The Field of Environment and Social Sustainability

Environmental and social sustainability is a relatively new field that has gained huge attention in the recent past following the increased concerns on sustainable development because of the devastating impacts of industrial processes on the environment. This paper examines this field as an area of interest to me, especially with regards to helping human systems i.e. organizations to protect the environment and ensure social development. This reflection begins with an evaluation of different definitions of environmental and social sustainability, which culminate in the development of an operational definition of this field. The article also incorporates an evaluation of individual steps taken to refine personal vision as an internal practitioner in this field. The other important components discussed in the paper include personal vision and mission statement for working in this field, strategic plan, professional growth, personal role in the field, and the relevance of environmental and social sustainability relative to its history.

Table of Contents

Abstract

Table of Contents

Definitions of Environmental and Social Sustainability Field

My Fit Within My Field

The History of Environmental and Social Sustainability and Current Relevance

Role in Environmental and Social Sustainability

Publishing in My Field

My Mission and Vision

Professional Growth

Strategic Plan

Comprehensive Plan for Effectiveness

Personal Branding

Concentration-Related Associations

Networking

Conclusions and Reflections

Reference List

Definitions of Environmental and Social Sustainability Field

Environmental and social sustainability is a relatively new field with numerous job opportunities in social sciences, humanities, and sciences. The role of professionals in this field is to promote environmental protection, profitability, and social sustainability. However, there are different definitions of environmental and social sustainability because of various reasons including the emergence of this sector as a new field and the varying roles of professionals in this field. First, environmental and social sustainability is described as the adaptation and integration of preventive principles and consideration into decision making processes relating to the environment and social life (United Nations Environment Management Group, n.d.). Secondly, environmental and social sustainability is defined as establishment of safeguards to prevent and lessen unnecessary harm to the environment (United Nations Environment Management Group, n.d.). These safeguards sometimes involve a mixture of minimum standards and guidelines for best practices. Third, environmental and social sustainability is engaging in practices and development initiatives that meet the needs of the current generation without compromising the capability of future generations to meet their own needs (McKenzie, 2004).

These different definitions of environmental and social sustainability are appealing to me because they represent the varying dimensions and aspects of this profession. These definitions cover the field with regards to environmental and social components, sustainable development in organizations, and developmental initiatives across the globe. They represent the different nature and roles of professionals in this field with regards to incorporating social sciences, sciences, and humanities. Actually, these definitions are appealing because they cover the three major aspects of this field and all its related practices i.e. environmental protection, social responsibility, and profitability. The various job opportunities in the field primarily focus on these three major aspects and are covered in the three definitions.

My operational definition of environmental and social sustainability is the use of formal and informal structures, systems, procedures, and relationships to support the ability of existing and future generations to meet their needs in a healthy and less harmful manner. This operational definition addresses the three major aspects of the various responsibilities of professionals in the field regardless of their specific career paths. When the formal and informal processes, relationships, systems, and structures are used towards meeting people's needs effectively, they help in environmental protection, social responsibility and profitability by current and future generations.

My Fit Within My Field

As previously mentioned, environmental and social sustainability entails careers or job opportunities relating to science, social sciences, and humanities (Sustainable Degrees, n.d.). Professionals in this field are exposed to different career paths and options whose main goal is to promote social responsibility, environmental protection, and profitability. Generally, professionals in this field have unique roles that focus on combination of economics, environment, and social and cultural issues. In the business world, the intersection between these varying issues is commonly known as triple bottom line since it entails people, profits, and the planet. Consequently, the ability of an individual to function effectively in this field requires competence in these different issues and professions.

Therefore, job or career fit in the field of environmental and social sustainability requires suitable variables relating to personality and professional strengths. One of the strengths for job or career fit in this field is competence in sciences, social sciences, and the humanities (Sustainable Degrees, n.d.). This is a major strength because the various job responsibilities towards the triple bottom line require capability to handle social, environmental, cultural, and economical issues. Secondly, flexibility is a crucial personality type for job or career fit in environmental and social sustainability since there is no set or specific career path in this field (Sustainable Degrees, n.d.). This field is inter-disciplinary in nature, which results in the existence of various sustainability jobs.

I have started refining my vision for my role as a scholar or practitioner in the field of environmental sustainability by studying in different professions, particularly social sciences and humanities. Social sciences and humanities are professions that are helping me to prepare my proficiency and competence in environmental and social sustainability. In addition to building my competence, this is also helping me develop flexibility given the lack of a single set of career path in this sector. These two major aspects will help me work as a professional in environmental and social sustainability in the corporate world to focus on triple bottom line.

