I did it! Finally, after a lot of weeks of research, organization and fights with Word, I can say I have produced something I am proud of. Although the final product is quite different from what I had intended to create at the beginning, it is nevertheless relevant and it will hopefully have a positive impact on the business practices. Now that I have concluded my project, I am taking some time to reflect on my most significant learnings.

First of all, I have realized that it is very important to understand the interests and expectations of the stakeholders, in order to set shared targets and produce something relevant. At the beginning of my journey I made the wrong assumption that my interests were perfectly aligned with those of my supervisor and this set me slightly in the wrong path at the beginning of my research. Thankfully, through reflection I was able to reframe my approach and negotiate a compromise on an alternative pathway. If I had spent more time negotiating with him at the beginning, I would have probably saved quite some time.

Moreover, I reflected consistently on how sustainable development is perceived  by people that do not work in the industry. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I noticed that the majority of people I talked to did not have a clear answer on why sustainable development is important, or what it even means. What I found more interesting is that there seemed to be a general feeling that development is not relevant in Australia, because it is not a developing country.

This insight is very useful for my future research for two main reasons. First, it implies that I should never assume that everyone is aware of what sustainable development is and what it aims to achieve. Second, it made me reflect on what the targets of sustainability are. The SDGs are directed to all countries, however, there seem to be little awareness around them outside of the professional sphere in Australia. I am therefore asking myself: are we doing enough to mainstream sustainable development? Or are we still assuming that it is only something that involves the Global South? In this perspective, my RRR will be around the mainstreaming of sustainable development and whether enough is being done to overcome the idea that development is not a field the Global North should be concerned with.

As I finish gathering the data I need for the framework and start organizing, I cannot help but feel overwhelmed. I might have asked too many questions, so there is definitely some need to bring everything back to a coherent central theme.

I am also finding myself redirecting my work from a question of “how to be sustainable” to “why be sustainable”.  In my numerous conversations with the staff and my supervisor I have noticed that although everyone likes the idea of being sustainable, they do not show much motivation to commit in operational changes. I wanted to investigate the reasons behind this behavior and what I found was quite surprising. Nobody could actually explain why a more sustainable approach was needed, even if they all agreed it would have been a good thing. Because to me the answer was pretty obvious, I never actually thought about starting my IDRP work from the justifications behind it and I had jumped right in instead.

This experience gave me an important insight on how I should shape my work and that I should probably shift the focus on my framework backwards.

More importantly, it forced me to reflect on the concept of sustainability a bit more thoroughly. I generally only talk about it in class or with like-minded people, so I had never thought much about the ‘whys’ of sustainability. But if I had not done it, I wonder how many development students and practitioners have done the same. I feel like an RRR topic might be starting to form, but I need more reflection.

Act one

Growing up in an environmentally conscious family I feel confident saying that environmental sustainability has always been a focus of interest for me. My behaviours have always been somehow influenced by the consciousness that some harmful practices for the planet can be easily avoided or reduced at a personal level. Recycling had a key role in shaping my conduct and I was convinced it was a sufficient practice to reduce our environmental footprint. I thought I was living green, I thought I was doing my part, and I was satisfied with my effort.

Act two

When Chinese government announced that from January 2018 the import of recyclable plastic would be prohibited, the truth about how serious environmental issues are was finally being brought to the public attention.

After feeling a little overwhelmed at first by the continuously negative news floating around me about how human practices were harming the planet at a significantly fast rate, I decided to put more effort into looking for alternative practices. This was when I stumbled upon the zero-waste philosophy and movement. Once again I thought I had found some peace.

Act three

I would like this project to have some positive results for the business and the community. For myself, I hope that this experience will give me an opportunity to learn about the dynamics of the private sector and understand its specificity in a development context. Hopefully I am aware that my academic perspective might sometime clash with practical experience of the private sector. However, I believe that the best learning comes from challenges. Fingers crossed.

As I make my way through the International Development program, I have been working part time as a kitchen hand in a Carlton Patisserie. Unfortunately I experience everyday the difficulties that the business has in the management of their waste, but at the same time I can see the positive impact they have on the community. I agreed with the owners to work together to come up with a plan. I think that developing a sustainability framework is a great opportunity to harness and increase their potential in terms of positive impact. I decided to work from a Triple Bottom Line Perspective, looking at the environmental, social and economical aspects of the business.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton