In both sustainability seminars, we focused on integrating sustainability into our community, our careers, and our relationships with others. Our main focus has been on the seven key sustainability competencies. Although they are all different, they each inform one another and all enable us to work towards solving some of the most pressing sustainability problems such as climate change, environmental degradation, and the loss of biodiversity.
Learning about these competencies has allowed my classmates and I to better understand how to develop sustainable solutions to the problems our planet and its inhabitants face. Although all of the competencies are important, the one that most resonated with me was the collaboration competency. I came to realize that collaborating with many different types of groups with a variety of opinions and needs is necessary to understand and combat the complex issues we face. When you are able to work with many different people, especially those with the most stake in and the most knowledge of issues, you can use their insight to make informed decisions that can solve sustainability problems.
One of my favorite things about the sustainability seminars was the opportunity to practice working with a diverse group of people to develop and propose solutions to different sustainability issues. For example, in groups, we analyzed some of the most important indicators of climate change in order to develop some potential solutions that could curb its effects. I appreciated the time that we took to ensure that we could put our knowledge of the sustainability competencies into practice. I will take the skills and understandings that I have gained from my sustainability seminars into my future education and career.