Sustainability Activators and Changemakers Skills Development Workshop

Key Aim of this programme

The workshop aims to demystify what Green Skills are and how to develop them in a way that is relevant to your sector and/or specific role.

To achieve the aim of supporting and equipping sustainability changemakers with the skills, tools, techniques, confidence and resilience to deliver ambitious commitments, the workshop is built around peer group exchange and practical application, with examples, for addressing real problems.

This programme has been designed to break through the current ‘talk act gap’. ESA’s consulting work with CMI about green management skills, combined with recent research in the sustainable tourism and hospitality sector has highlighted a prevalent, often unconscious, ‘gap’ in knowledge and skills which is screened by a ‘I think I know’ approach. For a net zero, green transition to happen before 2050, it is essential that this ‘talk act gap’ is noticed, understood and replaced with robust knowledge and skills for making change and for normalising that change for a green economy.

• You will learn the essential ‘green’ management competencies for activating and operationalising sustainability in your own role.
• You will learn new knowledge, skills and behaviours for creating impactful collaborative partnerships for activating sustainability goals.
• You will learn how to navigate the toughest barriers to change and how to break through stalemate stages of conflict in goals towards consensus.
• You will learn how to measure and evaluate sustainability impact, and how to communicate that impact for catalysing momentum and scalability.

The global deficit in the competencies that are essential for reaching a net zero, green transition by 2050 is well researched and reported. Good intentions and bold aspirations alone, with some tactical actions, will not slow down climate change. This programme addresses the gap between espoused commitments to sustainability and practical implementation. This applies to leaders, managers, and people in every level of organisations and society, at local and national levels across the globe.

This two-days immersion in exploration and troubleshooting on the challenges of implementation and learning how to be an effective activator for sustainability is structured around:

• Tools and techniques to takeaway and use in your work/ community including: the ESA Sustainability Activators Map, a LCA analysis of your time at the event, robust evaluation process, NEW conceptual framework for green skills development based on published study findings about the management and sensemaking skills of bees!
• Action learning from genuine local business sustainability challenges. Projects include energy, tourism, hospitality and agriculture. Participants are invited to bring their own projects for a team to work on.
• Knowledge, Skills and Behavioural development in critical areas of communications, strategy, self-management and purposeful collaboration.
• Facilitated learning and feedback sessions plus individual reflective ‘journaling’ time.
• Fireside stories from inspirational ‘Sustainability Activators’.
• Informal social/outdoor activities grounded in sustainability values

ESA’s learning format is always grounded in mutual and respectful peer group exchange. Facilitators and guest speakers are active in the action learning sessions with participants and every person has new ideas, experiences and ‘top tips’ to share. Every voice is heard and we all learn and hone our skills together.

Participants are likely to be from business (any sector), NGOs (particularly policy related) or from academia, with a role in communicating research in practice. Attendees may be at a career transition stage or just want to understand more about how to equip themselves with ‘futureproof’ knowledge, skills and behaviours for responding, with impact, to the call for action on the green transition and help secure our future and for generations to come after us.

This is a FACE TO FACE, immersive learning experience. There is an optional 1 month online group follow up to hear how everyone has got on with their new Green Skills, share learning and maintain momentum!

At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

• Have a clearer understanding of your existing knowledge, skills and behaviours as a sustainability activator, and gaps in your competencies.
• Use new communication tools and techniques to leverage greater influence for driving change.
• Apply robust evaluation and measurement principles for understanding the true impact of your change intervention.
• Present your best self and your objectives, give and receive feedback, with confidence.
• Simultaneously hold a view of the strategic context and your own individual project details for activating sustainability change.
• Build in resilience across collaborations through your enhanced knowledge, skills and behaviours.

Draft agenda, subject to modification.

The workshop format follows the ESA Sustainability Activators Map framework for focussed competency development.

Day 1: 13th September 2024 | What are your sustainability goals? How do your goals align with global challenges of the next decade?

