An innovative Lancaster University podcast that aims to bring issues of sustainability and business practice into sharper focus has been shortlisted for a new national award.

Transforming Tomorrow, from the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business, is in contention for the 2024 Management Publication of the Year.

The podcast features co-hosts Professor Jan Bebbington, Director of the Pentland Centre, and Paul Turner, of Lancaster University Management School (LUMS), discussing cutting-edge research and topics with experts from across Lancaster University, other leading academic institutions from around the world, and business.

It is one of three nominees for the inaugural Sustainable Futures category, awarded by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), the British Academy of Management (BAM), and the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS).

The awards celebrate innovative research and thinking from across the UK’s business and management school that offers innovative solutions to the key management and leadership challenges facing the UK. The shortlist was announced at the CABS Annual Conference in London.

The nominees across three categories – Sustainable Futures, SME Growth and Social Enterprise and Innovation – include blogs, books, articles, and podcasts, all of which inform policy, business, and third sector practices.

The other two nominees in the Sustainable Futures category are a blog series by Professor Sreevas Sahasranamam, from the University of Glasgow; and the Handbook of the Circular Economy: Transitions and Transformation by Professors Allen Alexander, Stefano Pascucci and Fiona Charnley, from the University of Exeter.

Professor Bebbington said: “Transforming Tomorrow is a wonderful platform for us to share insights on important topics for all businesses with a much wider audience. It is easy to pigeonhole sustainability into carbon footprints or recycling, but we have shown how big a scope there is and have hopefully broadened thinking among our audience. We are delighted to bring expertise to our listeners in a readily accessible format.

“We have had some absorbing conversations with some superb guests in the last 14 months, and we are pleased to see through the award shortlisting that others have obviously enjoyed it as well. It is an honour to be included among a list of such high-quality nominees.”

Transforming Tomorrow’s second series launched in October 2024, with recent episodes focusing on subjects as diverse as asteroid mining, Greenpeace and activism, and the concepts of Good Dividends and Good Business.

The podcast launched in September 2023, and its first season investigated topics ranging from insecure work to modern slavery, greenwashing to solar power, sustainable farming to environmental law. It featured guests including academics from the University of St Andrews, Stanford University, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and practitioners from the worlds of accounting and farming.

Professor Stewart Robinson, Chair CABS, said:“Each of the shortlisted publications exemplifies the critical link between academic research and practical management solutions. We hope that by highlighting these innovative works, we can help equip leaders to inspire organisations to address the rapidly evolving operational, economic and societal challenges of our time.”

The winners of the Management Publication of the Year will be revealed at a ceremony at the British Library, London, in February 2025.

New episodes of Transforming Tomorrow are released every Monday. All episodes are available on major podcasting platforms, or via the website pod.co/transforming-tomorrow