The Mind Lab - Sampler Course "Leading Beyond Sustainability" Week 1

 Week 1: A short course from 'Leading Sustainable Organisations and Communities"

Purpose of the course/learning: to provide [a] baseline awareness of and understanding of contemporary sustainable thinking, frameworks and leadership approaches.

Learning Outcomes By the End of this Course (The Mind Lab): 

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the most commonly used terms, theories and principles in relation to sustainability and the current conditions prompting change.
2. Evaluate and reflect on leadership for sustainability, innovative approaches to change, and the importance of diverse worldviews to generate impactful change.

Learning Outcomes By the End of this Lesson (The Mind Lab): 

1. Understand a range of most commonly used terms, frameworks and methodologies relating to sustainability.
2. Understand planetary boundaries and the need and opportunity to step up as leaders for a sustainable future now.

Intro video: 

Sustainability: "ambushed and adopted by too may people who are dipping their toes at the edge of their responsibility" - here to demystify sustainability and find the knowledge to do something about it 

We were then asked to make an introduction; who are you, where do you live, what key sustainability challenge is our city facing and what are you most interested to learn from this course. 

My answer was: 

Tena koe!

I am Chelsea and I live in Ōtautahi (Christchurch, NZ). I know our city is very innovative with their green and sustainable initiatives, however, I am not well versed in sustainability at all. I hope to learn more from this taster course and perhaps pursue the full course after.

Nga mihi

I am mostly taking this taster course to see what the experience of studying with Mind Lab is like prior to committing to a larger course. I was interested in the topic as I stated, I do not know much about sustainability and find it a lot of 'buzz words'. This is why I picked out the notes from the intro video above as they really resonated with me. 

Introducing Sustainability

* more than just environmental

* social justice

* looking after people's basic needs 

Sustainability - 1989 Scientists explanation, includes a framework of action: 

Basic defition: a balanced approach between economic, social and environment aka The Triple Bottom Line (Elkinson, 1994) however, he later abandoned this specific definition as needs changed and challenges arose such as climate, water resources, forests and biodiversity have been threatened

New definition: the possibility that humans and other forms of life will flourish forever - making life on earth thrive forever (Ehrenfeld, 2009, Sustainability by Design, p. 49).

Flourish = thrive

Surviving and thriving have changed the world immensely in the aftermath of COVID-19

"status quo is no longer what we should be aiming for" - we need to be aiming for situations where all life (including humans!), society, etc. can thrive forever. 

Going back to the 4 rules laid out in the teal photo above; we should not be doing the following if we are aiming to be sustainable 

1) increasing substances like heavy metals from the earth's crust

2) creating concentrations such as antibiotics 

3) degrading the earth ex) deforestation

4) contribute to obstacles that stop people from thriving 

These make sense to me, it seems straightforward. I am confused about point 2 - concentrations produced by us like antibiotics. Do we not need modern medicines to survive? Or is there a safer, less harmful way we can produce these to keep our planet 'thriving'?

Sustainability terminology: 

1. societal or planetary requirements and goals 

• societal - relating to or involving society 
  
• planetary - relating to planets, context of sustainability - relating only to us on Earth 
  
  
• UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) or SAGs
• attempt by UN and 193 member states = Agenda 2030 - plan developed in 2015 which introduced the 17 sustainable development goals and 163 targets sitting underneath the goals - saving our planet for future generations 
• drive global action and systemic change across 5 areas
• all the goals are linked ex) 1 - No poverty links to 2 - Zero hunger, 6 - clean water and sanitation 

• planetary boundaries (2009) - the boundaries we have to survive as humans on planet Earth
  
  
• climate change - a change in global or regional climate patterns, specifically mid to late 20th C, attributed to atmospheric co2 produced by the use of fossil fuels

2. business management and performance tools

• local and global, depending on the industry
  
  
• ISO - International Organisation for Standardization - independent non-profit that creates commonly accepted standards in many fields ex) sustainable development      ex) ISO 1464, Greenhouse, 1467 Carbon footprint
  
  
• Green globe - standard in many countries for sustainably tourism 
  
  
• B-corporation (B-Corp) - management and reporting tool - when a business is certified as B-Corp, needs to meet specific targets
  ex) 2021 - 4000 certified B-Corps in 74 countries, 150 industries
  