The History of Environmental and Social Sustainability and Current Relevance

Environmental and social sustainability is a relatively new field though sustainable development has been an issue of increased concern for a long period of time. The concept of sustainability in relation to the environment became increasingly important worldwide in 1987 after the report by the Brundtland Commission (Center for History and Economics, n.d.). However, Environmental History became increasingly important strand of discipline in the 1970s though historians have been reluctant to contribute to debates regarding sustainability. The Brundtland Commission played a crucial role in the emergence of this discipline by arguing that financial and social systems could not be separated from the environment.

The initial definitions of environmental and social sustainability were refined by the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 in Rio (Edwards, 2010). The new definitions included concepts of environmental action, scientific knowledge, and environmental knowledge. The other important development in the growth of this field was the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, which generated the idea of sustainable production and consumption. By the beginning of the 21st Century, the science of climate change had become increasingly renowned and firmly developed. This developed the discipline because of the increased significance of environmental, social, scientific, and economic aspects in sustainable development.

The aspects of this history that remain relevant today and of interest are economic development, environmental protection, and social development since they are the three pillars of this discipline. Economic development relates to providing people and communities with what they want without compromising the quality of life whereas environmental protection entails safeguarding the environment from probable damage in the future. Social development entails using suitable strategies to maintain access to basic resources without lowering the quality of life. The two important ideas or concepts of environmental and social sustainability that I'll ensure in my practice are environmental protection and social development. With regards to social development, I'll encourage and educate people to engage in environmental sustainability and protection and dangers of failure to do so. In relation to environmental protection, I'll advocate for the use of renewable power sources while educating on strategies towards protecting ecosystems.

Role in Environmental and Social Sustainability

Similar to other fields, environmental and social sustainability has various roles, responsibilities, and job opportunities. These varying roles are attributable to the broad nature of this field and the lack of a single set of career in this sector. Some of these roles include leadership or management, research, internal practitioner, consultancy, specialty areas, and teacher. As an internal practitioner in environmental and social sustainability, the two areas of practice that most appeal to me based on my current thinking, experience, and strengths upon graduation are social development and environmental protection. These practice areas have been selected because they are some of the pillars of environmental and social sustainability.

As previously mentioned, social development entails effective and efficient access to basic resources through engaging in environmental sustainability and protection in a manner that doesn't compromise life's quality (Environmental Science, 2015). This process requires using existing legislation to prevent pollution and harmful business activities. On the other hands, environmental protection entails focusing on greener future through technologically sound business practices and other human activities. One of the major ways for achieving this is installation of renewable power sources across homes and businesses.

The assistance I can provide human systems i.e. organizations in these two areas includes development of policies that promote social development and environmental protection. These policies will be developed based on existing regulations regarding environmental and sustainable development. Moreover, the policies will act as the premise for guiding the operations of these human systems with regards to daily activities and practices. Secondly, I will encourage these human systems to incorporate social development and environment protection as part of corporate social responsibility initiatives. This will help organizations to change their supply means in order to ensure goods are manufactured in a socially responsible manner (Bravo, n.d.).

Publishing in My Field

Within the first year after graduation, I intend to publish at least three articles in different journals that will help promote environmental and social sustainability. The three articles I intend to publish are Achieving Organizational Success through Environmental and Social Sustainability, Effective Organizational Management through Sustainable Development, and Promoting Growth through Sustainability. The journals that would be appropriate for publishing these articles include Journal of Business, Journal of Business Strategy, Journal of Business Ethics, International Journal of Business and Management, and Journal of Business and Management.

Achieving Organizational Success through Environmental and Social Sustainability will address the significance of social development and environmental protection in realizing organizational success. The article will demonstrate the significance of environmental and social sustainability in organizational success. Moreover, the study will demonstrate the need for organizations to adopt strategies beyond making profits and incorporate environmental protection in order to be successful.

Effective Organizational Management through Sustainable Development will highlight the importance of environmental protection and social development in today's management practices. The article will provide several strategies that organization's management should adopt towards sustainable development across all organizational processes and operations. These strategies and practices for management will be based on concepts of environmental protection and social development.

Promoting Growth through Sustainability is an article that will focus on sustainable development activities that promote the success and profitability of businesses. In this case, the researcher will highlight the need for organizations to incorporate sustainability concepts and activities as part of the process to make profits.

