Supporting policy towards sustainability

Sustainability: everyone knows it's 'a good thing', but equally, everyone has a different understanding of sustainability, what needs to be tackled first, and how to achieve change. This chapter uses a range of UK policy development experiences at national, regional and local levels, working in executive and non-executive roles, to offer routes for influencing effectively. The chapter outlines three central lessons: first, do not start with what you think is important and the vital evidence that you have laboured long and hard to gather and understand; start instead with spending time to understand what matters to the people you are trying to influence. Second, assume that whoever you are working with wants to be more sustainable, so your job is to help them. Third, recognise that influencing is not a neat linear process, in the same way that achieving sustainability is not a neat linear process, so be prepared to be flexible and adaptable in helping others achieve your shared goals