more reach and reach higher in terms of reputation and the relationship with consumers,” admitted Chao. That is to say, “there is a need for transformation, but we must know how to identify where the action is and focus on it to generate wealth and employment,” the expert pointed out. Because the truth is that “there are many challenges but also many opportunities,” encouraged Chao.
Markaide, Chao, Gómez and Nueno at one point during the talk.
Because, certainly, sustainability in the commercial sector “is a hassle”, as he admitted Jose Luis Nueno, professor at IESE and director of the Intent HQ Chair on Changes in Consumer Behavior. And even more so in sectors such as food and fashion, which are “the most polluting.” One of the reasons is, precisely, the indices and hundreds of green certifications that are in the market, hence Nueno defended the need to “have a single index that is followed by everyone, including investors,” supported who is also Doctor of Business Administration from Harvard University.
And, precisely in one of those two least sustainable sectors, that of fashion, the success story of how you can bet on sustainability in the commerce sector put it Erika Gomezfounder and CEO of Twin & Chic, “a premium organic and skin-healthy children’s fashion brand in which sustainability is the fundamental pillar, focused on both caring for the planet and nature, as well as ethical and responsible production,” as they explain on their website.
A clothing brand for the little ones that uses natural fabrics that are respectful of children’s skin with which “we want to contribute to causing a change in the fashion sector,” Gómez said bluntly. To achieve this, among many other aspects, they work on the circular economy, multi-channel sales and, even, “we promote craftsmanship for some of our products, which in addition to valuing quality, handmade work, means betting for the local and for artisans from our environment,” stated the founder of Twin & Chic.
Report a bug
#Sustainability #proximity #tools #future