by Jed Lindholm, Visiting Professor, Organizational Behavior and Change
As we celebrate Earth Day 2024, I am thinking about this year’s solar eclipse, two weeks ago, and the wonder and excitement our natural world gives us. Where were you and how did you experience the eclipse? How did the eclipse ignite your sense of wonder?
The theme for Earth Day 2024 is “Planet versus Plastics.” Our recent experience with the eclipse and this year’s Earth Day theme gives us two perspectives to use in considering how we see our earth and our impact on the earth’s well-being. Do we see the earth as a distant object within a universe that is in its own motion within a greater movement of planets, stars, moons, and the sun? Or do we see the earth as a living object that is within our reach and our actions? Do we see the earth in a way that shows us, living together, as a collaborative team that can ensure the earth’s health? Each year, Earth Day gives us the opportunity to share our ideas and concerns of the earth’s health and how we can work in new ways to address the earth’s health. This year’s Earth Day goal is for a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040, 60 x 40, and advocacy for developing widespread awareness on the health risks of plastics.
Since April 22nd, 1970, Earth Day has been a day when we pay special attention to our natural environment, and how human behaviors are negatively impacting environmental health. In 1962, in her book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson created a groundswell of concern for environmental pollution caused by unknowing use of pesticides, especially DDT, during WWII. Her voice, along with others, and environmental catastrophes such as oil spills in California and rivers burning in Ohio, led Senator Gaylord Nelson to create the first Earth Day as a national “teach-in on the environment” day. What started as a single day in the Unites States quickly grew into a global event that, in some locations, is now a full week or longer. Earth Day 2024 is a time for WPI’s Business School to celebrate Earth Day and our teaching by reviewing, reflecting, and renewing our mission to develop adaptative leaders who create sustainable leaders, deliver globally responsible impact, and conduct transformative research at the intersection of business, technology, and people. Through our School’s mission and WPI’s campus-wide focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) we have a common connector that provides a way to integrate our concern for environmental and social sustainability into our teaching of business technology and management practices. Questions we can ask each other include: How are we using SDGs in our classes? When do we talk with others about sustainability, and the human actions we are taking in reducing, reusing, and recycling all types of materials? Who are we collaborating/partnering with in ways that demonstrate our awareness of environmental and social sustainability?
The UN’s seventeen SDGs are at the center of change at WPI, and combined with Environment, Social Governance (ESG) and Financial Technology provides a few paths for the Business School teach effective management practices for 21st century issues impacting sustainability. As I’ve used the SDGs in my leadership courses, I’ve found an effective way to teach the seventeen SDGs is through the 5Ps of Sustainable Development Goals: Planet, People, Prosperity, Partnership, Peace. While remembering SDGs through the 5Ps is a first step in talking about sustainability, the next step is knowing the measures. As all good managers know, we can’t manage what we don’t measure, knowing SDGs indicators can be an additional 2024 Earth Day goal in our classes. The SDG framework identifies 248 global indicators of sustainability, but because there are crossover indicators there are 231 unique indicators. Knowing where to find SDG indicators, as well as the 2024 Earth Day of reduced plastic production, which can be included in SDG 12, we have a lot of good news and clear goals to share.
The exciting view of Earth Day 2024 is that WPI’s campus is alive with concern for sustainability. Between last week’s 16th annual sustainability awards showcase and the Sustainable Career Fair, WPI is actively growing a sustainable community that is living and learning with a mindset of sustainability. This mindset is seen in our actions. Most recently, WPI’s change in energy sourcing and its goal of becoming carbon neutral is an example of how WPI is using new technologies and new ways of managing its power generation. WPI’s partnership with Harrison Street is an example of a new partnership that is a working plan to generate the energy it uses, and provides a case study for research, teaching, and learning how to become more sustainable as we act in a new way of operating. As a new Earth Day discussion for 2024, we might share ideas on how connecting WPI’s use of SDGs to ESG programs in business and how Fin Tech is being used or might be used to measure, report, and manage business’ impact on environmental and social issues?
The spirit of Earth Day began and is embedded in teaching. As we think about our passions and purpose in teaching how might we link issues involving plastic production, consumption, use, and disposal to our teaching? Where do we find easy access to SDGs at WPI? How might we become more aware of plastic in our lives outside of teaching? How might we commit to talking with others and teaching about plastic in our world as our Earth Day 2024 pledge to the planet? Let’s be WPI SDG Champions in whatever form that looks like. The image below is how our WPI’s SDG Team is emerging in 2024. What can you see is missing?
Celebrate Earth and our Work to Earth’s Health
Resources for Reusing
Annual Sustainability Project Showcase. https://wp.wpi.edu/sustainability-showcase/
Earth Day History. Earth Day 2024 - Origins, Theme, Celebration | HISTORY
Earth Day and World Earth Day. https://sdgresources.relx.com/events/earth-day-2024
(RELX is a dedicated signatory of the UN Global Compact which uses the SDGs to chart business participation in achieving these aims.)
Full Week. Earth Week returns to WBUR CitySpace | April 23-26 | Events
Planet versus plastics. https://www.earthday.org/
Reduce plastic production. https://givingcompass.org/article/sdgs-help-fight-plastic-pollution
Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) | Worcester Polytechnic Institute (wpi.edu)
UNESCO World Environment Day. World Environment Day | UNESCO