The world is a very different place for those who graduated in 2010 or earlier:
Climate change, increasing scarcity of water and other resources, declining
biodiversity,
digital disruption; and changing government, corporate, consumer and workforce
expectations
are creating a perfect storm for professionals leading and advising their
organizations. These trends are anticipated to affect organizations directly —
or indirectly through their supply chains. Professionals need the insights to
understand the impacts of these trends on their organization’s operations, not
to mention viability — and learn strategies to address or influence them. Some
professional groups such as
accountants,
engineers and governance
professionals are reskilling for the new
reality, guided by forward-thinking professionals and professional associations.
But many professional associations are waiting for demand from their members
before taking the initiative. Therein lies the problem — a vicious cycle has
been created in which association leadership is waiting for demand for
sustainability-upgrading from their members, while their members expect
professional associations to alert them to the new requirements. This has
created a logjam which inhibits progress.
The Real Estate Foundation of BC (REFBC) commissioned research into this
topic, seeking to understand the nature of the demand for sustainability
competencies within the real estate profession. As documented in the report
Beyond the Transaction: Enhancing Professional Excellence in Real Estate in
BC,
the real estate profession believes in the merits of sustainability, and is
eager to contribute its expertise to building healthy environments and
communities.
The report lays out the competency pathway — the need for research on the
sustainability trends affecting the profession, the consumer business case,
best-practice examples, education, tips, guides and resources.
Remarkably, the research found a solid 20 percent of realtors were personally
committed to advancing sustainability through their work. However, they lacked
the guidance to put them on firm footing and create greater social impact.
Fortunately, research on the sustainability competencies needed by leaders
is available, as are guidelines for professional
associations
that seek to equip their members with sustainability competencies.
OK, Now What?: Navigating Corporate Sustainability After the US Presidential Election
Join us for a free webinar on Monday, December 9, at 1pm ET as Andrew Winston and leaders from the American Sustainable Business Council, Democracy Forward, ECOS and Guardian US share insights into how the shifting political and cultural environment may redefine the responsibilities and opportunities for companies committed to sustainability.
Professional associations need to know that their members are waiting for their
leadership! Here are some of the steps professional groups can follow to ready
their members for the future:
The REFBC
report
offers more details on these steps and is a call to action to realtors, their
associations and professionals everywhere to up their game to cross the line
towards a more sustainable future for their organizations and for the
communities in which they live.
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Published Oct 18, 2019 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST