This ‘Guide
Yourself’ package is designed for those in the Learning and
Skills Sector who wish to take some time to gain an in-depth
understanding of the relevance of sustainability to Community and
Business. It provides guidance on how you could have a positive
impact on and within your local community. It is divided into four
sections which can be read as a whole or separately.
Download the
interactive PDF version of Guide Yourself Through Community and
Business
Context
The Learning and Skills sector is in a unique position to
initiate and implement actions to create more sustainable
communities. This section discusses the drivers for implementing
sustainable development at community and business level, and
identifies the many and varied constraints that may affect any
organisation’s ability to operate at the highest standards of
sustainable development. It covers a wide range of topics relating
to the Learning and Skills sector within the community and in
relation to employers, which provide a wealth of ideas and case
studies of it is successfully delivering sustainable development
through its own initiatives.
Stakeholder engagement
As an FE provider, you are a member of a community made up of a
wide variety of stakeholders including:
- Individuals
- Voluntary Groups
- Partnerships
- Businesses
- Public organisations
Involving local communities in how your organisation is run
means that you can meet the needs of the communities in which you
are located. In working with local and regional partners, you can
also ensure that the services, education and training you offer are
fit for purpose.
Within your local community, you have the potential to be much
more than a provider of education and training, for example:
- The significant buying power of FE organisations means that
they can make purchasing decisions to the benefit of local
companies and local economies. They can also ensure that what they
buy is ethically sound, through considering the social and welfare
impacts of certain products and services at the local level
- The staff and learners of FE organisations can have positive
impacts through being encouraged to take part in volunteering
activities to benefit local communities
- The expertise of staff within FE organisations can be used to
the benefit of local businesses and both can work together to
develop mutually agreeable curriculum
Policies
Government Policy
In its review of skills for sustainable communities, the
Egan Review developed the following
definition:
Sustainable communities meet the diverse needs of existing and
future residents, their children and other users, contribute to a
high quality of life and provide opportunity and choice. They
achieve this in ways that make effective use of natural resources,
enhance the environment, promote social cohesion and inclusion and
strengthen economic prosperity.
The eight components of a sustainable community (according to
the Academy for Sustainable Communities (external website) are:
- Governance - Well run communities with effective and inclusive
participation, representation and leadership
- Transport and Connectivity - Well connected communities with
good transport services and communications linking people to jobs,
health and other services
- Services - Public, private and community and voluntary services
that are accessible to all
- Environmental - Providing places for people to live in an
environmentally friendly way
- Equity - Fair for everyone in our diverse world and for both
today’s and tomorrow’s communities
- Economy - A thriving and vibrant local economy
- Housing and the Built Environment - High quality buildings
- Social and Culture - Active, inclusive and safe with a strong
local culture and other shared community activities
Government is working with local authorities, partner agencies
and local people to help create genuinely sustainable communities.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), and the
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra),
provide the policy framework and funding for the development of
sustainable communities.
LSC Policy
Sustainable communities are a key priority in the LSC Strategy
for Sustainable Development. It will become clear as you read
through this guide that providers have significant scope to
contribute to this agenda through strengthening their role in local
communities and in working with businesses.
More specifically, the LSC Strategy for Sustainable Development
(internal link) identifies ‘Community’ as one of its
key areas through which a range of actions can be implemented to
contribute towards the Strategy’s wider vision. Here, the
Strategy sets out six key areas through which LSC providers can
initiate and implement actions to create more sustainable
communities:
- Community engagement: ensure good communications and
involvement exists with the local community at all levels,
including employers
- Local and regional networks: maintain and develop appropriate
local and regional partnerships between wider stakeholders and
providers, local authorities, RDAs, higher education and other key
stakeholders
- Local markets and ethical trade: support local markets, ethical
and fair trade, and socially responsible initiatives within the
community
- Share facilities: consider sharing facilities with local
community agencies and groups to make the best use of
resources
- Local economic strategies: be aware of, support and connect to,
the local economic strategies drawn up and developed by local
authorities and RDAs
- Volunteering: encourage learners and providers to undertake
volunteering activity as part of community commitment to
sustainable development
These six key areas are discussed in more detail under
‘Putting it into
Action’
Other
Key Drivers
The more specific drivers for an FE provider to implement
sustainable development at community and business level are varied.
These are explored further in the resources pages (internal link)
but include the following:
External drivers
These include legislation, EU or national regulations and local
requirements such as planning or transport requirements, all of
which may need direct and immediate action to ensure
compliance.
Current policy
For example, the FE White Paper, the Leitch Implementation
Report, the recent HM Treasury review of subnational economic
development and regeneration (internal link), all aim to ensure
that skills provision becomes more appropriate to both the needs of
the employer and the individual this will also include skills and
education for sustainable development. The proposals are intended
to ensure that providers deliver high quality education and
training services and that this leads to real returns.
