Since a good two months, I am pursuing a long-lived dream. I am partaking in a Master’s programme on Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability, at Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, a small town in the south-eastern corner of Sweden.
One of the best features is the diversity of the class – we come from 30 countries and a wide range of backgrounds.
A classmate, Nat Koloc (from the US), gives a short impression of what the programme entails:
The programme is designed to give its graduates context for perspective and tools that relate to sustainability, especially as the landscape of initiatives and programs becomes more advanced, nuanced, and fragmented. The programme resolves around two pillars: a framework for strategic sustainable development and planning in complex systems on the one hand, and organisational learning and leadership on the other. The strategic sustainability part is also known as The Natural Step Framework, and applied at hundreds of companies around the world to strategically plan their journey towards sustainability.
The result is a deep understanding of the challenges we face, how our organisations should develop their response, and how to help facilitate that process. From a change-making perspective, it’s a real powerhouse of skills. MSLS alumni around the world are demonstrating that, working in all sectors for organizations and institutions in transition.
Another classmate of mine, Maarten Dankers (from Canada), describes the experience of this year in the following way:
‘Take 70 people from all over the world, plunk them in a sleepy town in a far-flung corner of Sweden, put them in a pressure cooker for 9 months, then see what happens.’
Over the next couple of months, expect articles, reflections, and thoughts, related to this programme, on topics of organisational learning and leadership, strategic sustainability, and the learning journey we’re all part of.
