SUSTAINABILITY REPRESENTATIVE NETWORK MEETING
Tuesday 7 February 2012 10.00am-1.00pm
Zofrea Room - Level 3, Campus Hub (Building C10A)
MINUTES
Present: Huma Ahmed, Rachel Anderson, Suzane Azzi, Anne Bowers, Belinda Bean, Iain Brew, Felicity Crombach, Cindy Cunningham, Bronwyn Forster, Emile Geodjenian, Paul Howse, Claire James, Carlene Kirvan, Andy McNeill, Sean Nazareth, Sally Northover, James O’Hanlon, Nick Opperman, Gillian Pak, Bert Peeters, Claire Phelps, Janet Robertson, Sarah Jo Steinhoff Dhyana Scarano, Michael Tuckwell, Olivia Wang, Anita Whitlock, Annabel Voysey and Clare Wade.
Guest presenter: Sandra Nichols – Education for Sustainability
1. Welcome and Sustainability Update
Cindy welcomed new SRN websites from the Department of Biology, Gumnut Cottage, Campus Experience, Centre for Policy, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism.
Cindy informed the group that the Sustainability Representative Network grants for 2012 are now open and applications and guidelines can be found on the new sustainability website.
SRN members who had completed their June-July 2011 biannual sustainability report were thanked and those who hadn’t were encouraged to submit theirs by the end of February.
Cindy introduced guest presenter Sandra Nichols from Education for Sustainability .
2. Understanding Sustainability Workshop – Sandra Nichols (Education for Sustainability)
Sandra informed the group that the workshop is based on the book, ‘The Sustainable Self’ written by Paul Murray from the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom. The book presents a complete curriculum for effecting a personal transformation towards sustainability, showing how to align personal and professional actions with one’s values and beliefs. Exercises conducted during the workshop are from the book.
Sandra explained that to become a truly sustainable person we need to become aware of both the complexity and interdependency of sustainability issues and how we can empower ourselves to embrace actions to address these issues, both personally and professionally. Realising that sustainability is aligned with many of our core values is an important starting point.
Members were asked to share how they became part of the SRN and were asked to review sustainability definitions and highlight any particular words which resonate with them. The conclusion was all of the sustainability definitions provided said nothing about personal sense of values or implementation, emphasising the relevance of one’s own core values for sustainability.
Members were asked to review two photo images and discuss what they presented. This was followed by a review of ten further photos to explore aspects of sustainable development. The images represented a variety of issues including consumption, poverty, pollution, global warming, waste, water etc. Members were asked to identify the issues presented in the pictures and rank them in terms of importance. The exercise demonstrated that the underlying issues are both interconnected and complex. Our lifestyles are implicated in many of the negative impacts portrayed in the images.
Sandra discussed the importance of values and how they operate in relation to our attitudes and beliefs. Values can help understand our motivations, which play a prominent role in defining our behaviour.
The issue of attitudes was explored through an exercise whereby members recorded their feelings and impressions of a homeless man in a photo. Members were given the opportunity to mentally step in the ‘shoes’ of the homeless man in order to gain an insight into what it would be like and to then consider whether it altered their original perceptions or attitudes. The exercise intended to demonstrate that widening our perspective puts us in a better position to work and live more sustainably, particularly if we also cultivate pro-sustainability attitudes.
Sandra discussed Stephen Covey’s concept of ‘Circle of Influence’ and how we should focus on what we can do rather than what we cannot.
N.B in preparing the minutes, for ease of explanation, excerpts have been taken from the book ‘The Sustainable Self’ by Paul Murray (2011).
3. Group Exercise – Sustainability Action Planning Exercise
SRN members were asked to complete a sustainability action planning template which involved identifying:
a. Which 3 environmental initiatives should be a priority for action?
b. What steps do you need to undertake to move forward?
c. What resources do you require?
d. How will you engage colleagues/promote your initiative?
Members were encouraged to discuss their action ideas with colleagues and gain input from others in their workplace.
4. Next SRN Meeting
1 May 2012 – Zofrea Room, Level 3 Campus Hub
Page 2 5/03/2012