The producers are constantly innovating to keep pace with the rapid change in the sector and this year have opted to get the perspectives of judges from outside the country.  “In Ireland, a green award is a powerful endorsement of an organisations’s or individual’s commitment to sustainability according to awards founder Eugene Bortolozzo, our hope is to ensure that an Irish Green Award has the same value and credibility outside of Ireland”, he added. Using Judges from oversees, according to Bortolozzo is a first step in building its reputation abroad and will provide a more diverse pool of opinions on what constitutes excellence in sustainability.  Naturally it works the other way too helping international judges build their reputation and profile in Ireland.

Read on if you’re interested in becoming an international judge or e-mail john[at]realeyes.ie for more information.

What is involved in being an international judge for the Irish Green Awards?

As an international judge, you will be allocated one category to score, this will be in addition to a panel of Irish based judges who will also score the same entries. Your scores will be combined with the panels’ to decide the overall winner. You will receive your judges pack in an easy to read electronic format, with full instructions on how to score the entries and will be asked to read through the entries for the categories you have been assigned, and rank from 1st to last.

This will take place the week commencing March 19^th, with the results due in no later than Friday, March 30^th.  Each category will contain between 6 and 10 entries;  a read-through of the category will take approximately two hours. Subsequent reviews normally take no more than one hour.

If you do decide to become a judge for the awards, your picture and a biography will be included on the awards website offering an excellent opportunity to raise your profile amongst Ireland’s green community.  In addition, the MC will thank you from the stage for giving up your time to support the Awards.

As a thank you for your participation in the project, two complementary places will be made available to join us at the gala dinner as our special guest, where you have the opportunity to enjoy what promises to be another memorable night for Ireland’s green organisations and individuals.

Introduction

Entitled “Ready Steady Sustainability, Day 1 of the ICBAN study tour exposed participants to a variety of sustainability champions and initiatives from around the Dublin region.  The idea was to bombard participants with a breadth and diversity of approaches and technologies from across the public and private sectors.  Day 2, entitled Slow Down Go Further then provided the time to interpret what they’d heard and determine how useful it would be as they embarked on their own ICBAN sustainability journey.

By way of an introduction to day 2, facilitator Chris Chapman began by outlining some of the challenges of delivering meaningful and transformative change, particularly in public sector settings where compliance rather than innovation is typical and a fear of risk, failure and “chancers” are common.

He outlined a simple model describing how change is possible as old systems begin to fail. A few pioneers have the courage to “walk out” on business as usual and “walk on” to experiment with new ways of thinking and organising.  At first pioneers feel isolated and alone, limited in what they can achieve.  Often they don’t realise that there are other “walk outs”.  For this reason it is essential that pioneers find each other and connect in “communities of practice”. Together they learn quickly, take greater risks and new systems are born of their efforts. Pioneers also need protectors, powerful decision makers within the status quo that support and promote their reform endeavours.

The story set the scene for how the sustainability sub-group of ICBAN might band together as a community of practice to deliver progress on sustainability in their region.

Key ingredients of a change initiative for Sustainability

Chris kicked off the discussion by inviting attendees to describe the “seeds of change” for sustainability. Put another way, what did participants think were the necessary ingredients to create positive change for sustainability in the ICBAN region.  The following key points emerged, supported by references to speaker presentations on Day 1.

• Quantitative and Qualitative measurement of progress. A key ingredient for success was the ability to measure progress from a baseline. Neil McCabe[1], Padraig Ryan[2] and Maurice Bergin’s[3] commitment to measurement and monitoring progress were cited as key examples of why a quantitative approach is necessary. Their ability to cite measurable progress in areas such as energy efficiency and waste reduction was felt to be convincing and credible.  Others quoted Edel Kelly’s advice that qualitative data can be just as meaningful, especially when attempting to relate sustainability to ordinary peoples lives.  So qualitative and quantitative measurement of progress is key to continue to generate enthusiasm and buy-in for your sustainability efforts.

