Sustainable Development Education Panel
Review of Sustainable Development Education Initiatives in the Workplace
Executive Summary
The purpose of this study was to gauge the progress of sustainable development education initiatives in the workplace in changing the way people work and in helping to create a more sustainable society in the UK.
The study was commissioned by the Workplace Working-group of the Government's Sustainable Development Education Advisory Panel. The work was conducted by Impactt Limited, an independent consultancy between January and April 1999.
Some 140 organisations were identified and contacted. Criteria for good practice were developed as a result of which a database of 73 case studies was compiled.
This survey reinforced the finding of earlier work undertaken by the Panel, as described in its first annual report, that few people have a clear understanding of the term 'sustainable development education'.
There are various kinds of workplace educational initiatives which this report attempts to categorise for the first time. Taking the sector as a whole, it must be concluded that there are few examples of organisations taking sustainable development education seriously, a matter of real concern. Of the initiatives that do exist, the main impetus comes from the business sector and from non-governmental organisations. Many existing projects lack clear success indicators.
However, the survey was able to move forward and to identify those features that are shared by the most successful projects:
- A clearly-defined objective
- Practicality
- Relevance to the mainstream of an organisation's activities
- Helping people do their jobs better
- Motivated and focussed management
- Cost-effectiveness
- Replicability
As a result this report is able to make recommendations to the Panel, business and government as how best to foster more and more successful sustainable development education initiatives.
Page published 12 May
2000;
Page last modified
20 August, 2002