Therese works in public sector, in a city administration. Engineer by education. She has worked as a sustainability professional for twenty years and is in her mid-forties.
“I think it goes to slow everywhere, so I constantly try out new roles and workplaces”
When Therese chose university degree, she did not go for what interested her the most. She asked herself: “how can I have the most impact possible?” Coming from what she calls “a biology family,” she had developed an urge from an early age to help the nature. “I became an engineer as a strategic choice,“ Therese says. But she discovered that engineering was not enough. She complemented with economics to get a deeper understanding of the rationale behind human interventions. Since then, Therese’s search for ways to make a difference has become symptomatic for all her career choices. “I think it goes to slow everywhere, so I constantly try out new roles and workplaces.”
Currently, Therese works in an environmental support function to the city administration. “We function as a thorn in the side for the different departments. We maintain an awareness about environmental goals, through for example that we evaluate progress.” Therese feels like her work contributes to sustainability. But sometimes the indirectness of the impact bothers her. “The other departments are supposed to find their own ways to materialize the environmental goals. We are not supposed to make too clear recommendations or cooperate too much.” Therese can also find the nature of interaction inefficient. “We communicate with the politicians through reports, there is no direct dialogue or discussion. I am sure there is a logic in that way of working, but it makes it challenging to work with complex issues.”
Therese applied for a job in the city administration because she was attracted to the ambitious environmental goals. In her earlier job as a researcher, she felt like a lot of valuable knowledge was developed. “But did any action come out of it?” In her current workplace she is in a position to observe just that. And she has also been able to observe that results from her earlier research projects actually have been implemented. “I noticed that the research I had done had more impact than I had thought,” she reflects.
Therese also has experience from a workplace where she worked with administrating collaboration between sustainability professionals. “I made it possible for others to find solutions, but I did not find solutions myself. Maybe that is why I eventually left that workplace.” I ask Therese why she has never tried working in industry. “It is an idealistic thing. I don’t want to be controlled by quarterly reporting. But maybe such thoughts are just preconceptions. Now I see that companies act in a very different way than they did before.”
Since Therese has reflected so much about roles and workplaces where a sustainability professional can maximize impact, I am curious to hear what she has found out. “In my view, it depends more on the person than the sector. Really progressive people, that are not only loud but who make sure things happen, can have much impact. Driven, enthusiastic people, who can inspire and create cooperation. Communication is really important. If you can take your profession and explain to others what it means for them in their sector, that is what makes a difference. A researcher who is only within the research sphere has limited impact.”
Therese has learnt that it is very much up to herself. “Of course your work environment can create advantages or disadvantages. But you need to take responsibility for your conditions. There are limits to how much one can push when one only experiences obstacles, but it is sometimes a bit too easy to think that the system does not work.” Therese believes that if someone doubts the usefulness of their work, they should spend more time on investigating exactly that. “It is a pity if it takes you two years to find out that the question you set out to answer was not relevant, or that your work in reality only contributes to greenwashing.”
How is a person affected by a twenty-year long search for making a difference and never finding the perfect solution? Therese does not become so frustrated that she has regretted her career path. “A colleague once said: it is at least good that we work with these questions. That we are constructive. That we try.”
Meaningful sustainability jobs 