7th i.s.l.e. meeting: further analysis on outcomes of wp4 questionnaire

REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF

THE FURTHER ANALYSIS OF THE OUTCOMES OF THE

WP 4 QUESTIONNAIREEXPLOITATION MEETING UK

23-27 APRIL 2012

“Professional Practice and Sustainable Development”- SURVEY

CountryTotal records in

survey full responsesincomplete

responses no of survey's sent:AUSTRIA 85 45 40 430+?

BELGIUM 0 0 0

BULGARIA 26 15 11 15 + ?

CYPRUS 10 5 5

CZECH REP. 0 0 0 10

DENMARK 0 0 0

ESTONIA 72 25 47 818

FINLAND 0 0 0 0

FRANCE 29 12 17

GERMANY 29 13 16

GREECE 18 10 8 18

HUNGARY 8 6 2 21+?

ICELAND 0 0 0 0

IRELAND 5 0 5 5

ITALY 33 22 11 100

LATVIA 0 0 0

LUXEMBOURG 26 14 12 127

MALTA 3 1 2 5

NETHERLANDS 364 150 214 6000

NORWAY 10 5 5 35 + university (4000)

POLAND 5 3 2 50

PORTUGAL 30 23 7 200

ROMANIA 32 22 10 300

SLOVAK REP. 9 5 4 9

SLOVENIA 22 9 13

SPAIN 45 28 17 726

SWEDEN 48 15 33

TURKEY 0 0 0 0

UK 30 16 14 379

TOTAL 939 444 495

Percentages (Total) 100% 0.47284345 0.52715655


Response


The quality of the data:

Although we have a good number of data they are not representative


Aim Questionnaire:

1. to clarify the needs of the labour market in order to adjust higher education

2. To investigate in which fields new jobs are expected be created ( this in relation to the outcomes of the Professionalization fair in Lisbon)

Additional aim:3. Compare the needs of the labour market on competences to what Universities offer ( WP4<->WP2)

Ad 1. Main questions to clarify the needs of the labour market:- What are the SD issues companies are working on now- What are the SD issues they expect to work on in 5 years- Which SD competences are important when recruiting:

+ General competences+ Knowledge+ Skills

- How much practical experience on SD does a student need



Methodology: steps taken•Make the data base suitable for further statistical analysis•Do a multivariable analysis with the questions about the SD issues and the competences related to the country, size and the sector of activity of the companies/ organizations •Do a single variable analysis for the different factors •Make a regrouping of the competences so outcomes of WP 4 and WP 2 can be compared

Outcomes:


Analysis of Variance (ANOVA): significant outcomes with respect to single factors (SD issues, Competences, Knowledge, Skills, Category of Company, Size of Company) but no significant effects of interaction between factors.For example: the score assigned to SD issues is not significantly influenced by the category or the size of the companies that replied to the questionnaire. The same with respect to Competences, Knowledge and Skill.For this reason single or principal effects are considered and showed in the following slides.

Outcomes:


Single variable analysis:•SD issues: Which are more/ less important•Category of companies: deviation from the mean•Competences: Which are more/ less important


Sustainable Development issues.

SD1 Energy efficiency

SD6 Renewable resources

SD5 Efficient use of natural resources

SD10 Waste reduction

SD11 Emission reduction

SD4 Reduced water consumption and water re-use

SD2 CO2 neutral operations

SD3 Sustainable procurement

SD15 Rethinking the business by using SD as a principle

SD16 SD as means to improve business opportunities

SD9 Prevention of damage to biodiversity

SD13 Corporate social responsibility

SD14 Sustainable Supply chain

SD12 Development of SD products and services for clients

SD8 Scarcity of raw materials

SD7 Organic farming

Outcomes



Results show that the most important SD issues for companies now and in five years are : •Energy efficiency•Efficient use of natural resources•Renewable resources•Waste reduction

And the less important are: •Organic farming•Scarcity of raw materials


Importance of SD issues now and in 5 years/ categories of companies/ organizations


• Only for the categories Nature and Social the SD issues will be of high importance now and in the future

• For Administration and Education they will become more important in the future .

• For the other categories it will stay more or less the same in the future as it is now

Conclusions


Mean score = 4,03

General competences


Competences decription

C4 Future orientation

C7 Action and practical skills

C2 Emotional intelligence and communication

C1 Social responsibility

C6 Personal involvement

C3 System orientation

C5 Global awareness

Conclusion


Most important general skills•Future orientation•Action and practical skills•Emotional intelligence and communication

Least important general skills:•Personal involvement•System orientation•Global awareness

Of which the last is considered significantly less important.


Q 20.1 KNOWLEDGE

Mean score = 3,46


K1Triple P bottom line/ Brundtland report /Basic knowledge of SD

K10 Gross national product (GNP)K11 Environmental justiceK12 Ecological economicsK13 EcosystemsK14 GlobalizationK15 Human rightsK16 Natural resources and biodiversityK17 Supply chainsK18 Value chainsK19 Social responsibilityK2 Niche marketsK20 Social JusticeK21 Eco system servicesK22 EfficiencyK23 ExternalitiesK3 Basic principles of natural systemsK4 Business modelsK5 Carbon footprintK6 EconomicsK7 Ecological IntegrityK8 EnvironmentK9 Environmental Management systems

Conclusion:


Most important Knowledge:•Triple P bottom line/ Brundtland report /Basic knowledge of SD•Gross national product (GNP)•Environmental justice•Ecological economics•EcosystemsLeast important Knowledge:• Ecological Integrity• Environment• Environmental Management systems


Q 20.2Skills

Mean score = 3,47


Skill decriptionS15 EfficiencyS19 Leadership skillsS18 Sustainability planningS14 Effective communicationS2 Analysis of environmental problemsS6 System’s thinkingS17 Influencing the organizationS10 Designing sustainable systemsS11 Life cycle analysisS16 Indicators and indexesS12 Ecological footprintS8 Full cost accountingS7 Business caseS4 Socially responsible investing (STI)S13 Economic restructuringS1 Pollution prevention programme likes P2S5 Pollution tradingS9 The 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) of marketingS3 Cap and trade

Conclusions


• Economic restructuring• Pollution prevention programme likes P2• Pollution trading• The 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) of marketing• Cap and trade


14. How much practical experience on SD do you think a student should have during his studies?


16. Do you expect to create new jobs in your company/ organization related to SD?

Ad 2. New jobs

New Jobs


New jobs: conclusions


• The majority of the companies don’t expect that new jobs will be developed. This is also the reaction we had on the Professionalization fair in Lisbon.