• Sustainability Champions – working outside prescribed roles – Another ingredient of success was the ability to nurture people who go above and beyond the call of duty for sustainability. Neil McCabe was again mentioned as someone who had clearly transcended his role as a fireman.  Support from his superiors, particularly that of the City Manager was critical to give Neil the freedom to experiment and question work practices and technologies and ask “what if ?” type questions; what if Kilbarrack fire station was carbon neutral? what if it used rainwater to put out fires? what if the station could be a powerful force for sustainability in the local community etc. Nominating Kilbarrack firestation as the “sustainability flagship” was also seen as a way of providing status and support for both the project and Neil himself. Similarly, Edel Kelly’s work with the community of Drimnagh was also given by workshop attendees as an example of going above and beyond.  Her genuine passion for the community and hands on attitude had clearly helped make the project a success.  Although difficult to prescriptively create champions for sustainability, the point made was to value, encourage and support them when they do emerge.

• Stay positive – Interestingly workshop attendees felt that optimism was key to success. A good mental attitude is “catching” and allows people to dream, to focus on future desirable outcomes instead of being consumed by current problems.  Good advice indeed.

• Promise of Green Jobs: The trio of presentations by Joe Harford[4], Joseph Curtain[5] and Tony Boyle[6] combined to describe the power of sustainability to create meaningful livelihoods which was widely regarded as a major positive in building widespread support for sustainability.  Tony Boyles top three priorities for the Green way were jobs, jobs and jobs – enough said!

• Just do it ! – Workshop participants were taken by Dick Gleesons approach to planning and his belief that masterplanning takes too long and is not suited to the current frenetic pace of change.  Participants cited Jay Stuarts story of citizens in Clonakilty and Gussing taking matters into their own hands to measure and manage energy flows and re-invest savings respectively.  Participants referred to the story of how Neil McCabe started by recycling batteries and progressed from there.  Participants felt that small, easy, zero or low cost steps are a great place to begin – the important thing is to start, today!

• Senior management buy-in – Echoing Chris’ story on “protectors” there seemed to be broad agreement that securing buy-in and support from influential senior managers was a key ingredient to success in sustainability.  Contributors associated Dick Gleeson and John Tierney[7] as examples of key influencers that supported and promoted sustainability within Dublin city council.  Their commitment was contrasted with what was felt to be “lip service” and a lack of this type of leadership in their own organisations.

• Case Studies – participants agreed that initiatives are more likely to get the go-ahead if there are examples of similar, relevant projects that have achieved success through sustainability.

• Communications – participants felt that a key to success was the ability to communicate clearly, sensitively and effectively with stakeholders to share successes, build momentum and generate continued engagement.  Padraig Ryan’s example of a personal energy day where staff learned to save money at home was a good example of a carefully executed strategy to build energy awareness in the workplace.  Similarly, Neil McCabes story of the connection between engaging local kids on holloween and the subsequent lower rate of “turnout” for fire engines was seen as a clever way of building mutual respect through meaningful engagement.  Finally, Edel Kelly’s example of getting the media as well as the message right was well received.  Low levels of computer ownership in Drimnagh meant that traditional flyers, posters and announcements at mass were often more effective in engaging the community than slick social media campaigns.

• Budgetary and other corporate innovations – More than one participant mentioned that rigid budgetary rules represented barriers to progress in sustainability.  Specifically it was felt that if savings from say, energy efficiency could be ring-fenced and re-invested in the project rather “lost in next years budget” that that would be a significant step forward.  Members also felt it was necessary to provide a budget for sustainability and to get sustainability as a key objective in the corporate plan for individual organisations

• Regional Focus – A number of participants felt they had a reasonable handle on sustainability within their own organisations but felt they could drive significant progress if given the opportunity to work alongside other stakeholders in the community.  Their hope for the ICBAN sustainability working group of was to work collaboratively with stakeholders across the region.

• Critical analysis of technology – Neil McCabe’s story of how only two brands of solar panels sold in Ireland are actually suitable for use here was a sobering reminder that we need to be vigilant, informed and savvy consumers of high tech.  Keeping up to date on a personal level and collaborating and co-creating the best sustainable solutions with stakeholders will help avoid investing in white elephant tech fixes and improve our collective understanding of where technology can add value.

• A vision for the ICBAN region – One of the key initiatives members raised as important when asked what should change at a systems level was the idea of a shared, uniting vision for the ICBAN region.  This it was felt would create the platform to discuss sustainability as a core element of the regions identity

Chris then asked the group to consider the highest potential of the working group. The idea was to create a shared sense of purpose, ambition and a vision of what the group could achieve together.  Working in two groups of five, each group considered the questions for about fifteen minutes.  Chris then facilitated a discussion to combine the thoughts of each group.  The following line emerged as a simple but meaningful testament to the working group’s commitment to and ambition for a sustainable ICBAN region.

