When I joined ABN AMRO Bank in Amsterdam in 2001, I felt a strong disconnect between my values and purpose and those of the financial/corporate sector. I joined with the intent to influence the company to integrate the "triple bottom line" or social, environmental and economic dimensions into the organisation by working from within the system. At the beginning I felt quite lonely on the journey, until I met a colleague, responsible for developing the bank's first social and environmental risk sector policy, who was also passionate about integrating sustainability into the bank’s processes. Together we set up a self-organising community of change agents, now known within the organisation as The Change Community. The purpose of the community is: "to live, plant and support action at ABN AMRO towards more meaningful and inspiring work/life." Using processes such as circle, Open Space and World Café, the community meets regularly and holds a large gathering approximately every six months to engage in dialogue, reflection and action towards the core purpose. Members take responsibility for developing initiatives that contribute to achieving the core purpose.

Since moving to Brazil to work with ABN AMRO Real, the community has expanded, engaging a greater number of employees in issues of importance to the organisation and society such as diversity, work-life balance, bringing your values to work and sustainable development. Since the beginning, Engage!Interact has provided support in shaping the community and facilitating the regular meetings and large gatherings.

In Brazil, I have continued my journey as a change agent for sustainability within the private sector and continue to work on integrating sustainable development in the organisation. With a president who is very committed to this goal, I find myself in a very fortunate position with the liberty and responsibility to challenge the existing system and create the new, building on the foundation and the many initiatives set up since 2000. Using my experience with the change community, I set up a sustainability network, creating a community of sustainability champions who come together to exchange ideas and dilemmas with the intent to support the integration of sustainable development in the organisation. I have also been involved in developing and facilitating a number of educational initiatives around sustainability such as a regular one-day workshop on sustainability and sessions with leading speakers/practitioners for senior executives.

While at ABN AMRO, I also did the MSc. in Responsibility and Business Practice at the University of Bath, UK. In my final dissertation I inquired into, experimented with and reflected on a number of questions: Who am I and how did I come to care? What is my worldview and what sense do I make of the world we are living in? What is my connection to the planet and how do I try to live sustainably? What are the limits to growth and how can companies learn from living systems to operate within these limits? What is my experience as a change agent for sustainability working from within the system? What power sources do I have and use as a young change agent? and How do I take care of myself along this journey?

"The human world is beyond its limits. The present way of doing things is unsustainable. The future, to be viable at all, must be one of drawing back, easing down, healing."

- Meadows, Meadow, Randers: Beyond the Limits, Global Collapse or Sustainable Future, 1992: xv

The questions that are most with me today are: How can we make the shift from a dominant paradigm of unlimited unsustainable growth towards a system that contributes to the sustainable development of our planet and her people? and How can I develop a better equilibrium between my inner and outer focuses - becoming more centred, giving me the inner strength and wisdom to act more effectively in the world?

As part of my final dissertation, I put together a list of tips for other young change agents who are passionate about and committed to working for sustainability (see below). A full copy of my final dissertation can be found on the Pioneers of Change website.

Tips for other young change agents for sustainability    

• Keep in mind that the current economic system is only 400 years old. It was created by man so it can be changed by us as well.    
• Know that you are part of a growing movement and group of people who care about sustainability – connect with them.    
• Be true to your values and beliefs.    
• Keep your own identity.    
• Ask open and challenging questions to superiors and peers.    
• Step forward with confidence.    
• Be comfortable with uncertainty.    
• Create support networks internally.    
• Find the senior level champions and build good informal relationships with them.    
• Keep senior executives in the loop. Ask for their advice and input. Respect their wisdom and experience.    
• Create support networks externally. A good network is Pioneers of Change.    
• Bring the outside world in to support you and to bring in the credibility and expertise that you may lack.    
• Take care of yourself.    
• Create spaces for meaningful conversation.    
• Take action, even if it is from the margins in the beginning.    
• Help others see a different worldview.    
• Put sustainability on meeting, workshop and conference agendas.    
• Connect with other initiatives.    
• Be tempered. Be radical.    
• Don’t be afraid to lose your job. There are many jobs out there for people like you with courage to stand up for your beliefs.    
• Keep in mind that you are part of a movement to create the new system. Include and transcend the old system to create the new.    
• Laugh at the absurdities of the old system.    
• Find a mentor (inside or outside).    
• Make links between sustainability and the strategy and formal goals, systems and processes of the organisation.    
• Develop your ideas and present them wherever you can.    
• Don’t give up – continue raising questions about sustainability – trust yourself.    
• Have fun and enjoy the journey.    
• Share your learning with others.    
• Spread your passion and commitment.

The journey is not always easy but a deep belief that we can change the systems and organisations we have created guides me. I also feel supported by the many other Pioneers around the world who are on similar journeys, working to create a better world.

"The desire and capacity are arising in more and more people today as, out of deep concern for what is happening to our world, they begin to speak and act on its behalf."

- Joanna Macy: World as Lover, World as Self, 1991: 184

e-mail Christel Scholten

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