Sustainability can provide many organizational benefits. Examples include

• risk reduction
• enhanced brand value
• cost reductions
• talent attraction
• creation of competitive advantages
• entrance into new markets
• maintaining relevance to investors
• launching new business models

There are several reasons for change, founded in fundamental ecological principles and economics, as well as evolving societal influences. At a foundational level, the global population is growing, affluence is increasing, and resources are limited, leading to increased geopolitical tensions over resources. Economic growth has outpaced resource efficiency gains. This has led to the increased use of more expensive energy sources, more conventional power plants, and climate change. Additionally, industrial processes tend to be linear, resulting in supplies at risk and waste production. Increases in demand have led to increasingly risky practices, leading to more catastrophic events, new regulations, balancing costs and risks of compliance, and forced supplier transparency. Prevalence of smart phones and social media means that information is shared widely and quickly. This affects consumer behavior and public awareness, potentially impacting brand name or employability.[1]

Businesses have become the dominant social institutions of our time. But with powerful social and political influence comes increased scrutiny from watchdog groups and individual stakeholders, making sustainability and corporate responsibility valuable business practices. Walmart, often maligned for what many viewed as corporate irresponsibility, has made significant changes in recent years. Walmart exceeds $400,000,000,000 in revenue, employs approximately 2,000,000 people, and has a reputation for strong influence on its supply chain, introduced its Supplier Sustainability Assessment Survey in 2009, which works to better protect the environment and labor rights in its supply chain.[2] Furthermore, Walmart has publicly established sustainability goals (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. of being supplied by 100% renewable energy, to create zero waste, and to sell sustainable products.

Sustainable practices have the potential to create business value. Research suggests that CEOs primarily care about sustainability because of brand, trust, and reputation. Other factors include the potential for revenue growth and/or cost reduction, consumer demand, and personal motivation. To a lesser extent, employee engagement and recruiting, government regulation, business impact, and shareholder pressure are reasons CEOs care about sustainability.

In some cases, businesses need to rebuild their brand name following negative publicity. The Exxon Mobile Corporation and Nike are two examples. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a widely publicized environmental catastrophe and poor working conditions in overseas Nike factories were also publicly scrutinized. Sustainable practices have helped improve public perceptions of these companies.[1]

Some entrepreneur’s found their businesses in sustainable practices. Molly Moon’s Ice Cream out of Seattle, Washington, is one example. Molly Moon’s business plan included providing 100% health care coverage for all employees; using local, organic, seasonal, and fresh ingredients; and for all waste coming from the business to be compostable. This business model created a brand name that has been very successful. Since the opening of her first shop in May 2008, the business has grown to include six shops across Seattle in addition to online merchandise and an ice cream truck that can be booked for birthdays, weddings, and other events.[3] Likewise, Hopworks Urban Brewery out of Portland, Oregon, is monikered Portland’s first Eco-Brewpub, along with the Hopworks BikeBar. This brewery uses organic, fresh, local ingredients and provides a family-friendly atmosphere. Their buildings are built and operated sustainably. They compost, use salvaged materials, operate on 100% renewable energy, are carbon-neutral, and use pervious pavers in the parking lot.[4] These examples highlight a growing number of businesses that have built a brand name on sustainable principles and established themselves in a corner of the market where the customer base values sustainability.

Striving to improve sustainability has become an important business practice. In 2011, more than 5,500 companies issued sustainability reports. CorporateRegister.com tracks corporate responsibility reports. At the time this was written, the directory included 63,870 reports across 12,299 companies. Timothy Mohin suggests that “the economic winners of tomorrow will be the innovators who find ways to do more with less.”[2] Sustainability really has become an integral part of successful businesses in the 21st century.

[1] Graf, P. 2014. The Business Case for Sustainability. Sustainability and Business Innovation. SAP.

[2] Mohin, T. J. 2012. Changing Business from the Inside Out: A Treehugger’s Guide to Working in Corporations. Greenleaf Publishing.

[3] Exclusive Interview with Ice Cream Entrepreneur Molly Moon. 2015. IceCreamProfits.com. http://www.icecreamprofits.com/interview-with-ice-cream-entrepreneur-molly-moon

[4] Green at HUB. 2014. Hopworks Urban Brewery. http://hopworksbeer.com/green-culture

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-1400699.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

When we first began this project, many of the business partners and colleagues with whom we spoke asked us just what we mean by “sustainability.” At first, this seemed like an odd question, but the frequency with which we encountered this question made it clear that we needed a working definition. It wasn’t that nobody knew what sustainability was; rather, everyone wanted to know what we meant when using the term. The term is often used by others synonymously with environmental stewardship. But our view of sustainability is not purely environmental. In fact, we believe that it is difficult to sustain ecosystem services if human economic and social needs aren’t also considered.

To sustain something means that it is maintained over a long period of time. The term sustainability essentially refers to the maintenance of the human population on earth. This maintenance rests upon the three pillars of sustainability: environment, economy, and society. That’s a big concept that may seem daunting for individuals, organizations, or businesses to accomplish. It is. Thus, sustainability may best be viewed as a continual process in which we attempt to become more sustainable, rather than establishing the goal of becoming sustainable. Even if we could become sustainable, it would likely be short lived if we felt that we had reached our goal. Sustainability is dynamic and a system with environmental, economic, and social benchmarks may be better viewed as a juggling act as opposed to a place in which we are attempting to bring these three items to rest. Sustainability is not simply a set of environmentally friendly, economically efficient, and socially just actions; sustainability is a mindset that informs actions.

