Susthingsout is dedicated to exploring the complex range of problems encountered when driving change
Driving change is a significant part of the majority of sustainability practitioner roles. Indeed, the term ‘change agents’ is increasingly used to describe such employees. While the case studies found here will benefit anyone who is attempting to drive change in their organisation, they should also be useful for students on the first year sustainability elective, who are currently project managing the University of Worcester’s Go Green Week, 9th – 13th February 2015.
Behavioural and lifestyle changes
The examples illustrate some of the potential barriers the students may face in persuading those on campus to take part in the planned activities and provide advice on how these may be overcome. In addition, they highlight the difficulties of driving deeper more significant behavioural and lifestyle changes across all contexts.
A thank you to our contributors
Laila Kasem, senior lecturer in the Worcester Business School highlights some of the generic problems faced by trying to drive sustainability as an add-on within business. The article concludes that perhaps to drive any true change sustainability has to be part of an organisation’s fundamental ethos from its conception. Professor Janet Richardson illuminates the process of driving change through embedding sustainability into the nursing curriculum at Plymouth University in a way that made it relevant to practice. This project highlights the importance of ensuring information provided is relevant and timely, so that it makes sense to the target audience and that they have a clear message regarding specific tasks they can do. Katy Boom Director of Environmental Sustainability discusses the issues faced when trying to introduce a short-term bike loan scheme at the University of Worcester and how perseverance is a trait and strength often required by sustainability practitioners. Andy Stevenson senior lecturer in Graphic Design & Multimedia talks about his experiences of driving change in graphic design and multimedia courses by linking them to live industry projects.
The Hard Rain Project
Finally, in a discussion of his campaign from Hard Rain to Whole Earth Mark Edwards brings a global dimension to the discussion of driving change, his exhibitions and website demonstrate the power of music and art in campaigning for change to bring both enlightenment and inspiration. The University of Worcester and partners are very much looking forward to hosting the exhibition at The Hive in Worcester in Autumn 2015 .
Share your journey
We hope you enjoy exploring the varied projects discussed in susthingsout and can take inspiration from them on your own sustainability journeys. If you have experiences of driving change towards sustainability within an organisation that you’d like to share please use the comments boxes below or those under the individual articles.