Unveiling the Handprint Approach

Enabling a holistic impact assessment 

Ever heard of the Handprint approach? It highlights the positive sustainability contributions of products and services, forming a balance to the Footprint, which only measures negative environmental impacts. Together, they provide a more balanced view by having a full picture of our overall impact, so we gain a more holistic view to understand how we can transform and reduce the negative aspects.

The Handprint Approach: A More Holistic Take on Sustainability Impact 

Currently, most widely known impact assessments, e.g., the carbon footprint, mainly focus on negative impacts that companies generate through their business practices – through their own operations and also possibly through their value chain. With this perspective, not only do we foster a rather negative mindset, but we also neglect possible positive impacts that companies, services, products, or individuals might contribute to sustainable outcomes. To enable a holistic view, it’s also essential to account for these positive impacts. The Handprint approach and methodology that we champion here also takes into account important social and economic dimensions and promotes biodiversity, ecological health, and increased social wellbeing.

Who started this Handprint approach?

In 2015, the Handprint Project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and conducted by CSCP, together with the Centre for Sustainability Management of the Leuphana University Lüneburg, the University of Hohenheim, and the Center for Sustainable Leadership of the University of Witten/Herdecke concluded a first methodology for the handprint assessment. It was implemented to trial and understand effectiveness through three case studies in the sectors of consumer goods, food, and construction. You can access the German language version of the report here on the CSCP site – we’ve translated it for you here.  

Accessibility is the first step to making a sustainable change 

We’re fans of this holistic view. That’s why we’re backing it. So, to further drive the development of handprinting and its harmonization across the globe, we need to increase the reach of this Handprint approach and make it available to a wider international audience. Joining forces with CSCP to create a translation of the final report is just a beginning. This report with its initial methodology marks a great start for further research, collaboration, and refinement and has the potential to evolve into a more comprehensive and pragmatic approach – for businesses in every sector and every part of the world. Yes, our vision is big. Because we see this Handprint methodology as a vehicle towards fostering an inclusive and collaborative environment conducive to the exchange of ideas and the advancement of innovations.

Through the collaboration of CSCP and ELFIN Consulting, combining our distinct expertise, we aim to provide a practical and actionable framework to enhance the positive impact of these stakeholders, building upon the great research work done by the project partners of Handprint project funded by the BMBF. And importantly, help companies to make the Handprint approach effective for their environmental impact assessments.

How do you apply the methodology to your business? 

Although it’s a great approach, we also understand the challenges – especially as companies need to navigate handprinting for credible, reliable and accurate results that reflect their individual contributions to sustainable business. That’s where we need to apply handprinting to as many businesses as possible, to collectively shift habits and drive the change, industry-wide.