Sparknews

The construction and the sharing of stories have always shaped our humanity. As they spread, some stories have set norms and given birth to civilizations by drawing social and political organizations. Monarchy and communism are examples of this, among many others.

More recently, the narrative of capitalism has triumphed over a part of the globe by bringing many social, scientific and technological advances; in return, he summarized personal development to individualism, the accumulation of goods and access to unlimited consumption.

The social, economic and ecological crises we are experiencing today are weakening the very foundations of this story and are leading a growing number of economic and political leaders, field workers, intellectuals and artists to question our model.

These questions lead us to rethink our relationship to nature, to growth, to imagine sustainable consumption and food, to encourage education and technology in the service of man, to consider sobriety as a source of fulfilment and freedom, in short, to profoundly transform our relationship with the world.

Despite many actions carried out in the field, despite the formation of multiple coalitions and statements by leaders around the world, the latest scientific reports are irrefutable: the changes made are not equal to the current challenges. Unfortunately, the abuses inherent in the capitalist system are not receding.

And for a good reason, there is no dominant narrative of this transition in the collective unconscious: many of us are not convinced that there are other models, which does not allow us to hope for a profound and systemic change.

At Sparknews, we observe that our time, unlike previous civilizations, is marked by a new paradigm: in the absence of a new global narrative, “positive” stories are being written on smaller scales, at the individual or regional level. Our conviction is that the awareness and action of a multitude of committed individuals can bring out new collective and inclusive models that meet the challenges of our time.

 It is precisely this ambition that we have: to bring out massively those stories that accelerate the ecological and social transition so that they become dominant.

Concretely, we support individuals who are agents of change, whether they are journalists, employees, managers, entrepreneurs, creators or elected officials. We provide them with tools and content, access to our expert networks and our advice so that they become more visible within their ecosystems, or even beyond. For, in turn, they inspire and reveal other actors of change.

We do not pretend to “bring” solutions, but we are committed to growing those who develop them and whose actions already have a concrete and proven impact. Our commitment is to trust in human creativity and ingenuity. Our commitment is to promote authenticity, courage and solidarity.

We do not make action plans for the next 10 or 20 years; we are not a “positive news agency”, nor a media dedicated to sustainable development. We create links between change actors; we plant seeds to trigger triggers; we create sparks to attract attention.   

After having designed and produced some twenty awareness-raising programmes with the media and influencers around the world, after having conducted more than two hundred missions, events and conferences to increase the number of change agents, we are proud to announce our B Corporation label. Obtaining this label is the full recognition of our mission but also of the way we develop our activity.

The B-Corp movement brings together more than 2500 companies committed to reconciling business with a positive impact on the planet and society. It is a full commitment to social, environmental, transparency and governance criteria. In other words, it is the companies that are trying “not to be the best in the world but the best FOR the world”.

The certification process was also an excellent opportunity for progress: we had to answer some 200 questions. We have documented our approach on five pillars: Governance, Employees, Communities, Environment and Customers. We, therefore, reviewed our mission, our achievements over the past six years but also our long-term objectives. We have set up a horizontal ethical process to ensure that the projects we work on are in line with our mission. We have increased transparency in decision-making within the company. We have also rethought our environmental responsibility by changing, for example, our electricity supplier to Enercoop, a producer of 100% renewable energy, and by favouring reconditioned BackMarket computers.

Of course, our journey is far from over, whether it is our ambitious mission or our practices. We are continually seeking to increase our impact, reaching new audiences and continuing to build relationships, encourage meetings and disseminate transformative initiatives. All energies, ideas and support are welcome to contribute to this exciting adventure, which also requires resilience, conviction and optimism.

In 2020, we want to focus our action on territories, necessary places of transition, on TWAs and SMEs whose potential for transformation is currently untapped, and of course on the media and influencers, essential sounding boards for the general public. In 2020 we want our company to be even better for the world!