Are you a sustainability practitioner?

The term sustainability practitioner is used to describe a broad range of people whose work involves using education as a tool for achieving sustainability. This may include people who,

• use education as the main tool for achieving sustainability outcomes, for example a local council sustainability educator, a community engagement officer or communications manager
• use education in conjunction with other tools such as regulation or economic incentives, for example an environment manager, a ranger, a policy or compliance officer
• work in organisations traditionally focussing on environmental sustainability, such as national parks, zoos, aquaria, environmental education centres, and those who work in organisations focussing on social sustainability such as health centres, ethnic community centres, or neighbourhood centres.

Sustainability practitioners are employed in a range of diverse organisations including government, non-government organisations, industry bodies, community groups, professional associations and education institutions.

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Education for Sustainability (EfS) is one of a suite of integrated tools that can be used by sustainability practitioners to achieve sustainability outcomes. These tools include public policy, regulation, economic incentives, infrastructure, research and monitoring and reporting. None of these tools alone can provide the impetus to move towards sustainability, but they can each play a complementary role when used together.¹ Education contributes to the success of other tools as it helps people to understand the complexity of the challenges and builds their capacity to respond.²

 

EfS has a key role to play in achieving sustainability outcomes. It empowers individuals and organisations to reflect on current practice, identify opportunities for change, and take action. Sustainability practitioners attempt to engage all levels of society to participate in decisions about how we do things – collectively and as individuals.

 

Sustainability practitioners may use education for sustainability as a minor part of their toolkit or it may comprise the bulk of their work.  Living Sustainably – The Australian Government’s National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability, explains how sustainability practitioners work using EfS to bring about positive change. “Through information and awareness, but more importantly by building people’s capacity to innovate and implement solutions, education for sustainability is essential to re-orienting the way we live and work and to Australia becoming a sustainable society."

<sub>1. NSW Council on Environmental Education (2006) Learning for Sustainability: NSW Environmental Education Plan 2007-10, NSW Council on Environmental Education, Sydney.
2. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2009) Living Sustainably – The Australian Government’s National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.</sub>

Education for Sustainability (EfS) is one of a suite of integrated tools that can be used by sustainability practitioners to achieve sustainability outcomes. These tools include public policy, regulation, economic incentives, infrastructure, research and monitoring and reporting. None of these tools alone can provide the impetus to move towards sustainability, but they can each play a complementary role when used together.¹ Education contributes to the success of other tools as it helps people to understand the complexity of the challenges and builds their capacity to respond.²

 

EfS has a key role to play in achieving sustainability outcomes. It empowers individuals and organisations to reflect on current practice, identify opportunities for change, and take action. Sustainability practitioners attempt to engage all levels of society to participate in decisions about how we do things – collectively and as individuals.

 

Sustainability practitioners may use education for sustainability as a minor part of their toolkit or it may comprise the bulk of their work.  Living Sustainably – The Australian Government’s National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability, explains how sustainability practitioners work using EfS to bring about positive change. “Through information and awareness, but more importantly by building people’s capacity to innovate and implement solutions, education for sustainability is essential to re-orienting the way we live and work and to Australia becoming a sustainable society."

<sub>1. NSW Council on Environmental Education (2006) Learning for Sustainability: NSW Environmental Education Plan 2007-10, NSW Council on Environmental Education, Sydney.
2. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2009) Living Sustainably – The Australian Government’s National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.</sub>

EfS should motivate, equip and involve everyone to create a more sustainable world by bringing about systemic change. It is this process of change that is central to sustainability practice. Sustainability pracitioners use EfS as an approach to support the change process, EfS extends far beyond formal education to capture sustainability activities that engage people in a range of sectors and settings, bringing the notion and the tools for behavioural change to all areas of the community.

EfS should motivate, equip and involve everyone to create a more sustainable world by bringing about systemic change. It is this process of change that is central to sustainability practice. Sustainability pracitioners use EfS as an approach to support the change process, EfS extends far beyond formal education to capture sustainability activities that engage people in a range of sectors and settings, bringing the notion and the tools for behavioural change to all areas of the community.