Integrating the environment

by Simon Waller, Environmental Program Coordinator at Integral Development



One of Integral Development’s more recent ventures is the Integral Environment Improvement Program, developed in response to a growing need amongst our clients to build sustainability and environmental capabilities. Traditionally, addressing environmental issues was seen as a business cost, but this is increasingly seen as an opportunity for bottom line returns by identifying and eliminating wastage and other potentially costly environmental risks.

Across the globe, ‘sustainability’ has become a buzzword for businesses, as increasing numbers take advantage of new opportunities in developing new markets and products for a world with an increasing need for sustainability. In so doing they are building profits, along with brand value and customer and employee loyalty.

At Integral Development we understand that one of the biggest barriers to developing environmental sustainability is the traditional lack of integrating this capability into core business practices.

Using the principles of Integral Theory and building on the work of Ron Cacioppe in his ‘Developing and Implementing Sustainability Strategies’ workshops, we have developed a holistic approach to address this issue, resulting in Integral Development's ‘Environment Improvement Program’.

The Environment Improvement Program involves an audit of your organisation’s environmental and social performance across the four quadrants of the Integral map: Culture, Systems, Practices, and Values. This information is then used as the basis for a program of organisational change to build awareness and capabilities around the issue of sustainability and the environment.

The focus of the program for organisational change is to assist organisations to develop their capacity for change, providing a basis for integrating sustainability into core business practice and making the organisation more responsive to new challenges in the business environment.

As part of Integral Development's environmental focus, we are hosting a half-day workshop ‘Leading Ideas in Environmental Practice’, which will bring together leading practitioners in the field to present the latest environmental thinking on a range of topics including the built environment, organisational systems and environmental law. Also at this workshop, Integral Development will provide information on an Integral approach to environmental sustainability and our work in building this capability in organisations.

If you wish to attend the Leading Ideas in Environmental Practice half-day workshop or you would like to arrange a meeting with Ron Cacioppe or Simon Waller to discuss our Environment Improvement Program, please contact Lauren Kotze at Integral Development on 6304 8354.

Simon Waller holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Murdoch University, is completing further study in futures thinking at Curtin Graduate School of Business, and has extensive experience in the ownership and management of small and medium sized enterprises across a variety of industries. Simon has been developing Integral Development’s environmental tools and maps, and has a keen interest in implementing Integral environmental and social action within organisations.