Sustainability, Systems Thinking and Professional Practice

This article explores the impact of the new sustainability agenda on the occupational and professional needs of those who have undergone educational and training programmes in the environmental field either at the undergraduate or the post-graduate level or through relevant professional institutions’ continuing professional development programmes. It also describes a one-day workshop for the professions on Sustainable Development (SD), based on systems thinking and practice. The workshop provides a model for developing greater understanding and effective action in professional practice, by using dialogue and interprofessional learning to explore approaches to sustainability in a variety of business and professional contexts. It introduces the principles underpinning the concept of sustainability and provides tools to support the integration of SD into professional practice and organisational change.