Hey Reader, nice to see you again, how can I help you?
Oh, by delivering on the weekly lesson you say? I hear you!
Luckily, you make my life rather easy because you have a clear idea about what you want and what you need – at least when it comes to sustainability :D
Just like in science, in sustainability it is sometimes much more about asking the right questions instead of having all the answers. After we talked about how to convince colleagues to take the first step two weeks ago, we continue to discuss what it needs to make them take action.
While the lesson two weeks ago focused on talking, this time we approach it from another angle. However, in the end it is all about having empathy for the other person without losing the focus on sustainable action.
Today's Lesson: What It Needs To Change
Helping Colleagues By Knowing What They Need
Number Of The Day
According to Carnegie Endowment For International Peace there have been 17 climate demonstration with more than 10,000 participants since 2022! Most of them took place in Europe, however, a few were international and connected more than a 100,000 participants.
#17
How To Help Your Colleagues Initiating Change
In essence
The key is to help them until they can help themselves.
Now Imagine
You're having a really great day—the sun is shining on your skin, and you smell the fresh air on your way to work. Today is the day to help your colleagues become more sustainable!
You might start by asking a colleague if they would be interested in saving some pipette tips in their experiments.
They will happily say, “Yes, of course, if you have some ideas…?”
You thought, ohh this was easier than I thought, no need for discussion or negotiation ...Phhh Patrick was overly concerned in his weekly lessons... Indeed, you have helped them answering their question, but you did not yet help them become more sustainable.
The next day, it is rainy. You arrive late to work because the traffic was a mess. As you enter the lab, you see that the trash is full of waste...
Your tip was ignored...
In my experience, there are three key levels that will equip you to help your colleagues make lasting change:
Conceptional level
When discussing sustainability, most people will mention the one issue that comes to mind first.
For example, "I need help because I do not know what to do..." but this is only the tip of the iceberg. They don’t think beyond the initial struggle. This is why, even if you solve the first hurdle for them, they will stop at the next.
Thus, identify with them all the challenges that they might face. On a conceptual level, this might involve not completely understanding that sustainability is not only about the environment but also about effectiveness and efficiency—in scientific, economic, and psychological terms.
Secondly, they might simply not have the right grasp of the topic. Therefore, identify opportunities with them.
Referring to our previous lesson, you can just take a walk with everyone who is interested through your building, figuring out what ideas you have based on what equipment/room/experiment you currently see.
A short explanation of the 3 levels of support. Conceptional: It needs a sufficient apprehension of the scope and implication of actions as well under which circumstances they apply. Ability: People need the necessary knowledge as to how actions have to performed and the necessary tools to reliably perform them. Emotional: Whether all inhibitory doubts have been resolved and sufficient incentives are available to prioritize action. PS: Since I somehow assocaited the content with Map of Meaning by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson’s I designed it in a related style.
But even if they see where footprint occur, what should they do about it?
Technical level
Technical knowledge is crucial, still, it is the most trivial issue for us scientists. We are used to search for solutions or read literature to get acquainted with new solutions. Therefore, let me cut it short.
In case your colleagues are very new to the topic, offer them some overviews -> here are my 2 favorites: Nr.1 & Nr.2
However, as we discussed previously, simply sending them those will not do the job, unless they have a strong incentive to engage with it.
Thus, if you are already experienced, it can be quite helpful to prompt them with guided questions to opportunities.
But why do you need to prompt them? Can't they do it on their own? No, because the issue it not intelligence but anxiety:
Emotional
Sustainability is not difficult or overly dangerous, but it requires a change of habits.
My heart is with everyone who gets a stroke when realizing that the functional neuroanatomy is a tiny bit exaggerated but instead of discussing with you for hours, I decided for the artistic solution :D
To adapt habits and initiate change, they must understand two key elements: 1) what they are anxious about, i.e., what holds them back, and 2) what they are passionate about, i.e., what will keep them motivated once they begin.
Help them being precise about the reasons they believe sustainable action is not possible. As long as they are driven by vague feelings, they will struggle to find a solution.
For instance, you might discover that your colleagues are not too afraid of forgetting to close fume hoods but are apprehensive about doing so and potentially annoying a colleague.
Provide colleagues who are struggling with a clear motivator. For example, Principal Investigators can highlight how much money can be saved on materials, while Bachelor students can be informed about the opportunities it will create for learning new skills or joining a new community.
Interestingly, scientists are often reluctant to be the first to change a behavior.
Demonstrate to people that there is a supportive community. It's a team effort!
Ultimately, we tend to adhere to actions that make us feel good. Therefore, framing sustainability as a positive experience is crucial. It's a collective journey towards better health and increased funding for research!
Applying The Knowledge
We feel like scientists but when it comes to changing habits we are
1) Humans - That means, we often seek emotional support more than technical help when faced with uncertainty. Reading papers is not as crucial as having a great colleague.
2) Engineers – we cannot always find the perfect protocol. One needs to craft and test a solution e.g., for a schedule to turn off machines or new ordering procedures. The same counts for convincing colleagues. Therefore, let us find a way to enjoy the trials!
Upcoming Lesson:
Health effects of environmental pollution and climate change
Asking You
There is a “famous” rule about how often someone needs to see or hear your message before buying in. It is the rule of
Personal Note From The Editor Hi Reader, some of the talks from our summit focused on innovations for laboratory equipment. I noticed that most of the awareness still focuses on (single-use) items. But innovations are also available for our instruments!Therefore, I thought you might enjoy hearing about it. Next week I show how to run equipment more sustainably, today we learn about the features of greener instruments: Today's Lesson: Sustainable Equipment What makes laboratory instruments...
Personal Note From The Editor Hey Reader nice to have you again! As we are talking about conferences – don’t forget to register for our summit if you haven’t already! It’s all for free and a lot of sustainability to be found there. Unfortunately, finding sustainability in other conferences is much harder. Although, more and more organizers organize talks on green science, the huge footprints of in-person events is huge: Today's Lesson: Footprints Of Conferences Discovering the impact of...
Personal Note From The Editor Hi Reader! Throughout all the years I spent thinking about sustainability, there is one issue that would never leave. So many great ideas and initiatives but most failed… Carbon Offsetting is flawed, Certifications resemble more a jungle of information and green washing is as popular as ever. Will the same happen to sustainability reporting? To avoid another tragedy, let us explore the challenges and limitations of Carbon Footprint Analyses Today's Lesson: Carbon...
