How Do You Build Sustainability in Your Organization?

This question may have popped up in your mind, how do you really make sustainability a concrete part of your organization. Sustainability is often embedded in an organization’s strategy. We often hear noble words about sustainability in ceremonial speeches, which is quite good, and better than there would be not even mention of it at all. But what about, if sustainability just lies in the papers and speeches, and the organization does not really live up to it. How can we make the organization to act and live according to its strategy? How do we know that sustainability is clear to everyone?

First step is to ensure that strategy is clear to everyone, and it is important to be accompanied with concrete steps how to realize it. A practical method is to conduct a survey on sustainability. The survey identifies learning needs among staff and provides an ideal opportunity to ask about training preferences and needs. Based on this, it is easy to build a training event and for example a self-study training package for the staff.

Sometimes it might be ideal to start to capacity build staff in smaller portions. A commitment from the leadership is essential for making sustainability as cross-cutting theme in the whole organization, which everyone lives out in their daily activities. Therefore, we in Kpedu VET in Finland started with the kick-off training session for our management. The session was length of one afternoon. We invited three speakers out of our own organization.

The Climate Advisor for the Kokkola town focused on climate actions and policy in Kokkola and broader in our area of Central Ostrobothnia. The Coordinator for Sustainable Development from Perho VET told us about good practices in sustainability and sustainability programme in their VET. The local farmer told us how he utilizes biogas in his own dairy farm and how he enhances carbon sequestration in soil. Our chairman of the sustainability team held a Mentimeter quiz for all the participant about SDG goals, through which she demonstrated the need of training about sustainability. Our financial manager talked about the sustainability in our strategy and ESG -reporting, which our financial department starts to drive internally. We G2VET coordinators (Tanja Yli-Tokola and I) hold own presentations about sustainability: definition, dimensions of sustainable development, SDGs, planetary boundaries, our survey’s results on sustainability in our VET, information about available training on sustainability.

After these presentations we involved all the participants in a group work, where they needed to identify most important actions in sustainability to carry on in our organization. Each group presented their group work results and we gathered them together to the management for further development. At the end participants gave their feedback via QR-code.

The educational events on sustainability are beneficial for several reasons:

• Raising Awareness and Empowering employees: Increasing employees’ understanding of sustainability issues ensures their awareness about the all the dimensions of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic impacts of their actions. Knowledge empowers employees to make more sustainable choices both at work and in their personal lives.

• Knowledgeable Employees are more likely to come up with innovative solutions to environmental challenges, leading to more sustainable practices.
  
• Improving Organizational Practices, which can lead to more efficient use of resources, reducing waste and lowering costs.
  
• Strengthening Brand and Reputation: demonstrating a commitment to sustainability enhances your organization’s reputation and can improve relationships with customers, partners, and the community.

• Future Forecasting becomes easier. VETs should be pioneers to provide timely training that meets the needs of the job market and climate change, ensuring that employees have the skills required for emerging trends, technologies and challenges.
  
• Market Differentiation: In a market where consumers are increasingly valuing sustainability, being known for environmentally friendly practices can differentiate your organization from competitors.
  
• Community Impact: Engaging with sustainability can improve relationships with the local community and contribute to broader societal goals.
  
• Stakeholder Engagement: Demonstrating commitment to sustainability can enhance relationships with stakeholders, including funders, customers, and regulatory bodies.

To sum up by organizing an educational event about sustainability serves a strong base, on which is easier to start to build a concrete strategy for your organization’s sustainability. This approach not only contributes to a better, more sustainable environment but also more likely positions your organization for a long-term success and resilience in rapidly changing and more complex world.

Photo by Copilot.