When my law firm's director of knowledge and learning asked whether I would be interested in attending the Oxford Sustainable Business Programme, my honest reply was that yes, the programme looked fascinating for me as a sustainability lawyer and I was very keen to learn the latest climate science from the great minds of Oxford professors. However, I wondered what use I (an undeniably small cog in a large wheel) could make of not just the science and regulation parts of the agenda, which would help me in my day job of advising businesses on sustainability, but also sessions on business strategy and innovation. By the end of the week, it was clear that these were the most valuable sessions for me, sufficient to inspire and motivate me to bring change to my organisation.
Throughout the week-long programme, we were guided towards understanding our role in making our businesses more sustainable via the development of an action plan. As we worked on this with expert facilitators in small groups during the week, it became clear to me that I was not the only person wondering whether I had sufficient agency to really enact change. However, ambition is a key tenet of any good discussion on sustainability. The action plan was personal to the many different roles that participants held but gave us a common framework to make a commitment to change and a route to make it happen. We were tasked with applying what we had learned during the week about not just the scientific imperative to contribute to climate change mitigation but also about conducting business with purpose, paradox thinking and value creation.
The programme is truly immersive. Though I had travelled only a few hours to get to Oxford, many participants had travelled internationally, and all had made the not-small-commitment to taking a week out of our personal and professional lives to commit to the programme. The long days that we spent together were extremely beneficial in building strong relationships with the other participants, leading to a supportive and active community in which we still share events and learnings. The blend of participants from across various industries and regions of the world made discussions in and out of the classroom rich and valuable for all.
The sessions were intensely thought- and discussion-provoking, frequently interactive and memorable, involving singing, Lego, and running a fishing business!
The combination of science, regulation and strategy was a unique feature of the programme. It most definitely delivered the cutting-edge factual content that one would expect from the University of Oxford, but by combining that with business and management sessions, it was immediately clear how that could be applied effectively in the real world rather than just being an interesting academic perspective. The sessions were intensely thought- and discussion-provoking, frequently interactive and memorable, involving singing, Lego, and running a fishing business! All were led by truly inspirational academics and business leaders. The extra-curricular activities were particularly special, including activities within Oxford colleges and renowned after-dinner speakers. Even after 20+ years working on environmental and climate matters, I never came away from a session feeling that I hadn't learned anything. Though it would be impossible to choose a ‘favourite’, the session on the responsibility of service providers for emissions facilitated by their advice was particularly interesting for me.
Since the programme, I've made steady progress in implementing my action plan within our firm. I've also been able to apply what I learned in my day-to-day advisory work, speaking to large corporations and financial institutions about the transition to a low carbon economy in ways that I had not before, and hopefully, in that way, also making a small contribution to their climate efforts.
Find out more about the Oxford Sustainable Business Programme
