during interviews and questionnaires.

The targets spanned:

• architectural projects e.g. expanding the rainwater harvesting system

• energy-saving measures e.g. increasing the air conditioning temperature by 3°C – 5°C

• educational campaigns on sustainable practices for staff

Combined, these measures advocated for a system-wide recalibration of the National Assembly’s sustainability practices, led by an environment-first mindset to operations, rather than piecemeal, disconnected changes implemented at departmental level.

Takeaway:

Secure user-buy in. By involving staff at all levels in the audit, the National Assembly gave agency to its staff to take ownership of the solutions. The result was a set of solutions that emerged organically during the process, rather than abstract recommendations lacking endorsement from the people required to implement them.

Make a prioritised plan of action

The final audit report went beyond simply making recommendations about what the National Assembly should do to improve its sustainability practices. By including a tentative action plan and schedule for reforms, the authors got the ball rolling on the logistical planning required to implement the recommendations. From there, members and departmental leaders in the National Assembly built out a more detailed plan.

In developing the action plan and determining which targets to prioritise, some factors that had to be considered included:

• feasibility

• financial implications

• timescales

• staff capacity

The outcome of these discussions was three detailed action plans: one each for energy, water and waste. Below are some transferable examples of measures included in the final action plans:

Energy

• Implement a carbon offsetting scheme for travel by Members and staff

• Set up a parliamentary garden to boost on-site biodiversity

• Green purchasing guidelines for all procurement activities

Water:

• Install or expand a rainwater harvesting system

• Water management guidelines

Waste:

• Publish a recycling policy

• Educate all staff on how to recycle

• Reduce printing and encourage an e-Parliament

Takeaways

Map a route to your final destination. Setting ambitious targets will likely be futile if they are not accompanied by a detailed plan of how you intend to reach them. The final action plan should be informed by close collaboration and forward planning by members and staff. It’s important not to lose momentum – finalise and commence the action plan as soon as possible once the audit report has been published.

Prioritise, but don’t neglect. Prioritising certain activities will be necessary based on the factors mentioned above but, if the audit process has been thorough and consultative, all the recommendations should be achievable within an identifiable time frame. Ensure your action plan has a clear schedule for all the recommendations, write detailed task lists and identify who will be responsible for taking forward each action.

Implement, monitor and evaluate

To oversee the action plans, the National Assembly established a new Environmental Policy Implementation Committee within the secretariat. The Committee has a specific mandate to monitor and evaluate progress on the action plans, ensuring that the recommendations in the audit report are properly implemented. The Committee is also responsible for reporting annually on progress related to sustainability issues.

Who is on the Environmental Policy Committee?

The Environmental Policy Committee is for secretariat staff and is run on a voluntary basis. At the time of writing, it is chaired by the Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly and the membership is gender-balanced. Members of the Committee act as champions of sustainability within the workplace, educating colleagues on how to lead sustainable lives.

When the Committee was established, the secretariat also published an Environmental Sustainability Policy. To embed monitoring and evaluation of sustainability across the institution, the policy commits the National Assembly to producing an annual environmental sustainability improvement plan and conducting an annual management review of performance in relation to this plan. In the interest of transparency, the National Assembly will also make performance information publicly available.

Takeaway:

Allocate oversight responsibilities. If it is not clear whose job it is to check in on the progress of a sustainability action plan, or if the responsibility is handed to an individual or team who do not have the capacity to monitor the work, it is easy to lose the impetus to take action. Setting up a specific committee within the secretariat, or giving an existing committee a new mandate, can help drive forward key changes and make individual managers accountable at a departmental level. If you are setting up a Committee, remember to think about diversity within its membership to get a cross-section of views on progress.

Source: Seychelles Nation