Sustainability in England

Working as a team is not easy. Anyone who has participated in a group activity would most likely attest to this statement. In today’s self-serving culture, collaboration is especially challenging. J. Richard Hackman, a professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University, has spent his career studying teams and their functionality. In fact, his interview with the Harvard Business Review’s senior editor Diane Coutu reveals that most individuals aren’t good at working in teams and often don’t even agree on the team’s mission as a whole. This inability to organize and work together is one of the major challenges when it comes to sustainability and the fight against climate change. It is difficult enough to get one nation to come together in support of a common goal let alone 7.125 billion people. Sheila Watt-Cloutier says it best in her article The Intuit Right to Culture Based on Ice andSnow, “I always ask the global community, is it not to reestablish that connection that we are all here trying to deal with this issue? Is it not because people have lost that connection between themselves and their neighbors, between their actions and the environment, that we are debating this issue of climate change in the first place? (Watt-Cloutier 29)”

UK Power Shift Logo

            In his interview with the HBR, Professor Hackman explained that in order for a team to be successful it needs to be “real”. This means the group can only be effective if there are a clear boundaries set by the leader and a collective purpose understood fully by all members. In England there are only two environmental groups united by a common goal – the UK Power Shift and the GloucestershireClimate Action Network. The UK Power Shift works to bring people together from across the United Kingdom to unite against climate change and discuss potential plans of action to counter its effects. Its leadership board is made up of specialized environmentalists, each of which are involved in a broad range of local transition groups and permaculture projects. Furthermore, Hackman also mentions that a team needs a compelling direction. The Gloucestershire Climate Action Network, or Glos-CAN, is a regional organization that has it’s beliefs, aims, and objectives written out point-by-point on their website. This environmental group goes as far as to do research on the climate in Gloucestershire and get involved in politics concerning the matter. Hackman’s third opinion in regards to working as a team is in favor of having a supportive organization that facilitates teamwork and assists when it comes to reaching goals. Both the UK Power Shift and Glos-CAN cannot operate effectively without the support of a higher power, such as the SustainableDevelopment Commission. The SDC is the UK government’s independent advisor on sustainable development. It is a company wholly owned by the four governments of the United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. It is also a large supporter of both organizations mentioned above.

Glos-CAN Logo

            Personally, I feel that not only do we hold a moral obligation to our planet and it’s future, but we also owe it to ourselves. Most citizens of England show support for sustainability. According to a poll taken by the Sustainable Development Unit, nine out of ten (92%) of people consider it important that the National Health Service (which oversees the Sustainable Development Unit) operate in a sustainable way. However, only 56% would support sustainable measures taken by NHS if the cost was neutral and only 9% say they would support the organization if it cost a significant amount. It’s almost as if we are all waiting around for someone to fix this problem because we don’t personally feel that it is our responsibility. For this reason, I agree with Sheila Watt-Cloutier that these issues need to be addressed as seriously as human rights issues are addressed, simply because this issue is one of great human impact.