The Sustainability Decathlon…

Whilst glued to the telly, watching the coverage of the Olympics over the weekend, I started to wonder whether sustainable development could take a few pointers from the Games. Or rather, one game in particular; the decathlon.

I also started wondering what the carbon footprint of the torch is - but I'll shelve that one for now.

The decathlon is described by Wikipedia as '...an athletic event combining ten track and field events testing speed, strength, skill, endurance and perseverance. The winner is determined by the combined performance in all and is traditionally given the title of 'The World's Greatest Athlete'. So rather than the winner being decided on the basis of excellence in one particular field, glory is awarded to those who excel accross the board.

Often when we think about sustainability we focus on one thing - one behaviour we commit to change, one target we strive to smash. This kind of approach means we can focus our efforts and achieve a big impact in our chosen area - a giant reduction in energy, a totally ethical supply chain, a huge cut in journeys by flight. But it ocurred to me that a better route (if more challenging, with less immediate gratification) could be a decathlon approach to sustainable development.

The decathlon principle, which celebrates the all-rounder, means focussing on improving in a number of areas. This will have a greater positive environmental and social impact, which lasts the distance.

This links back to one of Futerra’s 10 rules for communicating sustainable development – remember the bigger picture and demonstrate long term thinking. You could halve your energy consumption but you might still be taking a gazillion gas guzzling flights every year.

To get gold in this arena you’ll need a holistic game plan which takes a decathlon approach to sustainability.

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