How can you engage volunteers in sustainability?

Sustainability is like living on a budget for the entire planet, ensuring we don't use up resources faster than they can be renewed. It considers the environment (clean air and water), a fair and healthy society (education, equal opportunities), and a strong economy that works for everyone. Volunteering is a fantastic way to contribute! You can plant trees to combat climate change (environment), clean up parks for a healthier community (environment & social), mentor young people for a brighter future (social), or support local businesses for a thriving economy. By choosing sustainable volunteer opportunities, you make a positive impact today that benefits generations to come.

To promote volunteering make it strategic and top to bottom approach. This will set trends for juniors to follow at workplace. Provide clear cut induction on what one needs to be done as volunteer, monitor it and reward it to make a successfully volunteering at organization level as far as sustainability initiatives are concerned vis-a-vis the sustainability of volunteers in the organization too. Ensure that's it's not a one-time activity but the Longterm commitment by employee and employer. Also make the volunteering champions to promote and cultivate culture of kindness, passion and spirit to make an impact. Ensure that one gets recognition and rewarded to drive it in sustainable way.

Sustainability is more than just a trend; it's a fundamental shift in how we approach our actions and decisions. It requires us to consider not only our immediate needs and gains but also the long-term well-being of our planet, society, and economy. Embracing sustainability means taking responsibility for the world we leave for future generations and making choices that benefit everyone, now and in the future.

Assessing your sustainability practices is like taking stock of your environmental, social and economic impact. You need to map the current practices to the well-being and societal impacts of volunteering. A risk assessment exercise is also helpful to identify potential hazards that may impact the output of your volunteering programs. Remember, that volunteers are donating their time and efforts, so the least that you can do is to invest your time and energy in creating a safe and sustainable program for all stakeholders.

In my experience in managing QA&IE, strategic planning and Lean Six Sigma, I suggest the following steps to monitor the sustainability actions: 1. The goals and SMART objectives should be aligned with organization's strategic goals. 2. Use OKR for effective strategic planning. 3. For each objective, set target KPI. 4. Define resources. 5. Set assessment period. 6. Measure and analyze the results. 7. Compare the results to the set KPIs. 8. If results are acceptable, continue the process. 9. If results are not acceptable, determine why and what went wrong and how to improve.

Implementing and monitoring sustainability efforts is a crucial cycle for achieving real progress. Here's a breakdown of the key steps: 1- Implementation: a- Define your sustainability goals - what aspects do you want to improve? b- Be clear and measurable - set SMART goals Action Plan: c- Break down your goals into actionable steps. d- Identify resources and assign responsibilities. e- Communicate the goals and plan to all stakeholders to encourage participation and feedback. 2-Monitoring: a- Establish metrics to track progress towards your goals. b- Regularly collect data on your chosen metrics. c- Analyze the data to identify trends and areas for improvement. d- Review your progress regularly (e.g., quarterly).

One thing that i found helpful is to always provide mentorship pre-volunteering and constructive feedback after the task is completed. Acknowledgement in the form of certificates of volunteering and individualized customized thank you notes go a long way!

We on our organization do training and capacity building for all new volunteers about the sustainability, climate change and environment One of the selection criteria is understanding of volunteers about sustainability