How can I make sustainability matter to school decision-makers?
Transform their Understanding of School Sustainability
Where people most often fall short is by sticking to a narrow understanding of sustainability. Sustainability is not just an environmental thing. Instead, it’s an umbrella term that covers the pillars of social, economic and environmental wellbeing, and all three pillars must be healthy for a system to function properly.
Focusing solely on environmental concerns can narrow the conversation and exclude individuals with other interests and priorities. By adjusting your focus and approach, you can demonstrate the benefits of sustainability for things that are higher priorities for school decision-makers. For example, instead of focusing on the benefits of sustainability for the environment, demonstrate its benefits for members of the school community (see the myriad benefits of school sustainability here).
Transform the understanding of school sustainability so that it’s no longer simply about being ‘eco-friendly’; rather, it’s about creating healthy school ecosystems in which all school members can flourish.
2. Align with the School’s Mission
One of the most effective ways to interest school decision-makers in sustainability is to align it with the school’s mission. If administrators can see sustainability as connected to their mission, it will become more of a priority rather than just another thing.
Becoming well-versed in the school’s mission statement and values should enable you to align them with the social, economic and environmental outcomes of becoming more sustainable. This way, you can talk on the administration’s terms and demonstrate how becoming more sustainable is in the school’s best interest.
3. Communicate through the “Whole School Sustainability” lens
If your school is on a tight budget, it’s unlikely that school decision-makers will be open to learning about installing electric vehicle charging stations, or even to installing recycling bins around campus. That’s why the “Whole School Sustainability” approach is so helpful - it demonstrates how there are facets of sustainability that every school can embrace, no matter their means or resources.
The Whole School Sustainability framework, which forms the backbone of GSA’s Sustainability Tracking and Roadmap Tool (START), integrates sustainability into a school’s Physical Place, Organizational Culture and Educational Programs. While a low-resourced school may not be able to integrate many sustainability metrics into its Physical Place (e.g. setting up and maintaining a school composting system), it should be able to integrate sustainability into its Organizational Culture (e.g. having an Equity and Inclusion Committee) and Educational Programs (e.g. offering sustainability-related course content derived from free GSA teaching resources).
Schools should be encouraged and empowered to take action where they can; every small step in the right direction will move the needle forward.