  
• The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) - provides a framework for companies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
  

3. reporting requirements for businesses against points 1 and 2

The goals are of the Paris Agreement 

• reporting tools - larger organisations are requested to report on SDG aspects in one or more different frameworks - varied acceptances across countries and industries 
• this could lead to inequities or double handling of reporting to satisfy all stakeholders
• need to be streamlined into 1 commonly accepted standard
  
  
• GRI - Global Reporting Initiative - set of standards to balance sustainability reporting
• TCFD - Taskforce on Climate related Financial Disclosures (2017) - promote more informed investments, credit and insurance decisions 
• stock exchanges
  
  
• Future Fit Business Benchmark - holistic business performance tool to lead a 'future-fit' society
• defines in plain language 
• 30+ years of scientific research behind the benchmark
• clearly defined goals and objective measurements across every aspect of business management 

Sustainability trends - we have an ever changing sustainability ecosystem, it is important to be aware of trends when forming plans of action 

Trend 1 - more focus on climate reporting and transparency ahead of COP27 (Climate Summit held in Egypt, 2022) 

- the Biden Summit in April 2021 gave a taster of what can be expected 

Trend 2 - circular economy - based on designing out waste and pollution, keeping [other] products and materials in use and regenerating natural systems

- the 20th C industrial model was based on the thinking that we had access to 'unlimited resources', that is far from the truth. Thinking needs to be replaced with awareness that resources are finite and we need to be more responsible. 

- "new economic model created to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits"

Resource: Ellen MacArthur Foundation - 'let's build a circular economy' 

Question: What does sustainability mean to you? 

Answer: I have enjoyed learning more about the way businesses are agreeing to different regulations around their usage of resources ex) UN's sustainable development goals 

Sustainability to me means making smart decisions as a society to protect our Earth for a better future. Making smart decisions around consumption, pollution etc can be small scale, in our own homes or large scales, corporations. All decisions we make add up to a larger impact, one which needs to be positive for the world to thrive. 

Where is the World at Now? Planetary Boundaries

Why is there a need to act now? 

- water supply and quality of water

- air quality and pollution

- food sources and how we grow them 

- growth of global population (7.8 billion to 10 billion by 2050)

We all play a part, from communities or big organisations, but we all need to contribute fairly and equally

Where do we start? 

Think about the SDGs and the global problems we face ex) poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice

• we can have an impact on these!

Climate Change: 

- local and global implications are widespread

- rising CO2 and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere are having real impacts

- global emissions increased by 50% since 1990, and in 2000-2010 than in each of the 3 previous decades

- climate emergency has been declared 

- NASA data; 19 warmest years since the year 200 

- 2020 and 2016 tied for the warmest years since 1880

- sea levels rising, ice and snow diminishing specifically Greenland and Antarctica 

- 2050, half a billion people will be subjected to 'water stress' 

- more extreme weather events 

• COVID19 pandemic, positively affected?? - data will show a decrease for this year, but will not continue as a positive change for future years as we return to 'pre-pandemic practices' 

Biodiversity Loss

- significant aspects on Earth's ecosystem 

- nature is critical to survival; oxygen, regulates weather patterns, pollinates crops, produces food etc. 

- human activity has altered 75% of Earth's surface - pushing wildlife and nature out 

- 1 million animal/plant species threatened with extinction 

- deforestation 

Poverty/Inequalities:

- gap between rich and poor continues to widen 

- UN states 80% of people in rural areas in developing countries rely on 'traditional plant-based medicine' for basic healthcare - when biodiversity is being lost, access to this is being lost

- flow on effects to the livelihoods of these communities 

- natural and social worlds are inherently interconnected - indigenous people across the world have a strong connection to natural world 

Māori - everything living and non-living is interconnected

•  understanding value and putting the value at the heart of decision making is crucial

What happens in the environment impacts on human life, and human life impacts on the environment... we need behavioural changes, mindset and perspective 

Planetary Boundaries Concept (Johan Rockström, Will Steffen et al. 2009) 

- created to define a safe space that humans should operate in order to create a thriving future 

By 2015 we had already surpassed the levels of 'high' or 'increasing risk' 

This work is not yet finished. I will be editing and updating as I make my way through this taster course.