Leading and Learning Together: Creating Local Green Jobs

To make sense of the findings from ALSs 3 & 4, it is useful to return to our observations from the first two phases of the Leading and Learning Programme.

Before being able to create green jobs, it was acknowledged early in the programme, that suitable foundations must be laid first. As a result of the Action Learning process the challenges that the delegates had identified were scoped and refined; terms were defined; goals and objectives were set; stakeholders – both internal and external – were contacted; and knowledge and information acquired. All of these were achieved within a supportive and collaborative setting, where assumptions were tested, where expertise and experience were shared and where new perspectives were given. Reflection and opportunities to implement action between ALSs helped to cement learnings. The next section will summarise what took place during the two final ALSs of the Programme. 

Action Learning Sets 3 & 4

Prior to the ALSs in Phase 4, delegates were advised that they would be expected to deliver three outputs by May 31, officially the end of the Programme. Two individual coaching sessions with one of the Transitional Space facilitators were offered to all delegates to assist in their achieving these deliverables. The outputs were identified as: 

• A SMART Action Plan to discuss at ALS 4
• Individual Reflections by the Symposium on May 13         
• Case Study or Blog by 31 May

By Phase 3 of the programme, the benefits of the Action Learning process identified in Phases 1 & 2 were being reinforced. Delegates reported that the questioning process continued to clarify and deepen their thinking, the importance of collaboration was becoming clearer, and the regular meetings had ensured that time was set aside to focus on a single issue. However, it was perhaps during and immediately after ALS 4 that a real shift in momentum became apparent.

Bio-Regional – One Planet Living, Action Planning (OPL)

To assist delegates in developing their SMART Action Plans for ALS 4, information about Bio-Regional’s, One Planet Living Action Planning process (first introduced in blog 1) was sent to all delegates. Some delegates also took advantage of the one-to-one coaching sessions to work on their plans. The benefits of using the OPL framework to develop a ‘green’ strategy are numerous:

• The ten principles provide a holistic process for tacking all environmental challenges. Whilst they may not all currently be relevant to delegates, they act as a ‘reminder’ of the breadth of this challenge and the dimensions that eventually will need to be addressed, as well as the interconnectedness of climate change issues.
• The framework has been developed by Bio-regional over 25 years and emerged from the successful creation of their eco village in South London.
• It provides a simple guide to analysing the context, to develop broad outcomes (or objectives), to create SMART action plans and to identify ways for monitoring success. 

Almost without exception, everyone produced a thoughtful and coherent summary of what they intended to do post the Leading and Learning Programme. Although delegates were at different stages in their thinking and therefore their planning, most delegates were able to communicate short-term plans. A few presented comprehensive plans - some over a longer period, with more than one outcome - clearly showing what actions were to be taken, by when and by whom. Others, however, felt the need to use the time to first conduct a comprehensive contextual analysis. Examples of these will be submitted with the final report.

Reflections – Symposium

This section will attempt to throw some light on what had taken place during and between the ALSs which allowed delegates to make this level of progress over such a relatively short period of time. To do this, we will summarise the team reflections and learnings that were presented at the Symposium on 13 May 2021. These team learnings were an amalgamation of the learnings and reflections of individual team members. All delegates were invited to reflect first on their challenge (or task) related learnings, followed by learnings from the Action Learning process and then finally their individual learnings, this is the structure we will follow here. 

Challenges

Whilst delegates continued to discuss the way in which the ALSs had helped them to shape their projects, to gain new perspectives and to recognise the importance of setting objectives and engaging with stakeholders, new learnings also emerged.

Delegates had clearly found it useful to work with a cross-disciplinary group of people who not only brought new perspectives and knowledge but were also facing similar challenges. At an overarching level, delegates mentioned that there were similar challenges around resources – both financial and people related – around political challenges – with both a small ‘p’ and a large ‘P’ - and in dealing with the sheer scale of the environmental crisis. Against this background it is perhaps not surprising that delegates seemed to find it invaluable to hear about the types of green challenges that others were facing, providing them with a better understanding of the scale of the environmental challenges faced by the sector. It was mentioned on several occasions how the scale of the problem placed officers under considerable pressure.  