The Brundtland Report from the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development is often credited with first articulating a widely accepted definition of sustainability and with establishing the need for these three pillars in sustainable development. The Brundtland Report states that sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own goals.” Satisfaction of human needs is the primary objective of development, and human needs are dependent on the ecosystem services as well as economic and social wellbeing.

Since that time, others have added more components to sustainability. The Curriculum for the Bioregion (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. from the Washington Center at The Evergreen State College states that “Sustainability encompasses four intertwined ideas: economic wellness, social justice, human health, and biodiversity and ecological integrity. It is a systematic concept, relating to the continuity of economic, social, institutional, and environmental aspects of human society.” This definition expands upon the environmental, economic, and social aspects of sustainability to explicitly include health and institutions. Some might argue that this are social components of sustainability, which may be true, but the Curriculum for the Bioregion felt it was important enough to explicitly mention these ideas. Curriculum for the Bioregion is a great source of sustainability resources, including curriculum materials using examples from the State of Washington.

Andres Edwards modified the core concepts of sustainability as The Three E’s Plus One: ecology/environment, economy/employment, equity/equality (society), and education[1]. According to Edwards, environmental sustainability is dependent on three ecological perspectives: 1) temporal scaling or transitioning from a short-term to a long-term perspective, 2) systemic rather than piecemeal understanding of ecological relationships, and 3) the concept of built-in limits. The economy/employment “E” recognizes the importance of economic development and employment in sustainable societies. Overexploitation and pollution can be detrimental to the environment. When people experience economic hardship, it can encourage unwise management of natural resources because contemporary survival outweighs concerns for future generations and stifles longterm thinking.

Similar to the interdependence of the three pillars, there is an interdependence of individual and community wellbeing. Even if there is a recognition for environmental and economic sustainability, a lack of equity can impair social cohesion. Globally, inequity has made it difficult to make significant strides in curbing climate change, for example. Even when developed countries recognize the long-term environmental and economic challenges associated with atmospheric carbon dioxide and are willing to take some actions to reduce their own emissions, these steps seem disingenuous in light of inequities, as do forest conservation efforts that increase contemporary economic hardships for indigenous peoples that rely on forest resources. Disadvantaged communities often suffer pollution from more affluent parts of the community as well. Inequities can impair social sustainability.

Active commitment to public education, Edwards argues, catalyzes understanding of the dynamic interrelationship of the Three Es. He states “Through education, sustainability can become firmly established within the existing value structure of societies while simultaneously helping that value structure evolve toward a more viable long-term approach to systematic global problems.”

The essence of sustainability is the long-term preservation of mankind, recognizing the fundamental roles of natural resources and ecosystem services; the production, distribution, and use of goods and services; and the ability of individuals to contribute to their community and realize their potential in society. Significant social, economic, or environmental disruptions may impair longterm viability of businesses, institutions, communities, societies, or even mankind as a whole. However, while sustainability is a global issue, actions toward sustainability must occur on a smaller scale, often at the level of the individual or organization.

For a number of reasons, which I’ll discuss in another post, I believe that one of the best ways to integrate sustainability and the skills desired by employers that are thinking about sustainability is through problem-based learning communities. I’ve included links to several online resources below, which are intended to make it a little easier to put this into practice. Do you know of other resources that you would like to share? This post is a work in progress and will continue to grow.

Sustainability

Sustainability, US EPA https://www.epa.gov/sustainability

Environmental Justice, US EPA https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice

OSPI K-12 Integrated Environmental and Sustainability Education http://www.k12.wa.us/EnvironmentSustainability/Curriculum/default.aspx

OSPI Examples of Integrated Environmental and Sustainability Education in Washington State http://www.k12.wa.us/EnvironmentSustainability/Curriculum/Stories_from_the_Field.pdf

Greg Möller’s online open course, Principles of Sustainability, at the University of Idaho http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/sustainability/index.asp

Peter Graf’s online open Sustainability and Business Innovation course at openSAP https://open.sap.com/courses/sbi1-1

Systems Thinking

Linking(Thinking) from WWF http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/linkingthinking.pdf

Sustainable Tomorrow http://www.fishwildlife.org/files/ConEd-Sustainable-Tomorrow-Systems-Thinking-Guidebook.pdf

Vensim systems modeling and simulation software from Ventana Systems, Inc. http://vensim.com

Insight Maker is a browser-based modeling and simulation option https://insightmaker.com/

Problem-based Learning

PBL Simplified Visually https://youtu.be/-5omNEmWicU

PBL@UD http://www1.udel.edu/inst/index.html

National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/

Making Learning Real with Problem-Based Case Learning http://www.makinglearningreal.org/

Enduring Legacies: Native Case Studies http://nativecases.evergreen.edu/

SC ATE Technology Gateway https://www.scate.org/Educators/CProd/TechnologyGateway.asp

PBL Projects at the New England Board of Higher Education http://www.pblprojects.org

Learn PBL Now http://www.learnpbl.com/

Problem-Based Learning for Nursing Students https://www.womenshealth.gov/heart-truth/clinical-education/problem-based-learning.html

PBL in Criminal Justice https://fortress.wa.gov/cjtc/www/images/Telecomm/SM_PBL_Facilitator_041212.pdf

Dan Tries Problem-Based Learning http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/podimproveacad/370/

Learning Communities

The National Resource Center for Learning Communities from the Washington Center at The Evergreen State College http://wacenter.evergreen.edu/

Learning Communities Research and Practice is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal http://washingtoncenter.evergreen.edu/lcrpjournal/

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-1400699.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.