Sustainable Solutions
- Is your organisation facing complex and unfamiliar challenges?
- Do some of the "solutions" which you implement only seem to create unexpected new problems?
Whether we like it or not, the world is increasingly interdependent, and there are very few simple solutions any more. Just about everything we do has wider implications than we planned for - "unintended consequences" - which can undermine our achievements. More...
Sustainable solutions to these complex problems require joined-up responses and a longer-term perspective.
"Sustainable" and "sustainability" are over-used terms which cause much confusion. It's usually better to look at what they mean in practice to real people, organisations and communities.
Many organisations aspire to the principles of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, but face difficulties in embedding these across the business. Fortunately there are some proven techniques for achieving this, if the commitment is genuine.
Working with knowledge, and a futures perspective, both play an important part in achieving sustainable solutions.
The IDEAction approach is built on the experience of many years, developing and applying more sustainable solutions, for example:
- Working with the Eastern Scotland European Partnership
- Carrying out a Sustainable Development Review for Scottish Enterprise
- Developing guidance and procedures for project management in the Scottish Enterprise Network
- Providing specialist support to the Scottish Executive on the implementation of Best Value among Public Sector Organisations
- Devising indicators of sustainable development for public bodies, adapted to their particular requirements (see presentation)
- Current project activity with national and local government.
Contact us to find out how we can work with your organisation to achieve more sustainable solutions.
Read more about the experience and the techniques referred to above in the About Us section, or in the more detailed pages listed below:
Managing change in an uncertain world
Resilience and Sustainability
What do we mean by "resilience"? Is it the same as "sustainability"? If not, what are they differences?
There is a lot of discussion these days about "resilient communities" and "resilient cities", for example in connection with adaptation to climate change. If cities and communities have considered the risks presented by disruptive climate change such as severe weather, flooding and high temperatures, and planned how they will respond to these risks, then they are boosting their resilience.
But is "resilience" becoming another trendy buzzword that is itself at risk of becoming too broad to be useful - a bit like "sustainability"? These questions are explored in more detail (click on heading above), and feedback and comments are welcome.
Plastic bags and the impact of a story
Finally Gordon Brown has stolen a march on his cautious environment secretary Hilary Benn by saying that he wants to see an end to the use of billions of free plastic shopping bags every year in Britain. Could it be that a simple story about wildlife in Hawaii has persuaded him, where no amount of reasoned argument has succeeded in the past?
Learning from our experience - a practical example
The latest calls in the UK Parliament for an inquiry into the Iraq War highlight the importance of learning from our experience. Too often it takes a high-profile debacle such as this before organisations and politicians are forced into holding an inquiry, whereas really we should be aiming to review projects and business activities on a regular basis in order to improve our performance in the future.
