Steven Kiakowski. Director of The Verdancy Group

In fulfilling net zero obligations, UK businesses face pressure to adopt sustainable practices. With new legislation on the horizon, soon sustainability will be a legal business requirement.

But talk about organisational change is cheap. If I’ve learnt anything with my work supporting businesses to enact environmental change with The Verdancy Group, it’s that success comes from a sincere desire for meaningful change from the top with an emphasis on education.

Why be sustainable?

You’ve heard it a thousand times before, but it bears repeating: going green is good for business. Adopting better practices not only allows companies to play their part in protecting the planet, but also leads to new opportunities.

Increasingly, investments and contracts are going to businesses that can demonstrate their green values in action, not just in words. Consumers prefer sustainable businesses and unsustainable may soon mean unprofitable.

Green businesses can cut costs through reduced waste and energy bills, while attracting forward-thinking staff.

But achieving a sustainable vision takes a shared desire. And that takes education.

What we do

As the world’s transition gathers pace towards a net-zero norm, we foresee nations, governments and businesses making sustainability, the environment and the circular economy core and critical aspects of everything they do. In order to lead and support this, we create bespoke learning materials, designed to maximise engagement either fully online, blended or delivered face to face. Our learning platform provides personalised content and curated experiences to not only fully engage the learner but also bring to life the purpose and importance of the subject area.

Our value add

We believe that our value is achieved when we work with organisations to scope, consult and create the learning and engagement content required to affect change. We understand that terms such as “net zero”, “carbon neutral” and “zero waste to landfill” impact a wide and diverse workforce in many ways. A culture change requires every member of a team to understand the fundamental principles not only the ‘’why’’ but importantly the ‘’how’’ in the steps and actions both personally and at a business level that we need to make to achieve net zero.

Sustainability skills for everyone

Transforming attitudes toward sustainability is a tough ask, particularly for long-established organisations with deeply instilled processes and practices.

Sustainable education is not just for new recruits; existing staff also need training and support to understand the importance of sustainability. Businesses should consider where teams are lacking in their environmental understanding.

Change from the top

While education is crucial, leadership must show sincere and ongoing commitment to sustainability.

Often, that means going beyond current standards.

Before introducing new programmes, leaders must assess their current practices. Are they committed to sustainability or are they throwing money at carbon offset programmes simply to gain environmental management accreditations?

Only through true leadership commitment does sustainability education effectively take hold.

Final thoughts

In our fight against climate change, education is vital. Let’s teach everyone to care for the planet, regardless of their industry.

Next steps

Working with organisations large and small we have delivered cost-effective training to employees improving the organisations’ ability to reduce their carbon footprint as part of their economic and societal transition towards net zero. If you would like to find out more, please talk to us about how to start your journey today.

hello@theverdancygroup.com

www.theverdancygroup.com

0800 707 6710