collaborations, connections and change: the ungc, gri, prme & grli (plus business school...
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Improving the sustainability of Universities Australian International Education Conference 2013 Dr Carol Adams Director, Integrated Horizons Professor, Monash Sustainability Institute Twitter @ ProfCarolAdams. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Improving the sustainability of UniversitiesAustralian International Education Conference 2013
Dr Carol Adams Director, Integrated Horizons
Professor, Monash Sustainability InstituteTwitter @ProfCarolAdams
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
Collaborations, connections and change: the UNGC, GRI, PRME & GRLI (plus business school accreditation)
• Increasing corporate take up of the UNGC Principles requires know how and aptitude
• UNGC signatories can comply with COP requirements with a GRI report• Education is material to a University’s sustainability performance
(adopting a materiality approach to sustainability performance management)
• PRME approach becoming more significant in business school accreditation
• GRLI developing the tools for implementing PRME• Practical Guide to the UNGC for Higher Education suggests using GRI
• See Adams and Petrella (2010), Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal
Why should Universities care about sustainability?
Pressing local and global issues with far reaching consequences – Universities have a key role in solving them
Influence future leaders and parents The sector should be leading – not lagging (International) students like it Provides a reason for working across functions and
disciplines Reputation Reduce costs and risks
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
How do Universities become more sustainable?
President/VC and Board/Council support and involvement
(Pro-active) leadership Buy-in from responsible senior managers Engage with stakeholders –
especially staff, students and local communities Define and communicate your sustainability vision
and mission Goal and target setting, planning, culture, policy
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
Cultural and institutional challenges
Inertia, resistance (from lack of know-how and resources)
Unimaginative leadership Lack of opportunity/expectation to make cross
boundary/discipline connections Those wanting change have difficulty influencing the
decision makers (making the business case) Aligning values Funding mechanisms, performance measurement
systems, planning processes, recruitment processes
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
The context – sector benchmarking and policy
University sustainability reports available from university websites and www.corporateregister.com
People and Planet’s Green League table of UK universities http://peopleandplanet.org/greenleague
College Sustainability Report Card for North American Universities www.greenreportcard.org
Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education www.aashe.org
Environment Association for Universities and Colleges www.euac.org.uk Australian Government’s National Action Plan for Education for
Sustainability www.environment.gov.au/education/nap/index.html
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
Target Setting Short, medium, and long
term Targets aim to promote
continuous sustainability improvement
Quantified targets established against KPIs
Actions to be undertaken in order to achieve the targets
Report extracts in this presentation are from La Trobe University’s Creating Futures report
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
Targets for change
Sustainability KPIs environmental, social
and economic operations, curriculum
and research tool for measuring, and
being accountable for, sustainability progress
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
Environmental quantified targets
Actions and follow up
All targets require clear actions with nominated person(s) responsible
Regular reporting on actions
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
Award winning reports
UNGC COP at Advanced Level Global Reporting Initiative’s
sustainability reporting guidelines
Externally assured to AA1000AS Include educational and
research measures
Awards for Responsible Futures & Creating Futures
Best First Time report’ award - ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards 2011
Best First Time sustainability report - CorporateRegister.com Awards 2011
Finalist – Australasian Reporting Award, Sustainability reporting award. Judges comment: – clearly demonstrate that sustainable development is a
core business strategy– gives specific targets for the short term,
medium term and long term– identifies areas of poor performance
Creating Futures ranked 5th in the CorporateRegister.com Awards 2012 beating experienced MNC reporters plus 5th for relevance and materiality, 8th for honesty and openness and 2nd for credibility through assurance.
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
The PRME SIP report Educational and research components Includes actions against each of the PRME initiative’s Principles
which adds in detail processes used as well as outcomes achieved.
Measures must reflect actual achievements; otherwise will the report will be seen as “greenwashing”.
Reporting leads to actions which drive change.
SIP = Sharing Information on Progress
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
Why PRME is important
a framework for continual improvement. a forum for discussion of educational values. an important link to integrate processes to outcomes
of responsible management. a framework to drill down into how responsible
management can be achieved.
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
Important reporting issues
Identify key issues for your institution, sector, country Negative impacts SMART targets (Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Realistic, Time-based) Process Assurance (incl. approach, benefits, response) Short hard copy report with better use of web
technology for detail
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
The role of reporting guidelines or regulation and audit
Not required to report and not audited = not important
If not reported, data is not collected and/or performance is not monitored
If not reported, there is no accountability and no incentive to improve performance.
If not audited, data collection systems remain basic/inadequate
Sustainable procurement is the process of acquiring goods and services that: Meet users’ needs Deliver long term value for money Maximise social and economic benefits Minimise damage to the environment and
health.Buying a Better World Forum for the Future (2007)
What is sustainable procurement?
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Sustainable Procurement is a process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment.Procuring for the Future UK Govt. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2011)
What is sustainable procurement?
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Is your boss committed to strengthening sustainable procurement?
Does your university have an agreed focus on sustainable procurement? Is it part of an agreed operational plan?
Is it included in your position description in any way? Is it included in a procurement policy? Does it encompass goods, services, infrastructure and
energy? Do you publicly report targets, actions and achievements
against them?
Where are you at on sustainable procurement?
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com
What can HR do?
Reinforcing the message and improving performance through:• Job descriptions• Job advertisements• Internal cultures, leadership styles• Staff induction/ Training• Performance appraisal
Thank you@ProfCarolAdams
www.drcaroladams.net www.integrated-horizons.com