brought to you by


A closer look at sustainability


Melissa Bell Sustainable Procurement Manager at YPO


Sustainability is a word that most people have heard of but what does it actually mean?


In 1987 the Brundtland Commission, established by the United Nations, published a report called ‘Our Common Future’. The commission aimed to unite countries to pursue sustainable development together. Over 30 years later the most common definition of sustainability still comes from this report:


“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”


The notion of sustainability is generally recognised as having three pillars – economic, environment and social (also known as profits, planet and people). Yet most people hear the word sustainability and only think about the environment.


Social value is also a term that is becoming increasingly important and common definitions of social value include having regard to economic, social and environmental well–being.


The obvious similarities between sustainability and social value are not hard to see when you consider these definitions however, they are often treated as separate concepts.


A focus on the devastating effects of climate change and reducing negative impacts on our environment such as removing single use plastic is obviously very important to sustainable development, but it is only one third of the equation. For any school or educational establishment who truly wants to become more sustainably responsible, they also need to think about their social impact as well as their environmental impact.


In 2015 the United Nations launched The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A set of 17 goals that aim to target the most critical issues in the world, aiming to end poverty, hunger inequalities and fight climate change


by 2030. In order to achieve the goals, the government, businesses and individuals need to work together to build a better future for everyone. Education is key to this. Not only is Quality Education (ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all) a goal in itself, it is important for schools to promote the SDGs to make an impact on all the goals.


There are numerous ways in which schools can look at promoting the SDGs, many of which school leaders are already working on. For example, encouraging girls to continue with STEM subjects. According to recent UCAS1


data, 35% of STEM students


in higher education in the UK are women. And the data shows that between 2017 and 2018 only 19% of students studying for a computer sciences degree were female. Inspiring girls from a young age in STEM subjects reduces inequalities throughout their lifetime and can bring about real diversity into the workforce.


Teaching children about where the food on their plates comes from can help to promote a healthy relationship with food and start to tackle childhood obesity. Working with local government, charities and anchor institutions’ schemes can be implemented to alleviate some of the pressures of holiday hunger.


1. stemwomen.co.uk/blog/2019/09/women–in–stem–percentages–of–women–in–stem–statistics 2. ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/bulletins/youngpeoplenotineducationemploymentortrainingneet/august2019 3. inspiringthefuture.org


18


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24