Early Innovators for Environmental Sustainability

Abstract In 1987 the United Nations Development Program published the results of a multi-year study of factors needed to improve the socio-economic situation of nations around the world. A surprising conclusion of this Brundtland Report was that the natural environment played a crucial role in undergirding improvements in both the social and the economic order of countries. This chapter recounts how two organizations, one public and the other private, used the major recommendation of the report about sustainable development, which is attentive to the natural world upon which all life depends. The authors, long time professional colleagues in the field of organization development, share case studies of how their organizations changed through innovations for environmental sustainability. Included are descriptions of the education and experience these internal consultants brought to their roles, the executive champions with whom they worked, and the structures and processes in which they led, supported, or otherwise engaged others to innovate for environmental sustainability. The authors note the continuing challenge of climate change for organizations and offer ideas and encouragement to aspiring, innovative internal consultants who want to make positive change for a sustainable world.