Sustainable Working Groups’s Highest Potential:

A group of likeminded pioneers (from ICBAN authorities) dedicated to creating a more sustainable region

The highest potential of the group was complemented with a description of the services or roles the group could play as follows:

• Ÿ       Recognising and sharing best practice on sustainability
• Ÿ       Supporting each other in our development
• Ÿ       Providing inspiration and raising awareness generally, with a view to encouraging behavioural change and combating cynics
• Ÿ       Jointly developing initiatives (audits, funding applications, strategies etc)
• Ÿ       Promoting good green services, developing jobs and weeding out the “chancers”
• Ÿ       Sponsorship, support and clear links with chief officers
• Ÿ       Communicating to naysayers, talk in their language eg. money

Finally, having explored what the group already has going for it (seeds of success) and what it could achieve in the future, the next section focused  on what the group will do in the first quarter of 2012.  Team members were certainly passionate about making something happen sooner rather than later.  In general they felt that the best way to proceed was to work and learn together by creating a real but straightforward initiative that would serve as a demonstration or flagship for what could be achieved in the region.  Successes from this project could then be used to encourage further progress.

By end of March, 2012 the sustainable working group will have started the following:

• Agreeing the team – Members expressed an interest in identifying a core membership of the working group, committed to it’s work and attending meetings.  This, it was felt was critical for the future of the group.  A number of members also felt that it was important to them personally, to prioritise the work on sustainability within ICBAN.  Such a personal commitment should, they felt, be a condition of membership.

• Sustainability at home – members felt it was important for members to walk the talk on sustainability starting with their personal lives.

• A list of potential opportunities / projects – Members were anxious to heed the advice of some of the speakers of day 1 and not to overthink or overplan their activities but rather to learn on the job and just “do it”.  Key to this was to listen to stakeholders to see where the demand was for action and to collaborate and co-create the project accordingly.  There was some interest in investigating the viability of a rural version of Dublin’s green way which was presented by CEO, Tony Boyle the day before.

• A working group learning initiative – members expressed an interest in improving their knowledge and competence in a variety of areas related to sustainability.  It was felt that each member could take a topic of interest and inform the others.

• ŸCommunications Strategy – Members felt that a key skill necessary within the group was the ability to communicate it’s activities and engage stakeholders as required. A draft communication strategy to get information to both the public and private sector should be initiated in QTR 1, 2011

• Conference proposal – Pulling stakeholders together on the subject of sustainability was, it was felt, a good way to kick start actions.  No title or focus was forthcoming but this would be agreed in QTR 1, 2011

• ŸBudget and timelines: Its important to know what resources both financial and human are available for working group projects.  It was felt therefore that some clarity on this should be achieved in QTR 1.

• Agreed Scope – More clarity, it was felt, was needed to establish the scale at which the group should focus. Should the group focus on sustainability initiatives within their own organisations, work collaboratively across a number of member authorities or include all authorities in initiatives?  Some members felt that it made more sense to work together across organisational and partnership boundaries (i.e EBR) but more discussion needed to clarify how this would work.  Members also felt that each of them could champion sustainability within their own organisations and share experiences of their progress regularly.

• On the ground feedback and engagement – Members were taken by the level of public engagement and feedback generated in Drimnagh, Dublin as reported by speaker Edel Kelly on Day 1 and agreed that this level of feedback should form part of any working group engagement strategy.  Such informal “street survey” type approaches could be used to gather ideas on which projects the working group should pursue.

• Shared Practices (office charter) – it was felt that the group should agree a common approach and practices and formalise their commitment with an official charter.  The process involved would, it was felt, help to align members toward a shared purpose and an agreed understanding of what constituted success.  This would in turn would help avoid “mission creep”

[2] Energy and transport coordinator with University Hospital, Temple Street, Dublin.

