Sustainability Stumbling Blocks

Sometimes the barriers to sustainability aren't what you think!

tug of war

It's the time of year when schools are busy with sports days and summer fayres and speech days and all sorts of fun, whilst busy parents are struggling to wave at their children as they cross the finish line of the egg and spoon race. The Mums vs Dads tog of war is particularly popular at our children's school. The Mums almost always win - not because there are a lot of particularly strong mums, not even because we are desperate to fight for the females and win against the men's team but yep, the school field is not very flat, not very flat at all in fact. Fair's fair in love and (tug o')war!

Funnily enough, when chatting to an old girl at the school, she said that they used to have all the running races up hill until one teacher campaigned that the switch should be made to downhill races. Now, I don't know the physics, but apparently, the rudimentary experiment unveiled that the races got slower when they were run downhill. Perhaps the barriers aren't what we think they are?

This morning I had such an insightful catch up call with a client, an independent school that is struggling to draft their Climate Action Plan, something which is advised by the Department for Education's Climate and Sustainability Strategy to get in place by 2025.

They had put loads of effort into their strategic approach to sustainability, gathered together a group of focussed members of their team, something they labelled a 'high functioning eco committee', which made me chuckle a little but they said their real struggle was implementation. This is the reverse of what I usually see which is that people are doing things but shooting from the hip somewhat, and aren't taking the time to properly plan or measure their impact properly.

The sustainability lead (who isn't really a sustainability lead at all, just an active member of the school community who has taken on the task voluntarily - it's not officially their job role) said things like:

 "there's no good quality exemplar to refer to"

"where is a Climate Action Plan supposed to sit within an organisation?"

Clearly feeling overwhelmed, he admitted that it was useful to have a catch up session as a "formalised opportunity to drive sustainability forward as a priority".

We broke things down to manageable sections and took the Climate Action Plan back to basics remembering that this is a working document that simply breaks down strategic aims into achievable SMART actions assigned to the relevant person. Simple as that. It doesn't have to look pretty (although that sometimes helps!), it doesn't have to include everything you want to achieve for the whole (3-5yr) period! It simply needs to give clarity, to enable people to take the next achievable steps, know what their role is and have an opportunity to review progress in the future.

So, if you're challenged by an overarching theme like sustainability, maybe remember to keep it simple! Here are a few reminders how:

1. An action plan is useful but only if it is SMART

2. Use language that is applicable to your setting and situation

3. Accept that it won't be the final edit, but that it will always be a working and evolving document.

4. Allow a regular opportunity to review - i.e. a meeting every quarter to assess progress.

5. Create guidance on 'what good looks like' so that people know what the goal is for the future and refer to it regularly so that you don't get bogged down in the detail.

So, there all sorts of things that can limit progress - sometimes it's just that you are trying a bit too hard and overcomplicating things, or the balance between strategy and implementation is a bit off balance. The good thing is a bit of outside insight can help you get clarity. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

If your organisation needs an external eye to help you work through your action planning, or how to take the next step in moving your environmental action plan forward, feel free to reach out for some one-on-one support.

If group help is more up your street, sign up for my next FREE masterclass: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/impactmediatraining/1739057

#sustainability #schools #devon #climateaction #actionplanning