Shaping Tomorrow’s Sustainability Leaders
How Education Must Evolve to Meet Industry Demands.
The role of sustainability practitioners is evolving rapidly, with new demands reshaping the skills required in the workplace. As businesses increasingly integrate sustainability into their core strategies, professionals in the field must now combine technical expertise with leadership, communication, and change management skills. But are higher education institutions and workplace training programmes keeping up with these shifts?
In a recent episode of the Oxford Brookes Unscripted Podcast Series, Dr Karen Cripps, Senior Lecturer in Responsible Management and Leadership in the Oxford Brookes Business School, and Charly Cox, founder of Climate Change Coaches and Entrepreneur in Residence at Oxford Brookes Business School, discussed how education and industry must collaborate to prepare the next generation of sustainability leaders.
The traditional skill set for sustainability professionals has often focused on environmental science, compliance, and data analysis. However, the modern practitioner needs more than just technical knowledge. According to Karen, sustainability professionals must now act as facilitators, negotiators, and behavioural change agents within organisations.
“This shift demands a rethink in how we prepare future sustainability leaders,” Karen explains. “It’s no longer just about technical knowledge—it’s about coaching skills, behavioural change, and influencing at every level of an organisation.”
This transition aligns with the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME), an initiative that Oxford Brookes Business School actively supports. PRME encourages business schools to embed sustainability and ethical leadership into their teaching, ensuring students graduate with the competencies to drive real-world change.
Higher education institutions are increasingly expected to work in tandem with industry to ensure students are equipped with the right skills. The integration of real-world case studies, mentorship opportunities, and hands-on projects is becoming more important than ever.
Charly highlights the importance of bringing coaching techniques into sustainability education, helping students develop the ability to lead change rather than just analyse problems.
“At Climate Change Coaches, we’ve seen that many sustainability professionals feel underprepared for the realities of corporate influence and leadership,” Charly says. “Embedding coaching and change management into education will help create graduates who are not only knowledgeable but also workplace-ready.”
Despite progress, challenges remain. Many sustainability professionals report feeling underprepared for the realities of influencing business leaders and managing stakeholder expectations. The key, Karen suggests, is in fostering collaboration between educators and employers, ensuring that academic programmes reflect the evolving needs of the workplace.
“There’s a growing recognition that sustainability is not just about technical expertise—it’s about human behaviour and systemic change,” Karen notes. “We need to focus on developing practitioners who can inspire action and drive meaningful change.”
As sustainability becomes a defining challenge of our time, the question remains: are we equipping the next generation with the right tools? Through partnerships between education and industry, there’s an opportunity to shape a workforce ready to tackle the world’s most pressing issues.