[3] Runs the Green Hospitality Programme and is the senior consultant to Greenbusiness.ie

[4] Chair of the High Level Group on Green Enterprise and co-author of the report of the same name

[5] Senior researcher in energy and climate policy with the International Institute of European Affairs (IIEA, he proposed a national retrofit programme with (SEAI) Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland

[6] Tony Boyle, CEO, The green way,  a green economic corridor connecting businesses, academic institutions and local authorities in North Dublin.

[7] City Planner and City manager with Dublin city council respectively

The study tour brief was to create an inspiring two-day study visit or learning experience. RealEyes won the tender  by pulling together a diversity of relevant sustainability champions and initiatives from both the public and private sectors. The objective was to provide a breadth of both organisational and technical solutions for sustainability peppered with ongoing facilitated discussions on how each could be applied to the specific needs of ICBAN.

We don’t need to go to Sweden, Holland or Denmark to see how organisations are profitting from sustainability, said John Harrington, director with RealEyes,  we have world class examples right here at home.

However a group needs to have a shared understanding of what it is they want to achieve so inspiring examples of what others have done may not be enough.  RealEyes therefore dedicated a second day to allow tour participants to digest what they’d heard and decide together, through facilitated discussions where they want to act together.

For more information on study tours for sustainability please contact John Harrington, 087-753-3039

By the end of the course your team will:

• Be clear about the meaning and value of sustainability for brands
• Recognise and avoid the 10 sins of “greenwashing”
• Share a definition of sustainability that is measurable and scientific
• Use 4 steps to integrate sustainability into every brand decision
• Have best practice case studies in sustainability marketing
• Be able to communicate the business case for sustainability
• Understand the convergence of social media and sustainability

“GRI is new in Ireland” said Eva Cahill, CEO of Kinelea, “awareness and understanding of it’s benefits are still at early stage but we plan to change that through our certified training programme.   Sustainability reporting has accelerated in the past couple of years, particularly in the UK, so Irish organisations need to step up or get left behind.  The GRI framework reveals gaps and opportunities in your organisations policies and plans for sustainability so there are real benefits including cost savings for all organisations, large and small.   If your organisation supplies or hopes to supply customers already using GRI then this training is a must”.

Good advice then for organisations who work or hope to work with the growing list of companies currently using GRI including O2, Intel, HSBC, B&Q, Diageo, Abbott,  Nestle, as well as Irish companies such as Musgrave Group, CRH, Coillte, Bord na Mona, Irish Life etc…

See a video on GRI training here

Find out more to see if you should attend this two-day training and why or contact John at 087-753-3039, john @kinelea.com.

It’s important that we begin to develop a common way to measure and report on what constitutes success in sustainability, not just from an Irish perspective, but a standard that is recognised and valued internationally.  To compete globally, especially in sustainability, we need to understand how our practices and performance stack up to international standards.  Our survey in April of leading Irish green businesses revealed that less than 1 in 8 believe their organisations are world class from a sustainability point of view. The Green Awards is committed to improving this.  Our intent is to reflect these international standards as much as possible in the judging criteria. We want to drive the standard for what green and sustainability means in Ireland and work with Irish businesses to continuously improve, year on year.

Fortunately, an accepted international standard of sustainability has already been developed by the Global Reporting Initiative.

Through a consensus-seeking, multi-stakeholder process, GRI sets out the principles and performance indicators that organisations, large and small, in all sectors, can use to measure and report their economic, environmental, and social performance.  Best of all the framework was developed using an open source model of sorts so you can find out if GRI is right for your organisation for free.  If you need support or training you can contact Kinelea Ltd or john@kinelea.com .  Kinelea Ltd. is the only Irish company certified by GRI to provide training.

The green awards will continue and evolve the process of integrating internationally recognised principles and indicators into our judging process for the 2012 awards and beyond.

John Harrington is the director of RealEyes Sustainability Ltd. and is working with the Green Awards to maintain and improve its influence in delivering progress toward sustainability in Ireland .

Hope to see you all again soon

Under the agreement RealEyes will generate interest, awareness and demand for training while Kinelea will deliver the training itself.  Kinelea is the only Certified Training Partner licensed to deliver training in Ireland on behalf of GRI.  Commenting on the deal, RealEyes Director John Harrington said that reporting on sustainability performance is an important way for organisations to manage their sustainable development impacts. “We’re delighted to be associated with Kinelea to help Irish companies report using the best and most widely used approach out there.  Standardised reporting is becoming a key factor in helping companies manage the risks associated with, not only their own sustainability impacts, but also those in their supply chain.  We expect an increase in sustainability reporting and firmly believe that GRI is the best tool for the job”, he added.

