The Spare Room project was established in 2016, and aims to help lower the financial and housing barriers that prevent young people from entering the British publishing industry. It works to match interns from outside London with publishers who have a room to spare, thus providing them access to opportunities. This makes it possible to recruit new people who may not have the economic resources to pay for expensive London accomodation.
In 2005, Egmont, a Danish publisher, implemented the Egmont Social Compliance Programme to ensure that all suppliers respect human rights and safeguard the salary conditions and safety of their workers. The programme includes, for instance, the mapping of manufacturers; their health and safety assessments, social audits, and their compliance to the Egmont code of conduct. The resulting information, along with a report of their CO2 emissions has been compiled into a report.
RE100, led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP, aims to accelerate a global shift to clean energy and zero carbon grids. The project encourages companies to make a commitment to go ‘100 percent renewable’. Within the publishing industry, this includes RELX and Pearson, the world’s largest education company.
The International Water Association (IWA) has its own publishing programme, IWA Publishing, that works to further knowledge on water resources. Their programme includes 15 peer reviewed journals and 800 books.
Every year since 2011, RELX – a global provider of information-based analytics – has granted the Environmental Challenge Award to projects that demonstrate how they can provide sustainable access to safe water and sanitation. These projects make a tangible difference in the lives of people around the world. The RELX SDG Resource Centre also provides access to academic research in the areas of science, law and business that helps to broaden understanding of the SDGs worldwide.
PublisHer started as an informal group in 2018, when industry leaders Bodour Al Qasimi of the IPA and Maria Pallante of the Association of American Publishers launched a network to promote women’s role in shaping leadership in the publishing business. The group seeks to focus on how exclusion and gender bias affect women in their careers and impacts on content and diversity in books, and how diversity and inclusivity can be prioritized in the publishing industry.
The Swedish publisher Olika, run by Marie Tomičić, has developed a series of books about Sweden’s top female footballer players. The goal of the publication of the series is to contribute to increased equality and representation in literature. Beyond this, Olika is a publishing house focusing on diversity for young readers, and through publishing content such as this series, Olika is clearly committed to highlighting the sustainable development goals.
In this book about women’s 150 years of freedom, equality and sisterhood, authors Marta Breen and Jenny Jordahl tell inspiring stories of the women’s movements and many hard-won battles. Written as a comic, the book is easy to read, accessible and fun, and appeals to boys and girls, men and women alike. In this way, one title can have a big impact on readers worldwide, and help to shine a light on both historical and contemporary equality issues.
The campaign aims to get all children in England reading well by the age of 11 and to have all children achieving good levels of language, early literacy and reading development by 2025. In essence, the mission of the campaign is to eradicate illiteracy for the next generation in the UK.
As part of their PROSE award, the Association of American Publishers donates hundreds
of copies of books, written by award nominees, to colleges and universities. Up to 400
academic and professional books are given to various colleges and universities following
the announcement of the annual PROSE award winners.