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We Don't Have Time
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AskKauko: Using visualization to drive sustainability
PARTNER UPDATE: Why do so many companies invest time and money to produce sustainability reports that are only preferred by 9 percent of the recipients? Why not focus on the 91 percent instead?
Those kinds of questions led the Finnish company AskKauko to develop a new tool for driving sustainable change.
We Don’t Have Time contacted co-founder Klaus Matilainen to learn more about this and to find out if the mysterious Kauko really exists.
AskKauko's team members
What is AskKauko, and what’s the story behind the name?
”Most people wonder who’s the mysterious person ‘Kauko’ in our company’s name, and that person is my father. I'm the co-founder and ’Son of Kauko’, and currently, I’m the captain of the ship. Our family business has helped Finnish cleantech companies to establish a business in Latin American markets for the past 25 years, and AskKauko was founded to help these companies present the potential impacts of their technologies. Our company is specialized in visualizing sustainability. Together with the first 50+ customers, we have developed ‘Impact OS’ which is a platform to support management and communications processes related to sustainability.
You focus a lot on visualization. Why?
”A couple of years ago I realized that more and more people were interested in sustainability, and at the same time, I noticed that the way companies present their sustainability content was very static, text-heavy, and long. This is why we decided to visualize this type of content because 91 percent of people prefer visual content over written one.”
How does your platform help organizations reach their sustainability goals?
”The platform is a tool for the company’s management team to visualize the targeted sustainability activities in a very understandable format so that it can be shared within the company and engage employees to do their part in meeting the targeted goals. It is also a tool for the management team to communicate to the board and shareholders on how the company is planning to safeguard its operations or to make sustainability its competitive advantage. So our platform enables organizations to analyze and develop their activities to make them more sustainable and accountable.”
AskKauko's Impact OS
How do you measure your climate impact?
”Our company visualizes the existing content that companies already have. We have a vast network of partners who can help companies to calculate the footprints of their operations or the life cycle analysis of their products, but AskKauko’s job is to visualize the existing content and increase the usability and use-value of it."
What is your recommendation for a company or an organization wanting to learn more about carbon emissions management?
”We encourage companies to be bold in communicating externally about their sustainability targets, to be transparent about where they are today, and set clear and measurable targets about where they wish to be. They have to have some activities related to meeting the targets and to constantly follow up and communicate the progress they’re making, people know that companies are not perfect, and value and reward transparency and setting achievable targets that are followed up.”
Klaus Matilainen, Co-Founder // Son of Kauko at AskKauko
Why did you decide to become a partner with We Don’t Have Time?
”It’s a funny story. I met the representative of Twitter in Epicenter Helsinki and they mentioned We Don’t Have Time. I got involved with Tomas Roovete [partnership manager at We Don’t Have Time], who introduced me to Axfoundation, and this was one of the most impactful introductions in AskKauko's history. The reason we became partners is the shared purpose to increase understanding of how to make the world more sustainable and we’re also planning to do a broadcast together with Axfoundation.
You now have a Climate Dialogue page on our platform. How do you plan to make use of it?
”In line with our company purpose, we want to share the best practices of how companies have gained competitive advantage by visualizing their sustainability work and targets for their internal and external stakeholders."
https://youtu.be/FYorAPYJsis
Watch how to visualize sustainability for competitive advantage.
About AskKauko:
AskKauko is a Helsinki-based software startup that develops next-generation impact communications. their purpose is to increase understanding of how to make the world more sustainable.
AskKauko helps organizations drive sustainable change to engage their existing employees and attract new talent, as well as to increase both customer lifetime value and company valuation.
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Great work! I love the questions and answers! They are flowing! Keep it up! Together we are the solutions to sustainability.
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This is great! Visualizing progress is key to moving forward
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Communicating in a way that reaches people is key. Great work by @AskKauko