Kinelea CEO, Eva Cahill added, “ Forming this partnership alliance with Realeyes will increase our  reach into the Irish market, helping Irish based organisations develop and enhance their sustainable business practices through defining and applying this international best practice reporting framework into their business strategies and operations’.

For more on GRI see www.kinelea.com or contact John Harrington at 087-753-3039 or email john@kinelea.com

Sustainable practices in waste, water, chemical use, procurement and transportation, to name a few, all have potential to boost the bottom line while also improving environmental and human health outcomes, writes John Harrington.

Sustainability is creeping up the corporate agenda. The fact that over 600 people attended the Green Awards in Dublin this year compared to just 400 in 2010 perhaps says something about its momentum among Irish organisations.  The health sector, although later to the table, is now beginning to explore its potential.  Three healthcare facilities for example, were short listed for the first ever Green Healthcare Award at the same ceremony.

But what exactly is sustainability and what’s it got to do with providing health services?

The Brundtland definition of sustainability is the most widely used and describes how society must operate in a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.   What initially sounds like a moral imperative is also an economic one.  Reducing healthcare generated emissions and pollution, for example, protects health now and in the future¹ but the related savings on oil, gas and electricity also improves the health of the bottom line.

Energy is just one area where value can be generated from sustainability. Sustainable practices in waste, water, chemical use, procurement and transportation, to name a few, all have potential to boost the bottom line while also improving environmental and human health outcomes.

Some upfront capital may be required to generate some of these savings, e.g.  to save on energy you many need to retrofit your heating and cooling systems, install new lighting, insulation, etc. but significant savings (ten per cent plus) can also be made by encouraging and engaging staff to be more energy conscious, the so-called soft initiatives².

Innovations in financing also mean that pay-as-you-use is increasingly an option.  Stewarts, for example worked with energy services company Dalkia, to retrofit 30 plus buildings on their campus.  Dalkia supplied the up front capital which Stewarts will repay over 15 years from savings on its utility bills (over €160,000 per annum). This initiative recently won the Public-Private Healthcare Collaboration Award at the Healthcare Innovation Awards.

A food waste flow analysis of a large hospital conducted by CTC (Clean Technology Centre) as part of the EPA’s Green Healthcare Programme led to actual savings of €20,000  over two months, a potential annual saving of €120,000 for that one facility.

The programme also established, through waste audits with 18 healthcare facilities, that at least 15 per cent of the material in the clinical waste stream was non clinical and should therefore have been processed at a fraction of the cost. This represents a potential saving of over €1.25 million³ if applied to the 10,000 tonnes of clinical waste generated nationally in 2008⁴

All healthcare facilities must develop their sustainability skills internally and to do this they must be able to learn from each other to collaborate and swap stories of which initiatives worked and why

Significant data is also available for facilities in the US.  Although a different health system, the initiatives themselves are noteworthy.  A 400 bed acute care facility in New England achieved the following cost savings through a variety of sustainability initiatives:

• $350,000 in reduced purchasing costs by reprocessing single use devices
• $147,000 of costs avoided by contracting with a reusable sharps container programme provider
• $16,000 in avoided purchase costs by distilling and reusing xylene and alcohol in-house
• $150,000 in energy costs through conservation methods
• $2,400 annually in avoided purchases of disposable cups, lids and sleeves by distributing reusable cups to all staff combined with a monetary incentive to use them.

These stories describe some of the savings available in healthcare through a programme of sustainability initiatives.  Each facility’s journey is unique but top performers share key characteristics, for example their initiatives typically engage more clinical staff, have a dedicated green team and sustainability officer, and they work from a formal sustainability plan with written buy-in from senior management⁵.

John Harrington, Director at www.RealEyes.ie

What’s required now is support for all healthcare facilities to develop their sustainability skills internally. To do this facilities must be able to learn from each other to collaborate and swap stories of which initiatives worked and why.  Some will be top down guided by facilities management while others will emerge driven by sustainability champions from within specific services.   All need to be given a chance to develop and channel their energies to reduce costs, conserve resources and improve health outcomes for this and future generations.