 Day 1: Part 2. Becoming a Sustainability Activator, through impeccable communication skills

• Understanding the impact of personal style on interpersonal relationships
• Learning new techniques for engaging people and nudging change

Day 2: 14th September 2024 Walking My Talk as a Sustainability Activator

• Navigating my way (inside and outside of the organisations, policy makers) as a positive influencer.
• Elevating self- awareness, of my own impact as a sustainability changemaker

Day 3: 15th September 2024 | 09.00 – 17.00 Optional TOURS to Dourakis Green Winery for a tour and wine-tasting, and Biolea organic olive mill for a tour and circular economy lunch.
Cost €50 per person including transport. Drop off at Chania for return flights.

Listen to the Sustainability Activators 2022 experiences.

Sharon Jackson

Sharon Jackson founded ESA in 2011 for impactful sustainable business management and leadership training. She has over 2 decades of experience as an adult and higher education teacher and researcher, working globally in executive education in academia, in business and consulting roles. Her current work focusses on L7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship Tutoring, and Masters in Sustainability supervision at Cranfield University, and collaboration with the EU Pact for Skills partnership in developing workplace, VET knowledge, skills and behaviours frameworks for driving the green transition to net-zero by 2050.

Her recent study focusses on the shortfall in ‘green skills’ necessary for driving the Greek national sustainable tourism agenda to 2030. The paper will be published at the end of 2024.
Sharon Jackson at Linked In

Prof. Thanasis Spyriadis

Thanasis is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Crete. He holds a PhD in performance evaluation of tourism development organisations (DMOs) and a MSc in Tourism Management and Marketing from Bournemouth University. His research interests focus on strategic management and marketing in tourism; performance evaluation of tourism development organisations and DMOs; project and programme evaluation; tourism policy, planning and development; management and governance of tourist destinations; cultural tourism; adventure tourism. His research has been published in prestigious international journals He has been the Leader of research and consulting projects funded by various organizations including The Association of British Travel Agencies (ABTA)

At Manchester Metropolitan University, he won the silver award in the category of Learning for a Sustainable Future, Green Impact Awards 2014.
Thanasis Spyriadis at The Universiity of Crete

Dr. Rosa Vásquez Espinoza

Rosa is a Ph.D. chemical biologist, conservationist, National Geographic Explorer, Explorer Club “50 People Changing The World” and nature TV presenter. Of Peruvian-Andean and Amazonian descent, Rosa grew up learning about traditional medicine from her grandmother in their backyard’s "natural pharmacy". Today, Rosa travels to the most extreme environments of the Amazon Rainforest searching for the tiniest creatures, from microbes to stingless bees, to create big changes in the world. She also collaborates with educators to integrate hands-on exploration experiences that combine science and art for sustainability action.

As founder of Amazon Research Internacional, Rosa unites scientific research with powerful storytelling to advocate for sustainable conservation of Amazonian biodiversity and culture while improving livelihoods. Focused on Amazonian Stingless Bees, Rosa and collaborators have united indigenous communities, local businesses, national government and international institutions leading to enhanced bee-based sustainable tourism and practices with tangible positive impact in Peru’s sustainability goals. These efforts have been highlighted in National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times, TreeHugger and more.
Amazon Research Internacional
Rosa Vásquez at Linked In

Vincent Hoogstad

Vincent, originally from Rotterdam, NL, is a veterinary physical therapist, anatomist and behavioural ecologist, specialising in primate movement, behaviour and conservation. He works as a practitioner, teacher and researcher in these fields. Vincent’s motivation as a ‘changemaker’ is grounded in his belief that human dominance on earth is overestimated.

Vincent is an advocate for natural behaviour, and for the One-Health movement, which makes the connection between human and animals health with planetary environmental health. His first book “Monkey business - Pain in humans and other animals” will be published in autumn 2024.
Vincent Hoogstad at Linked In
Animal Rehabilitation Crete