Sustainability Scenario Planning Workshop

Sustainability Scenario Planning Workshop

Sustainable Development Goals

Presentation

Sustainable development demands a shift in thinking on the part of the institution. This means that the leadership must be convincing enough to ‘walk the talk’ for other members of the institution to accept that sustainable development is relevant, and it is vital for them to commit to it in a transformational way. A systematic programme of capacity building must therefore be developed, to help strengthen the foundations for the implementation of the concept of sustainability at various leadership levels at the institution.

At Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), this took the form of a scenario planning workshop spread over a period of at least 18- 24 months (2005-2007).

Objectives

The aim is to allow for institutional-wide participation and debates among the staff and students of the University. This has resulted in building trust and forging positive relationships between the various sectors of the University by rallying around the institution and its leadership.

Main activities

Issues of governance, rewards and recognition (for example: embedding the principles of SD in the governance structure and decision making process at the organizational level; devising criteria that give equivalent merits to SD related work and outcomes) as well as strategic capability building (for example: training schemes and leadership programmes that are linked to promotion exercises or as prerequisite to advanced career mobility) are therefore among the more  important initiatives that must be taken into consideration in the light of institutional and leadership development. So too the reallocation and distribution of resources that could enhance the practices and motivation towards sustainability.

Innovative aspects

This methodology provided ample opportunities for members of the institutions to take the lead and own the process in further refining and realising the concept of sustainability while ensuring its relevance to the sector involved. In other words, given the strategic intent of the institution, the mind-set to implement sustainable development begins to be shaped. Here is where the leadership must ensure its strategic direction within a set institutional framework for evaluation and monitoring to enable transformative change to take place. Flexibility and creativity in effecting the changes are vital so as to discourage the “business as usual” approaches which can only bring about incremental, if  ransitionary, changes. Otherwise, there is a strong inclination towards a more conventional way of doing things which in turn limit the acculturation of sustainability.

Contact

Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Vice-Chancellor/ President,
Albukhary International University, Maysia
E-mail : vc@aiu.edu.my

Useful links

Constructing Future Higher Education Scenarios