The process of getting these articles published in journals entails focusing on each of the topics from a logical rather than chronological view, developing a clear argument, asking a colleague to review the work after writing, making the article brief and precise, and writing a review. The other aspects will include choosing the most suitable journal, following appropriate submission processes, and responding directly to comments.

My Mission and Vision

Mission statement is a term that refers to the core purpose and function of an individual, organization, or company that usually remains unchanged for a long period of time. Generally, a mission statement defines the norms, culture, ethics, and goals of an individual, organization or company. This statement is used to govern activities carried out by the individual or entity since it defines focus and purpose. The process of developing my personal mission statement relative to my field, environmental and social sustainability, incorporated several important steps. The first step in this process entailed identifying personal core values through creating a list of individual attributes and priorities. Secondly, I identified my area of competence and successes in school while studying in order to determine common themes and patterns that contribute to my success. The next step involved identifying goals based on priorities, core values, and patterns of success. During this process, I prepared a list of things I would like to achieve on short-term and long-term basis. These four steps culminated in writing a personal mission statement based on understanding of self.

My mission statement is to help human systems (organizations) realize enhanced bottom line through adopting suitable practices and policies that are three-dimensional i.e. focus on people, profits, and the planet. This mission statement is important because organizations in the modern business environment need to promote social responsibility, environmental protection, and profitability in order to be successful. Moreover, the mission statement will enable me to use knowledge in social sciences and humanities to promote and enhance successful management of organizations.

A vision statement is a clear description of what an individual or organization would like to achieve in the long-term. At the individual level, a vision statement can be considered as a dream or desired end state, which helps in guiding current and future actions taken by the individual. As compared to mission statement or goal, a vision rarely changes even when circumstances change. The process of creating my personal vision statement started with identifying personal qualities and core values. Secondly, I visualize myself and my life from a middle- to long-term perspective by examining who I want to become in the future. Third, I drew a picture of myself and my surroundings at different times in my life such as 5, 10, 15, and 20 years from now. These three steps culminated in developing my vision statement that reflects who I would like to become or achieve in the long-term.

My vision statement is to help create a world where every individual is realizing their full potential by meeting his/her in manner that doesn't compromise the quality of life or hinder others from achieving their goals. In this case, my vision is to help create an environment where everyone can utilize his/her individual genius towards realizing his/her goals without interfering with others' capability to do so. My vision statement is important because it reflects the link between my personal qualities and area of competence with the desired goal in life.

Based on these examples a vision statement differs from a mission statement in the sense that a vision is the desired end state or goal whereas a mission statement defines focus and activities undertaken to realize the vision. In essence, vision is the destination whereas mission is the roadmap to get to the destination.

Professional Growth

Professional growth is defined as the process of increasing and enhancing personal abilities through education and training opportunities in a specific practice area or profession. This implies that professional growth promotes development of competence regarding various aspects relating to a profession or occupation and utilizing the knowledge towards improved practices and activities.

To realize my mission and vision in this field or area of practice, I need professional growth, which helps in improving knowledge and practice. There are two major areas I will need to realize professional growth in i.e. competence or knowledge and practice. Without developing competence or knowledge, it will be difficult for me to improve my practices towards achieving my mission and vision in the field because of the changing nature of the modern business environment. As a relatively new field, environmental and social sustainability has numerous opportunities for professional growth, especially for internal practitioners employed in various organizations. One of the pressing opportunities for professional growth in this field is university education in different study areas such as social sciences, sciences, and humanities. The second opportunity for professional growth in this practice area is staff training and education that is provided in the workplace.

To address my personal professional growth, I will develop a career development plan with specific goals and timeline for accomplishing various aspects of my occupation or practice area. The first developmental objective is obtaining a degree in business management and administration within the next four years. The evidence for the achievement for achieving this professional development objective will be the graduation. This will be followed by pursuing a Masters degree for 2 to 3 years on sustainable development with a major focus on environmental and social sustainability. The achievement of this developmental goal will be graduation upon completion of the education program. This will be followed by working in an organization where I'll contribute to sustainable development initiatives across all organizational operations.

