As the climate crisis continues to ravage countries around the world, increasing pressure is being put on the manufacturing sector to integrate sustainability at all levels of their operation from emissions reductions to waste minimisation and management and improving efficiency in raw material consumption.

In Beyond the Green Team: Aligning Internal and External Communication to Advance Corporate Sustainability, Dr Goldstein examines the different stages of a company’s sustainability journey and the different ways that they can examine ways to incorporate sustainability to achieve the triple bottom line: people, profits and environment. What was key to me was the emphasis throughout the book on how an organization’s senior management is critical in developing and advocating for the sustainability agenda.

It also looks at the main barriers or bottlenecks to making an organisation more sustainable and the ways these can be overcome while the concept of Greenwashing and how organisations can balance highlighting progress made while ensuring that the message is not misleading is also addressed. Internal and external communications are both examined in detail, along with the different stages of sustainability communication and how companies can successfully transition from one stage to another.

As an engineer who has worked in industry, and as a technical writer, Goldstein understands the myriad factors that affect a company’s sustainability journey and how these fit into the larger context. It’s also filled with examples from different companies and experts, each chapter contains several pointed questions which invite the reader to reflect on their company to determine what stages they are at and move forward in their journey. Additionally, the author’s website also has a downloadable workbook to aid readers in developing and communicating their company’s sustainability communications journey.

While its mainly geared toward the manufacturing sector, sustainability professionals in any industry can benefit from the description of how to develop or improve communication of their sustainability strategy and the steps being taken by industry leaders can serve as a guide to those in the early steps of their journey.

What a concise and incredibly informative book. I love how the author takes you through the vast conundrum of sustainability, breaking down into chunks and actions. This is an incredible read for anyone looking at sustainability within their business.