Corporate Innovation in Support of the SDGs
New GRI podcasts explore the business case for better health and education systems
Leading global experts from the private and public sector share their views on how technology can promote better health for all, as well as establish education systems that are fit for the future – in the latest podcasts from GRI.
Two more episodes are now freely available as part of SDGs: The Rising Tide, the podcast series that explores how to quicken business engagement for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each episodes focuses on the 17 SDGs in turn, with SDG 3 & 4 up next.
SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
Episode 3 features Dr. Sara Saeed, Co-founder and CEO at Sehat Kahani, and PTT Global Chemical’s Dr. Savanit Boonyasuwat, Vice President of Sustainability Strategy and Management, and Poom Polachan, Corporate Social Responsibility Officer. They discuss how technological innovations are improving wellbeing for both patients and doctors, and why digitalization in healthcare systems is more crucial than ever.
Dr. Sara Saeed also shares how Sehat Kahani – an all-female health provider network using telemedicine - came about, and what success looks like:
“In Pakistan, telemedicine was unheard of. Even ordering food online was rare. Since March 2020, however, we have experienced a 357% growth. We used to see 60 patients use the app, now we are seeing more than 1,000 patients on the app every single day.”
When asked about what actions are needed in the coming decade to reach SDG 3, Dr. Sara Saeed added:
“We need governments to realize that digital healthcare is the most convenient and affordable form of healthcare and really invest in it, creating the right policies.”
SDG 4: Quality Education
In episode 4, the former Director of the Environment and Energy Division at the UN Development Programme and convener of the COVID Education Alliance, Dr. Veerle Vanderweerd, and Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Vice-President and Chair of Learning Through Play at the LEGO Foundation, talk about redesigning the traditional education system. They also address the need to approach learning as an active, engaging, joyful and stimulating activity.
As Bo Stjerne Thomsen notes:
“Learning through play is the best mechanism to bring together knowledge and the ability to use it, while maintaining the joy of learning. It is a mindset in which you are active rather than passive. When you play, you are applying your knowledge and skills to real-life and practical situations. At the same time, you are engaged and excited to learn something new.”
Dr. Veerle Vanderweerd highlights that the technology we have today is enough to make the first step towards a more effective education system:
“Those countries that change their education system first will be the economic powerhouses of tomorrow. The good news is that we have the technology necessary to make that change today, but we have to all work together to make it happen.”
The Rising Tide can be accessed on SpotifyApple and Google podcast. GRI thanks the Government of Sweden for supporting this project through the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the independent, international organization that helps businesses and other organizations take responsibility for their impacts, by providing the global common language to report those impacts. The GRI Standards are developed through a multi-stakeholder process and provided as a free public good.
