Our virtual discussion groups provide an opportunity to share learning, progress, challenges and questions with other members across the network.  Our Sustainability Champions Discussion Group focuses on how you inspire, engage and empower staff and volunteers to take collective and impactful action to implement environmental sustainability within an organisation.

This discussion group will continue to share how organisations are implementing sustainable/green champion initiatives, including:

• Involving staff in developing an organisation’s environmental sustainability policy and strategy 
• Supporting staff to increase their knowledge of environmental sustainability issues and learn new skills e.g. carbon/climate literacy
• Inspiring and empowering staff to take action.  Embedding green/sustainable activity and ethos throughout an organisation, encouraging and supporting wider behaviour change amongst staff at all levels. 
• Enabling environmental sustainability to be central in all activity and decision making. To develop opportunities that not only reduce environmental impact but also save money, improve internal communication and interaction, create positive marketing opportunities and increase job satisfaction. 
• Supporting monitoring and reporting processes 
 

A number of fit For the Future members have developed green or sustainability champion initiatives in their organisations and we are keen to continue to support members in this increasingly important area through a regular discussion group where members can share ideas, approaches, progress, lessons learnt and resources.  Once you have registered, we will be in touch to identify any specific topics you would like the group to focus on.  If you have an initiative, you are developing of delivering we would love to hear from you and share your experiences.

We are delighted that Fit for the Future member Lucy Crichard (Sustainability Apprentice, RNLI) will start the discussion by providing an overview of the RNLI’s Sustainability Champions group.

'I will be discussing the RNLI’s Sustainability Champions group, a voluntary initiative where staff and volunteers can get involved with sustainability in an informal way. I'll share what sparked the idea for the group and why there has been a need for this type of group at the RNLI. I'll also cover how we set it up and how we currently manage things. During the discussion, I'll go over how we run our meetings, including the various topics and themes we've covered. Additionally, I'll explain what we do outside of meetings to keep everyone engaged. Essentially, I'll walk you through the group's journey from its start to where we are now, touching on the challenges we've faced and the small victories we've had along the way.'  Lucy Crichard (Sustainability Apprentice, RNLI

Any member is welcome to attend, regardless of previous experience or knowledge on this topic.  The discussion group will be of benefit to all network members, whatever your size and scope of operations/activity.  From organisations just starting off to those already delivering Green/Sustainability champion initiatives there will be lots to share and collaborate on, from identifying collective challenges to learning from other approaches.