Delegates valued the extensive knowledge and experience that others brought to the ALSs – with one delegate observing that there was clearly a wealth of expertise across the sector that should be tapped into. Another observation relating to task, that should not be overlooked, is the importance of communication. Whilst this programme provided only limited time to develop any sort of communication strategy, the critical importance of having a ‘robust’ communication plan and of ‘tailoring’ one’s message, came to light. On a more specific level, the following quote sums up how many delegates were feeling about the apparent shortage of skills to address the different challenges:  

‘What has come through is the importance throughout all the work on climate change is future skills requirements and the need to equip people and businesses with the knowledge and skills needed for a new economy’

Process  

The wealth of knowledge and experience in the teams, brought new perspectives and new ways of thinking about issues. The Action Learning process of attentive listening and asking questions, however, cannot be underestimated. Delegates found that the proactive thinking that was needed from answering questions rather than the passive approach that comes from being given the answer, helped to challenge their assumptions and deepen their thinking. Having to ask questions was also beneficial. One delegate observed how it required a different type of listening and a different level of concentration, allowing them to be present for the other person but also to absorb more of what was being said. Another mentioned that it gives ‘all people equal opportunity to speak’.

The reflective element of Action Learning was also valued by many. Some acknowledged the need, going forward, to set aside time to reflect and review, whilst others reported that it helped to consolidate their thinking. Perhaps one of the most important observations made, was that the AL process is empowering, allowing people to come up with their own answers to the challenge that they face. On a more practical level, the ALSs provided some structure and focus for tackling challenges – a date in the diary when delegates were granted permission to devote time to focusing on just one issue. One team member reported how motivating this was for him. The teams clearly offered emotional as well as practical support. Delegates reported that the ALSs provided a ‘safe’ environment to explore their issues where people were ‘open and honest’ and prepared to learn new ways of doing things.   

Individual Learning

Whilst it is difficult to separate people’s learnings into those related to ‘task’, ‘team’ and ‘individual’, some demarcation can be useful for making sense of a broad range of experiences. Under the ‘individual’ learnings heading, we are trying to move away from what people thought about their experience, to how they felt about it. The relatively limited observations made under this heading suggest some reluctance to explore experiences – perhaps work experiences – from an emotional perspective. That notwithstanding, many people said how supported and stimulated they had felt during the programme and had stressed the importance of creating networks to deliver change. One delegate acknowledged that in thinking more deeply and in listening more intently she had in fact ‘grown’ at a personal level. Another said what a privilege it had been to ‘have been listened to and to have listened to such a thoughtful group of people’.

On a very personal level, one delegate reported that it had come as a surprise to him that that he was more focused on the present than he had previously thought. This growing in self-awareness is perhaps one of the most important outcomes of a development programme such as this. Many people reported that they had grown in confidence whilst others reported a near ‘epiphany’ because of learning more about the climate crisis. For one delegate a significant learning had been ‘coming to terms with [her] sphere of influence’ in relation to her role. Recognising instead those elements of her project which she could change made her feel ‘empowered’. The same delegate reported how she had discovered that she has a strong set of values, and a strong belief in ‘doing the right thing’. She concluded by saying that the programme had been ‘thought provoking from the beginning right through until the end’. Another said that he had become ‘evangelical’ about the process that had been adopted for this programme. One of the teams finished by highlighting the passion that Local Authorities have to drive through change at this critical juncture.          

Conclusions

This has undoubtedly been a powerful programme for the 20 delegates who took part in a variety of ways. Nearly all of them have created short term Action Plans for laying the necessary foundations to create ‘green jobs’. They have also experienced a new, respectful way to work as teams, bringing out the best in themselves and in others, and in doing so have learnt important things about themselves.     

Dr Helen Stride and Mike Green, Transitional Space