Voluntary Standards
There are many voluntary standards that organisations can
subscribe to that will contribute towards a dimension of
sustainable development in its broadest sense and that are now
being promoted as good practice for all organisations. For example
Corporate Social Responsibility (internal link) (CSR), more
currently known as Corporate Responsibility (CR), is increasingly
being demanded from large public sector organisations. There is no
universally accepted definition of CSR, but organisations (see
resources) as diverse as the UN, and Business in the Community
(click here to go to their website) are broadly in agreement
relating to CSR’s role in improving the positive impact of
responsible businesses and good citizenship. CSR is a commitment by
organisations, including businesses and the public sector, to
respect human rights, to contribute to economic development while
improving the quality of life for its workforce, their families and
the wider local community and society. This responsibility
considers each organisation’s role in relation to community,
environment and the workplace. The project SIGMA guidelines (see
the Leadership and Management section) are also another useful tool
to promote good corporate responsibility. Other standards such as
accredited to the Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and ISO
14001 also demonstrate commitment to managing and improving
environmental impacts; Investors in People is another standard to
demonstrate an organisation’s investment in staff development
and welfare as well as policies that encourage work life balance
and health and safety policies and management systems.
Individual champions
There may be an individual or a group of people interested in
sustainable development issues within a provider. They may for
instance, be pressing for more urgent and comprehensive progress
towards action relating to sustainable development.
Bottom line costs
All organisations are subject to increasing bottom line costs
and the need to improve competitiveness. Opportunities for saving
money can be clearly identified in many cases, particularly when
looking at environmental improvements such as promoting site wide
energy efficiency; and social measures such as implementing
policies that will boost staff retention, for example family
friendly policies.
Student pressure
The Future Leaders Survey received 54,240 responses from
university and college applicants aged 17-21 for the academic year
2006/2007. It provides a good insight into student attitudes to
sustainability. The survey found that being provided with the
knowledge and skills to tackle sustainable development issues is an
important factor for many young people considering a choice of
college or university. Many are conscious of their individual
impacts and are taking action such as buying locally and avoiding
larger supermarket chains, using more sustainable modes of
transport or joining a third world development charity. There are
also voluntary groups such as StudentForce for Sustainability
(click here to access their website), who place students in jobs to
help local communities as well as overseas.
Benefits
There are a wealth of key benefits in engaging with local
communities and businesses. These are explained in more detail in
the resources section but include:
- Better relationship with local employers. Making the curriculum
and learners more attractive to the needs of local companies should
help boost local employment levels. Educating local learners and
helping them into local employment will be beneficial to the local
economy. This in turn, may lead to higher admission rates in the
future. Employers may also have access to key experts within a
provider for advice and guidance and vice versa.
- Better community relations. The image of a provider within its
local neighbourhood and community will be enhanced where it is
actively contributing to the wellbeing of its local area.
Maintaining grounds and buildings and managing security well will
cement good relations with local neighbours and ensure that it is
in keeping with local neighbourhoods. Encouraging staff and
learners to engage in community volunteering activities and
projects will also benefit local people and enhance the profile of
the provider. Shared facilities, for example for business seminars
and presentations, catering, arts and cultural events and for
recreation will also help strengthen community cohesion and place a
provider at the heart of a local community.
- Improved reputation. A more proactive approach to sustainable
development at local and community level by a provider can improve
its overall reputation at the local level. Clearly, as young people
are becoming more aware of their social, environmental and economic
impacts, this may also have a bearing upon admission rates.
Providing local jobs for staff as well as education, training and
in turn, employment for learners will directly reduce the need to
travel which will have a positive impact on the environment.
Greening buildings can also set a good example in local communities
and be used as exemplars of good practice for businesses,
individuals and schools to visit.
- A strong and proactive leadership in sustainable development
may contribute to improved staff morale and wellbeing, as well as
staff retention rates.
Barriers
A number of significant constraints have been identified that may
affect any organisation's ability to operate at the highest
standards of sustainable development. The main ones include:
- Lack of support or leadership from senior management. This is
vital if sustainable development is to be truly embedded into an
organisation.
- Linked to lack of senior level support is a segmented culture
between teaching staff, learners and others with responsibility for
implementing change across the organisation, as well as conflicting
priorities from individuals.
- Lack of awareness of sustainable development. Without careful
planning and prioritisation of the key issues, this is an over
complex subject.
- Lack of time and money to devote to new initiatives or to
maintain existing ones.
This guidance has been developed to help challenge these
barriers and to give providers guidance and support to use
sustainable development as a vehicle to help support sustainable
communities and the viability of their own organisations.
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