• However for the jobs they expect to create we can see a development that SD-jobs on managerial level will decrease and will increase in the executive departments.


Ad 3. Compare the needs of the labour market on competences to what Universities offer ( WP4<->WP2)

• Regrouping of competences WP and WP 2 in order to match offer and demand

• NB general competences remained the same


Knowledge regrouped

Knowledge regrouped


K 2 ECOLOGYK 3 HOW TO ANALYSE ENVIRONMENTALIMPACTSK 4 HOW TO REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTSK 6 VALUE OF NATUREK 1 GENERAL SD KNOWLEDGEK 7 SOCIAL ASPECTS OF SDK 5 ECONOMICS

Skills regrouped


Skills regrouped


S 1 ANALYSING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTSS 7 LEADERSHIP AND TEAMWORKS 6 IMPLEMENTING SUSTAINABILITYS 4 ECONOMIC OPTIMIZATIONS 5 COMMUNICATINGS 2 REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTSS 3 POLLUTION TRADING


KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS by COUNTRIES

Conclusions


• Companies in countries in the red rectangle on the right top corner consider Knowledge and skills on SD more important than the average

• Companies in the red rectangle in the left hand corner below consider Knowledge and skills on SD less important than the average

Our database doesn’t contain the data to explain these difference so more research or a dialogue with the companies in your own country may shed more light on this.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS by CATEGORIES OF COMPANIES



KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS BY SIZE OF THE COMPANIES


COMPETENCES WP 4<-> WP 2COMPARED

19 GENERAL COMPETENCES

G1. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

G2. SYSTEM ORIENTATION

G3. FUTURE ORIENTATION

20.1. Knowledge

K 1 GENERAL SD KNOWLEDGE

K 2 ECOLOGY (not present)

K 3 HOW TO ANALYSE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

K 4 HOW TO REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

K 5 ECONOMICS

K 6 VALUE OF NATURE

K 7 SOCIAL ASPECTS OF SD

20.2. Skills

S 1 ANALYSING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

S 2 REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

S 3 POLLUTION TRADING

S 4 ECONOMIC OPTIMIZATION

S 5 COMMUNICATING

S 6 IMPLEMENTING SUSTAINABILITY

S 7 LEADERSHIP AND TEAMWORK

ALL COMPETENCES

Final Conclusions 1


General competences:The general competences with * were part of the questionnaire of WP2 the other competences were not considered in WP 2: •Future orientation*, Social responsibility*, System orientation*•Action and practical skills•Emotional intelligence and communication•Personal involvement•Global awareness

Skills:•Ecology was not considered in the WP 2 competencesKnowledge:All knowledge competences were considered .

Final Conclusions 2


1. Companies adhere more importance to all SD competences than Universities2. G3 Future Orientation and G1 Social responsibility are considered the most

important general competences both by Universities and Companies. For Companies these are much more important than for universities.

3. Companies further consider: G2 System orientation very important and S1 Analysing environmental impacts. The most important Knowledge competence is: K4: how to reduce environmental impact closely followed by K3: Analysing environmental impact. Also S7 Leadership skills is scored more than average.

4. Universities consider K3; Analysing environmental impact the most important competence together with K7: social aspects of SD as a close second.

RecommendationsWP 4 workgroup


• Our data give an indication of what professional practice in Europe considers to be important SD issues and competences.

• We suggest that a further dialogue between universities and professional practice is started on the subjects covered in our questionnaire, to shed light on e.g. the differences between countries and between categories.

• We would like to suggest to WP 2 to make a self use on line shortened version of the WP 2 questionnaire for staff. Preferably while using the regrouped SD-competences and on the categories of professional practice we developed.

• Make a similar shortened version of WP 4 on line questionnaire. So universities can monitor their own progress and that of professional practice.

• > 50 % of the respondents prefer that students to have between 3 and 12 months of practical experience on SD. We recommend that ISLE partners offer each others students possibilities to get this experience.

Finally• We have worked very well as a team: everybody contributed from their own

field of expertise.• We had a core team that worked very hard and motivated during the whole

project period and others that joined us for a little while where their work and our work ran parallel and others that helped to share the work and their knowledge and expertise

• We have worked as a multidisciplinary team and have developed our own knowledge and skills not only in the field of sustainable development but also in the field of statistics, intercultural collaboration etc.

• We feel that having operationalized our own aims and having organized our own work processes within the task set by the framework of the project have enhanced our pleasure and expertise by working on project aims/deliverables. We would like to recommend this methodology for future use both in the project and the association: set concrete aims and go for it!!

• We are not ready yet. You can expect a report/ scientific article on the conclusions and the process of our workpackage.

Thank you for your attention


7th i.s.l.e. meeting: further analysis on outcomes of wp4 questionnaire

Technology

sd competences

sd issues companies

single factors sd issues

importantprofessional

outcomes of wp

significant outcomes

labour market

multivariable analysis