Written By: Jennifer Hedayat, Environmental Engineering and Western Canada Internal Sustainability Lead for AMEC Environment & Infrastructure

I breathed a sigh of relief when I was informed there was one compact sized rental car left, as I had been pondering the irony of arriving at a Sustainability course in a full size vehicle. As I travelled to what would be three days of intense learning and inspiration, those feelings of motivation and purpose (of the “I can change the world” variety) that I had during The Natural Step Level 1 course returned, and I was eager to be one of the 18 fortunate and diverse participants in the Level II course. The location could not have been more appropriate; expansive windows offering the never-gets-old view of the Rockies, that can inspire anyone from a pessimist to Picasso, a menu of vegetarian and gluten free options served with an obvious passion for food and pride in presentation, and demonstrated value for the environment in operations - a perfect foundation for building sustainability frameworks and thought-provoking discussion.

As a self-declared non-planner, the first icebreaker was a challenge for me - mapping out a timeline of “What Brought Us Here”. For myself, along with many others, our sustainability journeys started unbeknownst to us as children, thanks to a mentor or unique experience. For others, it was ignited by the careful and honest pondering of their own children. For all, it was a sense of responsibility to make a necessary and important change, and not continue along the path of being incrementally “less bad”.

Our “Building Buy-In” activities on Day 1 allowed me to write an uplifting elevator pitch that I may one day give to an Executive (albeit, not while in my spandex shorts after cycling to work), and have a practical discussion on strategies to handle objections. Even for this non-planner, planning ahead for objections really made sense! A review of Bob Willard’s practices reminded me how fortunate we are to have such fantastic leaders and mentors in this still somewhat virgin territory of sustainability, and a discussion of human needs reminded me that my interest and experience in international development certainly is not mutually exclusive to sustainability. Our human sculpture depicting “the good life” was not only a refreshing end to Day 1, but also excellent foreshadowing of the many creative opportunities woven throughout the course, including a cover of the Beatles -“We All Live for Sustainability” - that although without the trademark shaggy hair, could have easily been a chart topper!

Day 2 dove into the “Science of Sustainability” with a detailed view and discussion of the sustainability principles. This certainly appealed to my engineer brain, and re-affirmed how logical and practical the The Natural Step framework is.

As with all things good, the end approached too quickly, and Day 3 was upon us with discussions of Organizational Readiness Assessments, Sustainability Road Mapping and facilitation tips and tricks. The pieces of this intricate puzzle were arranged, and I felt refreshed and well equipped to charge ahead and be a key player in AMEC’s journey to sustainability.

Through many invigorating discussions over meals, in each break or while clambering up Sulphur Mountain, we had learned just as much from each other as we had from the course itself. I was both inspired by others’ challenges and successes as I was humbled by what lies ahead for us all. More importantly, I was reminded that regardless of where in the world we approach these challenges, we are truly all in it together. Our facilitators, Chad and Pong, were exceedingly patient, genuinely interested and committed, and for this, I am thankful to them.

As I drove back to Calgary and my real world sustainability challenges, I was full of energy, motivation and enthusiasm with the necessary tools and strategies to guide these feelings to a meaningful impact.