Sustainable Systems at Work

The Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI) has been around since the early 90’s when it was founded by Dick and Jeanne Roy, now with the Center for Earth Leadership. NWEI creates discussion courses which small groups can use to easily dive deeply into subjects to impact awareness, appreciation and change.

NWEI offers courses on global warming, food choices, voluntary simplicity, healthy children, deep ecology, discovering a sense of place, and choices for sustainable living. Most of these courses are designed so small (<12) self-directed groups spend 1 hour each week on the course readings and another hour in a group discussion. The courses are great for church groups, work places, community groups and neighborhoods. I’ve taken three courses over the years and they’ve all made an impact on my life.

Last night, NWEI launched their newest course offering: Sustainable Systems at Work. This is a 5-week course specifically designed for use in the workplace, designed to further organizational sustainability initiatives. Weekly sessions include:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Taking a Closer Look
• Framing Sustainability
• Seeing it Through
• Focusing on Action

This looks like a fantastic course to impact change in your workplace. I am actually working with a new client who is looking to adopt sustainability as a business strategy. I think this course might be an effective way for them to begin a dialog, educational and visioning process.