Embedding Sustainability
Source: Sinclair Knight Merz - www.skmconsulting.com
27 August 2010
A leading sustainability strategist has told the Enviro 2010 Conference in Melbourne about the journey being taken to embed sustainability into a professional services firm.
Susanne Cooper, an Executive Sustainability Strategist and Practice Leader at leading engineering, sciences and project delivery firm, Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) described the challenges associated with achieving the objective.
Ms Cooper told the Conference about the journey of designing and delivering this program, and the reflections around the lessons learnt along the way.
“In 2007, the SKM Board embraced a major company-wide objective to ‘embed sustainability into all that we do’, and invested in a global program to deliver this laudable but lofty objective,” Ms Cooper said.
“It was decided that this meant change, and a business as usual approach was not going to deliver the outcomes sought,” she said.
Deliberately aimed at all staff across SKM’s 14 countries of operation, the program was targeted with achieving change; making sustainability relevant and implemented into core business.
Significant challenges the program had to address, which are common to most organisations include:
What are the essential elements of a change program around sustainability across a large organisation? How to ensure relevance to scientists, engineers, planners and administrative staff? What is the right balance between technical content and general information? What program design will actively engage people– and change behaviours? What mix of initiatives (structural, processes, information, awareness) is essential to effect change across the organisation? When is a targeted approach best – against going broad and fully inclusive?
“The program has been seen by many as highly innovative and effective,” Ms Cooper said.