The global state, what needs to change, and how to bridge the sustainability gap through rewiring the economy.

• Identify the key systems pressures and trends that are affecting the economy and society
• Discuss the impact of industrialisation and population growth on the widening gap between the rich and the poor
• Identify the impact and dependencies of the private sector on natural and social capital
• Identify the key scientific findings that highlight the need to act on climate change and the degradation of natural capital
• Discuss how economic, social, and environmental challenges can only be met through rethinking the current growth model
• Illustrate how government, business, and finance each individually, and in collaboration, have a role to play in delivering sustainable outcomes
• Investigate the impact of current global economic, social, and environmental pressures on business in a global context

Why sustainability is good for schools and the importance of good leadership in achieving change.

• Discuss the sustainability-related risks and opportunities that schools are currently facing and the commercial imperative for sustainability
• Show how schools as businesses can create shared value through their operations and supply chain
• Illustrate how sustainability initiatives act as a driver for innovation and competitive advantage
• Debate the role of schools in promoting sustainable development
• Contrast the different perspectives on sustainability leadership
• Debate why there is a perceived shortfall in leaders to champion sustainability within educational organisations
• Argue the business case for sustainability for your own organisation

Understanding your current context and the measurement tools required to build data based models, generating picture of current organizational position.

• Explore the data required to build a clear picture of your organization’s current profile
• Collect actual and historical data and understand the limitations of both this data and the data collection process
• Use tools to build a detailed understanding of the major areas of organisational focus
• Understand the limitations of the modelling tools
• Debate the benefits of building a communicable big picture story to inform organizational change

Faciliting change through operational, behavioural and policy levers.

• Identify the range of potential levers of change that could be applied to achieve sustainability goals
• Recognise the range of different approaches to sustainable operations that schools can influence
• Discuss how schools can challenge current operational practices
• Identify the degree to which schools have a responsibility to educate and influence stakeholders on sustainable consumption to shape future consumption patterns
• Justify the importance of integrating sustainability across an organisation’s value chain to ensure long-term value creation

The role of investment, design, planning, and technology in facilitating sustainable schools.

• Identify how optimisation approaches can contribute to a more sustainable business
• Identify the case for incorporating innovation into business strategy to create new sustainable business models
• Demonstrate the importance of impact and dependency measurement to track the success of sustainability initiatives
• Illustrate the importance of careful planning in the pursuit of financial, environmental, and social outcomes during design of new operational approaches
• Assess the potential of investment, design, planning, and technology to enable sustainable operational managemnt in schools

How to effectively communicate sustainability strategies and goals to internal and external stakeholders.

• Recall the importance of careful planning in the pursuit of financial, environmental, and social outcomes during design of new products and services
• Recognise the key principles that underpin effective sustainability-related communication in business
• Identify how companies can influence progressive policy and practice by demonstrating a commitment to action
• Investigate the case for organisations to invest in educational programmes to achieve their sustainability objectives
• Discuss the benefits of and challenges to effectively communicating a common narrative across a company and to its stakeholders to achieve its sustainability goals
• Identify the role of branding in achieving customer buy-in for sustainable products and services
• Identify the impact and implications of a company’s sustainability-related actions on its commercial reputation
• Defend the use of sustainability as an aspect of marketing to enhance a company’s brand and reputation

How businesses can work together with corporate, government, and non-profit actors to bring about large-scale change in the sustainability space.

• Recognise the different forms and functions of contemporary business partnerships
• Discuss the risks and opportunities associated with business-business and business-other partnerships and the efforts to measure their success
• Apply stakeholder and context mapping, and partnership tools theory to a practical business scenario
• Asses the opportunities that come from collaborating with key stakeholders and entering into partnerships to create new value

Learn how to be an effective change agent, overcome barriers to change, obtain networking support, and create a personalised sustainability action plan.

• Explain your role as a change agent within your organisation or sphere of influence
• Identify the barriers to adopting operational change and taking action within your organisation
• Illustrate the importance of gaining internal support for overcoming barriers to organisational culture change
• Investigate different approaches to financing your sustainability strategies
• Identify members within your network that can assist you in influencing sustainability-related change within your organisation
• Investigate a range of support mechanisms beyond your existing network that would help you be more effective in your current role
• Develop an action plan for leveraging your support network to reach your personal sustainability objectives within your organisation or sphere of influence
• Reflect on how your views on sustainability have changed since the start of the course