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You can watch the introductory webinar about the REFOCUS program and why you should attend the workshop.

While there’s lots of progress to report, the reality is that many organizations, academic and otherwise, aren’t advancing fast enough to meet their sustainability goals. Functioning more sustainably may be considered a priority, but isn’t generally perceived to be essential to an organization’s success. It’s no wonder sustainability programs are typically given a mandate that isn’t intended to deeply affect how the organization functions. Instead, such mandates tend to focus mainly on implementing projects that generate incremental improvements across the triple-bottom-line. Leading a sustainability program with limited power or influence can feel like a slog but it doesn’t have to be. Sustainability leaders can accelerate progress by focusing their efforts on generating greater cross-organizational value, building influence and establishing the political will needed to expand the mandate of and investment in their sustainability program.  

During this 1.5 day workshop, participants will be introduced to REFOCUS: a leadership development program designed to enable practitioners to generate deep organizational change and establish sustainability as a strategic priority. The workshop is designed to highlight and make sense of the very broad set of topics and disciplines that are relevant for leading a transformational sustainability program. Specifically, this workshop experience will:

• Familiarize you with the anatomy of a transformational sustainability program.  
• Allow you to assess how well each aspect of how your sustainability program has been developed and is performing.
• Help you understand how to balance building new capabilities and generating systemic change, while consistently making the measurable improvements that are expected.
• Provide you with access to the REFOCUS online platform featuring a comprehensive guidebook and e-library with hundreds of resources that support deeper learning and application.
• Make you eligible to participate in a year-long, guided program to help you apply REFOCUS within your organization; participants who successfully fulfill all program participation expectations will earn a REFOCUS Applied Professional Certificate of Completion.

General Information

Dates: July 19^th (afternoon only) & July 20^th, 2018. The program starts at 1 p.m. on the 19^th and will end at 4:30 p.m. on the 20^th. All participants are asked to be present for the duration of the event
Location: Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5
Registration Fee: $450 (AASHE members), $550 (AASHE non-members) – Includes programming and meals (breakfast and lunch on July 20^th with light snacks on both dates)
Registration policies
Lodging: see below.
Event agenda
Registration Deadline: July 17, 2018

Register today to secure your spot!

Who Should Participate

The workshop is ideally suited to individuals leading a sustainability program on behalf of their institution.  Others with an interest in the overall management and development of the sustainability program are also encouraged to participate.  Because the workshop addresses sustainability from an organizational and leadership perspective, it is even more powerful when coworkers who have a relationship to the sustainability program accompany their sustainability program lead.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants should be able to:

• Identify why conventional sustainability approaches and methods generate incremental results.
• Distinguish the value executive leadership actually expects the sustainability program to generate in contrast to what the program’s mission/mandate officially states.
• Contextualize their organization as a complex system and its role within a larger and more complex system.
• Understand what is involved in engaging, empowering and collaboratively leading others to unleash collective potential.
• Recognize the key management levers that accelerate progress towards greater sustainability outcomes.

What others have said

The REFOCUS framework provides the necessary guidance to be truly successful by first structuring and leveraging best management practices. Designing and operating an effective program is not an easy task, and the tools to do so are significantly lacking, particularly in sustainability management. REFOCUS fills this void in a way that helps our business case and direction as sustainability professionals.

Claire Bennett, Manager, Sustainability Office – Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada

REFOCUS helps practitioners think critically about approaches to accelerate sustainability programming within an organization. The model helps practitioners account for many of the “intangibles” that are hard to measure and which ultimately enable or prevent progress.

Mat Thijssen, Sustainability Manager – University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

There is a fear that I don’t know the breadth of what I need to manage and so I could end up setting priorities incorrectly. The REFOCUS materials help that process immensely by providing details on the ideal approach and then guiding you through the application in your own institution.          

Karina Maynard, Sustainability Coordinator – Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada

About REFOCUS

REFOCUS is a non-profit co-operative that partners with NGOs and educational institutions to deliver an innovative methodology and intensive programming to sustainability leaders.  Founded on the principle that sustainability offers a more complete management lens with the potential to significantly advance how well organizations perform, REFOCUS uniquely delivers a complete roadmap for overcoming organizational barriers and operationalizing a transformational sustainability program. Rather than simply depicting an ideal end state, REFOCUS provides a flexible, iterative and self-reflective process for advancing a sustainability program over years, regardless of an organization’s core focus or current sustainability.

About the Facilitators

Randy Sa’d is a career management consultant, spending time with both multi-national and boutique firms.  For more than ten years, Randy has led an independent management consultancy successfully completing projects mainly focused on organizational sustainability for a range of private, institutional and non-profit sector clients.  More recently, Randy founded REFOCUS, a groundbreaking, non-profit co-operative with a proprietary methodology and educational program designed to enable leaders to develop transformational sustainability programs. Randy’s unique perspective on organizational sustainability has made him a sought-after speaker and lecturer, having engaged with dozens of professional and academic audiences across North America.  Randy graduated from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree, where he later sat for nearly a decade as Chair of the School’s Alumni Association.

Stephen Davies is Managing Director of Transformation by Design, a business design consultancy, and a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) with 30 years of experience.  He has led business design and IT-enabled transformation projects in organizational settings across a wide variety of sectors including financial services, retailing, utilities, government, not-for-profit, and technology. Mr. Davies is an Assistant Professor at OCAD University where he teaches Strategy Development and Business Model Innovation in the Strategic Foresight and Innovation program (Master of Design). Mr. Davies is a member of Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CAMC), and a member of Information Resource Management Association of Canada (IRMAC).  He served two years as IRMAC’s Programme Director (2000-2002), a year as Vice-President (2001-2002), a year as President (2002-2003), and a year as Past-President (2003-2004).

FAQ:

How will I get there?

Wilfred Laurier’s Waterloo campus is located in the thriving, culturally diverse community of Kitchener-Waterloo (KW). The campus is located in the heart of the city and is down the street from the University of Waterloo. Located one hour west of Toronto with a population of about 365,000, this university town is small enough to be safe and easy to get around, yet large enough to support the amenities and culture of a big city. View directions to the campus.

Where do I stay?

From May through August, Laurier offers affordable accommodations in its own campus residences. Individuals can stay in comfortable residences that suit any preference or budget. The Delta Hotel by Marriott is also conveniently located about a 20-minute walk from Laurier’s Waterloo campus and a 5-minute walk from Uptown Waterloo.

Do I need to rent a car?

No. A variety of options are available to get you to Waterloo. If you are flying into Pearson Airport in Toronto, the UP Express connects the airport to Union Station where you can catch the GO Train to Kitchener Waterloo. The Kitchener Train Station is a short cab or carshare ride away from Laurier’s Waterloo Campus. Car rental options are available depending on where you are arriving from.

Getting to know Wilfrid Laurier University

Creating a culture of sustainability on campus and beyond is a core commitment of Laurier, which is why the University is recognized as one of Canada’s leading institutions in sustainability. Laurier completed its first AASHE STARS assessment in 2010, achieving Bronze.  Its most recent STARS assessment in 2014 achieved Silver. This past fall we were honored to be named the most sustainable campus in Ontario and the third most sustainable in Canada in Corporate Knights Greenest Campuses in Canada index for 2017. To showcase our campus sustainability features, we will be offering a tour of the Waterloo campus to all conference participants that will focus on sustainability.

Any questions about the workshop?
Please contact Daita Serghi