What Sustainability Learning and Development is Right for Your Organisation? 

Key to a Green Growth Mindset in your organisation is Climate change training. This helps individuals understand the science, causes, and impacts of climate change and how to take action to mitigate against climate change and adapt to its impacts.

As I write this article, the wildfires are raging in Los Angeles In the UK, we have been experiencing life changing flooding in certain regions. Like everyone else, I am reminded that we are seeing a tipping point in this journey. Every 0.1° we can mitigate will have a very real impact now.

Learning and development is key to this mitigation as well as to ensuring safe adaptation for your staff and a strong future for your organisation.  

Why Is Sustainability Learning & Development Important? 

Most importantly, humans are Earth’s custodians and every one of us has a moral responsibility to appreciate and respect what our planet offers and work in as close an alignment as possible to her. 

Unfortunately, this has not been the case for much of history and with the Industrial Revolution, we saw more catastrophic results from this. Climate Change and biodiversity loss  are two of the biggest threats to humanity in the 21st century.  

Climatic events raise the risks of flooding of buildings and land parcels, severe and prolonged  heatwaves and droughts, increased fires and damage to properties and land, food shortages, climate migration, supply chain disruption and climate anxiety. Climate Change  will impact every business, every organisation and every community to some extent and will result in lost working days, direct impacts to your service delivery including delays and increased pricing structures, potential loss of resources including infrastructure and threats to health and well-being amongst other factors.

Natural environment and biodiversity loss training is important because it equips individuals and organizations with the knowledge and tools to mitigate the impacts of declining ecosystems, protect vital species and appreciate the value of the natural environment from an economic and social standpoint. 

With increased human consumption, our demands on Earth’s finite resources are becoming more and more unrealistic. Sustainability training helps provide the knowledge and understanding of resource management to balance your organisation’s demands against the resources which we will have available to us in years to come. 

Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2024, Earth Overshot Day fell on 1st August. In the UK, we reached this day on 3rd June. To put it simply, it’s like we are constantly eating into our natural resources overdraft. 

What are the Learning & Development Options? 

With twenty five years in education, I will always say that the most impactful and valuable learning and development is led by a real person. We are in an age where we can easily download a generic video or ask AI to generate a training session on our behalf. Short, pre-recorded videos have their place but to have true value, learning and development requires a facilitator present to directly answer questions; challenge the learner’s preconceptions and manage any misconceptions.  

Furthermore, this personal engagement is key to having a real impact upon your action planning. Your staff’s knowledge is your most valuable tool and they will be key to identifying both opportunities and threats to your organisation. They will also likely be the ones to have the most impactful solutions.  

By facilitating workshops and conversations with staff and other stakeholders, Green Growth can support the development of an ambitious yet manageable and realistic Sustainability Action Plans written with the expertise of the whole organisation.  

Short Interactive Training Session for Frontline Staff 

This gives a basic overview of climate change and the measures your organisation is taking to address this.  

Pro- you know every member of staff has an understanding of this core priority and your approach 

Pro- the training can be tailored for diverse learning styles 

Pro- requires little resource to deliver 

Online Self-Directed Learning  

This is an online training module for desk-based staff to work through at their own pace. 

Pro- it is  tailored and designed for your organisation so the content is relevant 

Pro- you can be confident that every member of staff has a strong baseline knowledge of the topic 

Con- there is little opportunity for preconceptions and misconceptions to be dealt with and little opportunity to record staff’s input and ideas back to you 

Con- it can be incredibly challenging to monitor course delivery and ensure all staff have completed the training 

Senior Management Training 

It is vital for any organisation that the senior leadership team have a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and risks posed by climate change and the sustainability in order to make informed high-level decisions.  

Pro- key strategic decisions are made with consideration to more sustainable approaches  

Pro- key strategic decisions are made with consideration to the risks associated with climate change 

Pro- the senior leadership team demonstrates true leadership by example by valuing the environment as a key stakeholder 

Carbon Literacy Accreditation 

This requires a full day of training and gives members of staff a widely recognised accreditation. The training is comprehensive in the area of decarbonisation. 

Pro- it demonstrates strong commitment to decarbonisation externally 

Pro- it supports professional development, shows you value your teams and results in staff retention 

Pro- staff are encouraged to make pledges which will implement change 

Con- the course focuses heavily on decarbonisation and climate change as opposed to wider environmental issues such as biodiversity loss, climatic risks and resource management. 

Con- at present, the pledge system is not monitored or reviewed and relies on internal resourcing