Strategic Plan

A strategic plan is an important process through which organizations define their direction or focus and make decisions regarding resource allocation to pursue the strategy. As a result, a strategic plan is strongly linked to an organization's mission and vision since they are associated with core purpose and desired end state or objective. A strategic plan is related to the mission of an organization with regards to defining and reflecting the organization's direction, especially in relation to introducing organizational change. In this case, a strategic plan shows the benefits of the change and necessary initiatives for employees to embrace and implement the change (Hawthorne, n.d.). On the contrary, a strategic plan relates to the vision of an organization with regards to introducing new initiatives and actions that would contribute to realizing the organization's purpose. Based on the organization's mission, the strategic plan guides employees' behaviors and activities as well as providing necessary motivation and impetus in realization of purpose.

As evidenced in this discussion, a strategic plan is important in pursuing career and professional objectives in relation to mission and vision statements. The benefit of pursuing career objectives using a strategic plan in a vision statement is that a strategic plan helps in creating a strategic vision for the career plan. In this case, the strategic plan helps in defining and describing short-term and long-term career planning initiatives (Hansen, n.d.). In relation to my vision, the strategic plan helped in building bridges from current career to the next one as a means of ensuring safety and direction. In this case, I examined how my current and future career can be utilized to help realize my goal of creating an environment for everyone to meet their needs and achieve their goals and objectives.

With regards to mission statement, a strategic plan provides a strong foundation for personal assessment, which is utilized in creating a mission. In this case, the strategic plan was utilized to examine and determine the kind of person I am based on qualities, knowledge and skills. The personal assessment through a strategic plan provided the basis for utilizing personal qualities, knowledge, and skills to develop a direction and focus of my life towards realizing my dream based on my career path.

Comprehensive Plan for Effectiveness

While environmental and social sustainability is a relatively new field, there are many practitioners in different aspects related to the field mainly because of the increased importance of sustainable development in modern business practices. Consequently, success in this field requires a practitioner to be the most effective through uniqueness in practices and strategies. This can be achieved through developing a comprehensive plan towards becoming the most effective practitioner possible in environmental and social sustainability field. In my case, the comprehensive plan for becoming an effective practitioner will entail several strategies comprising different steps that will be executed within 6 months of graduation.

This comprehensive plan towards becoming an effective practitioner is part of strategic planning for my career based on my mission and vision statements. The first strategy to be executed upon graduation is to volunteer at a local organization where I'll contribute to environmental and sustainable development initiatives. This strategy will be executed through learning about local organizations and identifying a suitable one based on my knowledge and skills. This will be followed by applying for a volunteer position in a suitable organization with regards to environmental and social sustainability. Secondly, I'll enroll for a Masters degree in sustainable development upon completion of my 3-month volunteer program at the local organization. This will entail applying for scholarships or funding for the Masters program after identifying a credible university that provides such programs. This will help me develop my competence in environmental protection and sustainable development in relation to organizational management practices. The third strategy will be to initiate a community program for environmental protection in my neighborhood. This community initiative will involve creating awareness on the need for people to access natural resources in healthy ways that don't hinder capabilities of future generations to do so. The community will be educated on the need and benefits of using renewable sources of energy or power to help protect the environment.

Personal Branding

Branding has emerged as an important component of success in the modern business environment as evidenced in its direct link to marketing practices. The significance of branding has also contributed to the emergence of the concept of personal branding. Personal branding is defined as an approach use to distinguish and market oneself and/or career based on personal attributes, passion, and strengths. In essence, it is a means or approach of clarifying and expressing what distinguishes an individual by making him/her special through passion, strength, and values (Guiseppi, n.d.). Therefore, personal branding is how an individual appears to the world based on his/her unique attributes (Smale, 2015).

There are several advantages and disadvantages of personal branding given its significance in the recent past. The pros of personal branding include it promotes the growth and evolution of personal message, helps in establishment of positive and healthy relationships with others, enhances authenticity, establishes personal credibility, and helps in building trust. However, the cons of personal branding include its likelihood to turn off others, creates difficulties in building a business brand that is different from personal brand, and may affect an individual's privacy (Andrea, 2013).

The development of a personal brand is one of the major factors towards success in the field of environmental and social sustainability. Similar to other professionals in this field, I experience the need to develop a personal sustainability brand, which is the creation and maintenance of individual characteristics that reflect environmental and social benefits and value. In consideration of personal ethics and understanding of my desired career path, the development of my personal brand will begin with determining by emotional appeal through examining my personality and its impact on others (The Muse, 2012). This will help in understanding and being my authentic self since a personal brand reflects who you are. This will be followed by creating a personal mantra based on my emotional appeal and personality. The third step in the process is determining my function in relation to my career path in environmental and social sustainability. The final step in the process is creating my brand mantra in a manner that clearly communicates who I am based on my career path.