To learn more about sustainability in healthcare contact John Harrington on 087-753-3039

Thanks to all our speakers at the Working the Green Economy event on 17^th/18^thJune. Here are some of the points we took from what was discussed on the day – some real nuggets for anyone looking to start up a business of any kind.

Thanks as well to everyone who attended over the two days, we’d love to hear what you thought and took from it.

Insights from the day:

Openess and collaboration is good – general consensus that the adage, a problem shared is one halved.  New businesses need to collaborate and there’s never been a better time to connect (www.smallbusinesscan.com).

Still, choose your collaborators as you’d choose investors or mentors, wisely!

Social Media is a must have to small business (Except if you’re selling Green Coffins):  Most agreed that social media is a must have promotional tool for new business but as most of us didn’t grow up with it, we have to spend some time to understand how it works i.e we’re non-native.

Evolve your business plan and have more than one version - A number of speakers including Titta (Lilly’s Eco-clean), John Bourke and Mark from Go-Car emphasized the need to constantly revisit your business plan and to have different versions for different stakeholders (i.e bank, investors, mentors).  Find out what they want and give it to them.

Mentors like sharks, not Teddy Bears – there should be blood on the wall after a meeting with your mentor.  Make sure they challenge you.  It’s ok to replace a mentor if they’re not working out.  Be brutal but nice about this.

Business Model Generation – disruptive new business models are emblematic of our generation. Get your value proposition right and know the nature of your relationship with your customer (i.e automated or high touch). What resources do you need to deliver on your proposition. Put you business idea through the business model generator.  http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/.

Eco-superior – sustainability is analogous to quality.  Not enough to be green, must be better than what’s gone before.

Grow into your idea – Joseph Little’s idea about thinking big to leave room for growth and development of your idea.  Titta also mentioned, “thinking big”, be mission driven.  If you’re going to be a GreEntrepreneur you had better believe in why you’re doing it.   You may need to change the whole industry.

It takes twice as long as you think – Everything does, when you start working for yourself

Read Books – cheaper than consultants/experts – study companies you admire and copy their approach.

Good days, bad days – what you have when you’re in business for yourself.

Brand Strategy – use professionals to get it right, it’s very important.

Awards – apply for as many as you can.  Getting short listed is great for publicity

Green Jobs – plenty of them to come and not just in windmills.  All types of skills required including marketing and other services, they are not all engineering jobs.

Green Public Procurement – one to watch in the short term.  What green product?service could you provide to the public sector and what’s your value proposition.  Look out for commitment from Taoiseach in next couple of weeks.

Retraining – see www.hea.ie/springboard

A little and often – Neil McCabe’s philosophy when it comes to change toward sustainability.

Just do it – don’t worry if you’re not technical – Neil’s approach to rain water harvesting which Kilbarrack did it themselves for almost nothing

Thermodynamic Collector – a good way to source hot water if you use a lot of it, proven in Kilbarrack fire station.

Small = Fast – Mazhar Bari’s rational for why SME’s can compete with large organisations

Ideas are cheap – you must convert them into reality

Cusp of a wave – where we are now in the green economy – don’t get off now!!

Dress for success – dress to make the people you’re meeting feel comfortable/confident

Go upstream – What Padraig from Temple Street did with carrots so he wouldn’t have to deal with them as waste.

Porters and security – Padraig best allies in ensuring compliance with Temple street hospitals waste and other initiatives

Success breed’s success – how to ensure continuous improvement

Technical + cultural – don’t assume technical fix will always work, need staff buy-in as well so education is critical.

Sources of funds/support mentioned:

County and city enterprise boards – mixed view of these among speakers

Innovation Partnership programme – help Niamh on Eco-Appz

Lord Mayors fund in collaboration with Ulster bank – €10M

Enterprise platform programme – WexGen

Fundingpoint – www.wheel.ie - sources of funds for social enterprise (non profit)

Sources of funding for business - http://www.funding4dublincity.ie/

Business expansion scheme (BES)

Seed capital scheme

270 business mentors – what Enterprise Ireland have to help you

Next Steps:

1) Provide comments on this blog

2) Download eco-bulbz from app store and review it

Keep your ears open for Irish suppliers of linen, willow and rope for Green Coffins