Hanga-Aro-Rau's sustainability journey
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The links between te ao Māori and sustainability became more apparent and participants gained knowledge of where and how Hanga-Ara-Rau could have the most impact.
“To say it was immensely valuable doesn’t quite cut it.” –Samantha McNaughton, Deputy Chief Executive of Hanga-Ara-Rau
Overview
The goal of Hanga-Aro-Rau Workforce Development Council to “strengthen the manufacturing, engineering and logistics industries”, is one close to the EMA’s heart.
As one of six Workforce Development Councils in the country, the EMA Member organisation’s responsibilities include setting standards, developing qualifications and helping shape the curriculum of vocational education.
It also seeks to ensure the vocational education system meets industry needs and gives a stronger voice to Māori business and iwi development.
Hanga-Aro-Rau represents industries including manufacturing, processing, extractives and drilling, transport (including heavy and commercial), postal, warehousing and related engineering.
The Need
Hanga-Aro-Rau sought the EMA and wider BusinessNZ network’s assistance in its sustainability journey, to build understanding and capability for staff, including its senior leadership and manufacturing teams.
It wanted a course that could provide a link between te ao Māori and sustainability and to understand where the organisation could have the most impact in promoting sustainability practices.
The Solution
BusinessNZ Network Sustainability Lead Lauren James delivered a three-day learning experience at the EMA Business Hub in Grafton, Sustainable Business Council offices and a local Marae, with a tailored approach to appeal to different parts of the organisation.
A sustainability specialist with diverse multi-industry and geography experience, including in commercialisation/innovation roles, James also consults with the Sustainable Business Council to draw case studies and cutting-edge content to best support learners.
The first day at the Marae involved a 90-minute sustainability induction course for 40 staff, which explored the elements of a sustainable wellbeing strategy.
It was designed to be a brief and broad interactive immersion into what sustainability means and why it’s important.
Topics included climate change, waste and the circular economy, social responsibility and how people can affect change. The experience developed connections between team members to foster collaboration.
It was a practical hands-on session in which the learners analysed case studies from other organisations, workshopped ideas and created a personalised draft wellbeing strategy.
- What sustainability is and why we need a strategy for it.
- Identifying the core elements of a sustainability strategy and approach, including carbon and climate change, waste and circular economy, social responsibility; reporting, communicating and collaborating for sustainability.
- Reflecting on how these elements apply to your organisation, through mapping the 17 global Sustainable Development goals to your value chain – to zero in on how to harness this opportunity and mitigate risks as necessary.
- Discovering what other organisations of all sizes and stages have successfully achieved, through case study analysis and peer discussion.
- Creating an action plan for sustainability.
Day two of the course was a modified version of the EMA course Introducing Sustainability: The What, the Why and the How for Businesses.
“We uniquely tailored our Introducing Sustainability course to include a focus on equity given Hanga-Aro-Rau’s strategic pillar of Te Tiriti,” says James.
It was provided for 14 members of the senior leadership team and expanded on knowledge of sustainability practices and was particularly targeted at those getting started on their journey, wanting to know how they can do more, and how the whole picture of sustainability fits together.
They learnt how to identify and implement tangible, practical actions to contribute to sustainable practices.
In addition, Hanga-Aro-Rau wanted an integrated cultural lens with te Tiriti focuses on equity throughout.
“To say it was immensely valuable doesn’t quite cut it,” Samantha McNaughton, Deputy Chief Executive of Hanga-Ara-Rau.
The following day, the senior leadership team attended a workshop that looked into areas such as upskilling leaders on the breadth of sustainability as a challenge and opportunity – and how to act on it.
They also worked on identifying sustainable development goals and mapping the value chain to understand where to focus efforts.
Outcomes
As a result of the programme, Hanga-Ara-Rau reported that all learners were more fluent in sustainability as a concept and gained valuable knowledge of the practical steps to take.
“It was excellent and built well from its start to finish,” says Philip Alexander-Crawford, the chief executive of Hanga-Ara-Rau.
The links between te ao Māori and sustainability became more apparent and participants gained knowledge of where and how Hanga-Ara-Rau could have the most impact.
“We are so pleased the team has identified the five sustainable development goals that we are going to focus on and that these have strong links to our developing strategic pillars (pou) and our broader kaupapa,” says McNaughton.
“The executive leadership team is going to flesh this out further, to build our strategy.”
