Thank you to the members of the ICBAN sustainability working group who took part in our two-day sustainability study tour experience in Dublin, Birr and Cloughjordan on November 29th and 30th 2011.  Six local authorities from north and south of the border as well South western college and ICBAN itself were represented. The following report reviews the sustainability working groups learnings and insights over the course of the trip as well as their ambitions for next steps. We also took detailed speaker notes and you can click on a speakers name to download their presentation where one was given.

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”

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[1] Award winning fireman with Kilbarrack fire station and architect of Dublin fire brigades green plan

[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