Meaningful sustainability jobs

A second arena to make use of gained sustainability knowledge? An outlet for engagement, frustration, creativity, or sense of urgency? Door opener for meaningful opportunities? Or an energy-guzzling threat to work-life-balance? Patrick, Anja and Niklas were asked to share their experiences from engaging in sustainability activities outside their regular sustainability job: from politics, writing books, and activism.

Patrick, the politician

“I did not want to be someone standing on the outside complaining.”

Patrick has always found it strange how politics is regarded as something ugly. “Like politicians are power-mad potential dictators. If one has such a dystopic view, why even bother to try to influence? Isn’t it better to be onboard and decide directly?”

For more than a decade, Patrick was deeply involved in the green political party. He both had an internal role, as a chairman, and an external role where he wrote debate articles and attended school debates. “It was a lot of work. Many evening meetings per week. But it was meaningful and very social, and worked well for a long time. Until I had my first child.”

Patrick had to decide. “In politics you are either in or out. My choice was between becoming a full-time politician and candidate for the governmental election, or to leave politics and concentrate on my research career.” Patrick decided on research. Looking back, he feels like he took the right choice. “After I left, the party has struggled a lot. Not because I left of course, but it has lost support, governmental power and thereby also impact. In my research, on the other hand, I feel like my sustainability impact has increased in the years.”

In the 20 voices study where sustainability professionals were interviewed about where one can have the most sustainability impact, politics was the area most highlighted. Does Patrick think sustainability professionals have a specifically important role to play in politics? “Not necessarily. What is important is that many people are willing to engage. I have been in some situation where I clarified environmental questions, but most environmental themes in politics are quite straight-forward.” What about the other political parties then? Would it have more impact if sustainability professionals engaged there? Patrick answers that the problem is not that political parties lack environmental competence. The problem is that they do not prioritize the environment.  

Will Patrick ever go into politics again? He is sometimes tempted, but he knows that time is limited when having young children. “For a long time, I had two ways to contribute to a better world. In the end there was unfortunately only time for one.”

Anja, the writer

“A book is a door opener. It makes you visible.”

Why she decided to write? “It was a possibility for me to immerse myself into themes I wanted to know more about. Broad questions, that did not have to belong to a defined research field or be in the research front.” Anja has a strong curiosity for environmental issues but her research career was heading down a lane with diminishing sustainability-focus. The writing helped her getting on a meaningful track.

“Writing books feels more meaningful to me than writing scientific articles. I reach a lot more people.” Because of the books, Anja is also invited to hold lectures and sit in committees that give advice to the government. At her workplace, in her university job, Anja develops and teaches sustainability courses to natural science students. “The students are often interested in more than just the numbers. They appreciate learning how their field relates to society and the system. To learn to think differently.” Which has the most sustainability impact? The writing or the teaching? Anja refuses to speculate, as she is a proper researcher and there is “no scientific way to compare the impact”.

Anja could have quit her university job and become a full-time writer. But there are several reasons why she doesn’t. “I would have had to view my writing way more commercially. Would it still be as meaningful?” She also believes that her writer credibility benefits from her professional university role. And she likes having more than one economic leg to stand on. Her university job has also become more meaningful to her through the writing, as she can be pickier and less career oriented.

I ask Anja how she manages both to have a job and to write books. Doesn’t writing take a lot of time? “I have gotten scholarships for the books, which means that I have some months with reduced hours in the university job. Still, the job suffers somewhat from the writing. It is a pity that it takes time to do things well. It would be great to be both a star researcher and an incredible writer, but I prioritize what gives me the most energy. In the long run it is better for myself and those around me.”  

Niklas, the activist

“I identify myself as an activist, but I have started to question the term. It has gained such a negative connotation and I want to be a positive force.”

Niklas’ activist engagement started by taking part in various demonstrations and petitions. He did not suddenly become an activist; he had somehow always been one. Extinction Rebellion emerged in a time when Niklas, as so many others, felt an urge to organize. “People had had enough and wanted to be more radical. To disrupt instead of just demonstrating.”

For several years, Niklas took part in Extinction Rebellion activities such as disturbing traffic by biking slowly through the city. Over time, he got more engaged with what he calls ‘back-office activism’ where focus is on sharing competence and talking to journalists. “Being anti is not so constructive. When people are frustrated, many tend to demonstrate it in a confrontational way. It has become more attractive to me to be the sort of activist that collaborates.”

What kind of sustainability impact does Niklas feel that he has in his activist role? And what kind in his job as a researcher at a research institute? For Niklas, there is no clear distinction between the two. In both roles he works with demonstrating the advantages of more sustainable alternatives to organize society. It feels very satisfying to him that both his paid job and his activism align with his values. His activism inspires his curiosity at work. His researcher role provides legitimacy and leverage. It has not caused problems for him to be open with his activism at the workplace. 

Niklas thinks that he has found a good balance between work, activism and spare time. He does not feel that it is challenging to adjust time spent on activism when other responsibilities require it. I ask him what the potential impact would be if all sustainability professionals would engage in activism. “The most important thing is that many engage, not that those necessarily have sustainability competence. Then again, using your acquired sustainability competence outside a pure work context is a very powerful force for change.”