Sustainability
Sustainability
Our commitment to sustainability
As a virtual network designed for efficiency, The Difference Collective is committed to working sustainably with the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare clients, contributing actively to the Responsible Health Initiative. As a recognised partner of leading pharmaceutical companies and other health stakeholders, we deeply understand the interconnection between sustainable practices, environmental impact and the health and wellbeing of populations across the world.
We take our sustainability responsibilities seriously, recognising that every action we take can negatively or positively impact those around each of us. More details are provided in our Sustainability policy.
Because we’re a Collective, with a single employee and many independent members working on a freelance basis, traditional corporate sustainability measures don’t always apply meaningfully to us. We take responsibility for finding effective ways to measure and improve sustainability in the context of our atypical business model.
Our sustainability goals
The Difference Collective will be carbon neutral by 2030
Sustainability is fully considered and built into each solution we offer to clients
We embrace diversity and inclusion across our membership and actions
Each member will contribute to their wider community, to enhance health and wellbeing for themselves and their local environment
Our sustainability goals
The Difference Collective will be carbon neutral by 2030
Sustainability is fully considered and built into each solution we offer to clients
We embrace diversity and inclusion across our membership and actions
Each member will contribute to their wider community, to enhance health and wellbeing for themselves and their local environment
Our sustainability actions
Our operational processes and measures are optimised for sustainability. We review and improve these on an ongoing and annual basis. We always choose virtual meetings for our own team unless there’s a clear requirement to meet in person. One of our senior consultants is our designated Sustainability Lead, continually updating and sharing best practices and ensuring that we deliver on our commitments.
Our members individually pledge actions to reduce home office energy use, source sustainable products, optimise their recycling and make business travel as sustainable and minimal as possible. We provide guidance and training to help them do this and to monitor and track their progress.
Our DE&I actions
We have a DE&I policy that all members agree to when they join. Our member selection and onboarding process is designed to be inclusive and we collect and review data, where permitted, to understand our performance and progress.
Flexible working is a core part of our Collective approach, giving our members the freedom to work when and where they want, to meet their personal needs at every stage of their life and career. We specifically discuss this with clients before undertaking work. Every consultant can choose whether to take on any assignment.
Our latest activities and work in progress
A Collective member hackathon will help us identify specific sustainability challenges and find innovative, impactful and realistic ways to address them
We’re preparing to launch a ‘Sustainability in Healthcare’ proposition for clients
We are assembling sustainability data from our members, so we can confirm the best way to meaningfully measure our Collective‑wide impact
We are switching to a sustainable supplier for central office supplies and IT recycling.
A Collective member hackathon will help us identify specific sustainability challenges and find innovative, impactful and realistic ways to address them
We’re preparing to launch a ‘Sustainability in Healthcare’ proposition for clients
We are assembling sustainability data from our members, so we can confirm the best way to meaningfully measure our Collective‑wide impact
We are switching to a sustainable supplier for central office supplies and IT recycling.
