Sustainability Leadership Labs.

The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) Labs bring together professionals to test and challenge cutting-edge responses to global problems.

The Sustainability Leadership Labs offer an opportunity to learn from and network with other senior practitioners from different industries and sectors. The immersive two-day programme includes elements of co-creation, group activity, journaling and reflection time, peer to peer coaching and pair work. Participants will leave the course having created a personal leadership plan that they can then put into practice.

Read more about the Sustainability Leadership Labs, and details about fees and applications.

“The Leadership Lab at Cambridge has been a spectacular experience for me both personally and professionally. It allowed me to look beyond my work and get insights from academics and businesses including startups on their experience in the implementation of Sustainability.”

Vaishali Baid, Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, German Chancellor Fellow

The challenge

There is growing public expectation that businesses must step up and take responsibility for delivering positive outcomes for society and the environment. The commercial case for business responsibility and action is increasingly clear.

Whilst many traditional leadership approaches focus on helping leaders succeed within current economic and social systems, CISL's Leadership Lab helps to equip delegates to shape those systems for the future. 

Rewiring leadership for high impact

This Lab invites participants to develop a shared vision for ambitious leadership to drive the change needed to reconcile commercial success with wider societal outcomes. In identifying the key leadership dilemmas faced in such transformation, the Lab explores the values, thinking and practice needed to achieve meaningful impact, grappling with key questions such as:

• How should we define leadership ‘impact’ so that it reflects the most urgent challenges facing the economy, society and the environment?
• What role does ‘purpose’ play at an individual and organisational level in achieving that impact?
• What knowledge and skills are needed to maximise leadership impact?
• How can we build collective capacity for change beyond a single ‘hero’ leader?
• How can leaders remain adaptive, innovative and resilient as they navigate complex dilemmas and challenges?

“The two day residential laboratory at Madingley Hall provided me with the academic guidance, peer feedback, space and surroundings to reflect upon my own leadership purpose, and it’s alignment to that of my organisation. As a consequence of attending the Leadership Laboratory I have been selected to develop a Leadership Training Course for a Graduate Trainee Programme at my organisation”

Dr Alex Blanchard, Environmental Safety Leader, Syngenta Group

Learn from industry experts and thought leaders

The programme features speakers from a range of backgrounds including academics, experts in their fields and senior business leaders. Contributors for this Lab include:

• Dame Jo da Silva, Director, Arup International Development
• Zoë Arden, Fellow, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
• Matt Bell, Corporate Affairs Leader
• Elspeth Donovan, Deputy Director, South Africa Office, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
• Dr Louise Drake, Academic Tutor and Course Director, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
• Patricia Dwyer, Founder & Director, The Purpose Business
• Dr Matthew Grimes, Reader In Organisational Theory And Information Systems, Cambridge Judge Business School
• Dr Victoria Hurth, Senior Associate, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
• Lysa John, Secretary General, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
• Andreas Lambropoulos, Head of Strategic Initiatives, BNP Paribas
• Will O'Connor, Commercial Director, Vision Express
• Ragil Ratnam, Leader Advisor & Executive Coach, Pure Growth Asia
• Dr Alexandra Stubbings, Managing Director, Talik & Company Ltd

Who should attend?

This Lab is designed for individuals in business who are seeking to enhance their impact in wider society, including those working in management and strategy roles, those working in sustainability/CSR roles looking to refine their leadership capabilities, and those with responsibility for developing new leadership capabilities within their organisation (eg L&D, HR).

“Transformational change is inevitable, but the outcome of that change is in our hands. And if there is one factor that will determine whether the transition will ultimately prove positive or negative, it is the leadership we create to drive and shape it.”

Lindsay Hooper, Executive Director, Education, CISL

Benefits of attending

During this highly interactive programme you will explore what ‘high impact’ leadership looks like in the light of pressing economic, social and environmental pressures and opportunities. There will be opportunities to engage with problem-based learning exercises with the goal of deepening understanding of and solutions to some of the key leadership challenges.

The programme includes elements of co-creation, group activity, journaling and reflection time, peer to peer coaching and pair work. Participants leave the programme having created a personal leadership plan that they can then put into practice.

By participating, you will:

• Explore what ‘high impact’ leadership looks like in the light of pressing economic, social and environmental pressures and opportunities
• Share insights into key dilemmas facing leaders in bringing about transformative change, and start identifying the essential leadership capabilities to navigate these dilemmas
• Reflect together on purpose, values and worldviews, and what it looks like to align personal purpose with your professional and wider societal goals
• Experiment with strategies and tools for influencing and inspiring others
• Explore what it looks like to nurture collective capacity for change
• Participate in building resilience and capacity to adapt.
• Engage with problem-based learning exercises with the goal of deepening understanding of and solutions to some of the key leadership challenges. These may include long terms vs short term thinking, misalignment between personal purpose and organisational purpose; and resistance to change or a clash in diverse values.

Keynote lecture, 22 February

As part of the Lab, Dame Jo da Silva, Global Sustainable Development Leader at Arup, will deliver the keynote lecture.

Jo will share her own leadership journey and reflect on how to be a resilient and authentic leader, the importance of mentors and the need for courage and conviction to succeed. She will discuss her journey as an intrapreneur and her organisation’s people strategy ‘Be human, be a leader, be Arup’.

Dame Jo da Silva OBE FREng FICE FIStructE DTech, Global Sustainable Development Leader at Arup

Jo is Global Sustainable Development Leader at Arup, and also an Arup Fellow and Director, International Development. She is also currently Acting Director, Resilience Shift a globalprogramme supported by Lloyds Register Foundation developing knowledge and tools to promote resilience of critical infrastructure. Jo has been responsible for infrastructure projects and urban programmes in Europe, Asia and Africa working with private and public-sector partners, as well as international agencies including World Bank, Asia Development Bank, and Department for International Development. She has authored numerous publications, and her work with the United Nations and international non-governmental agencies in humanitarian response and re-construction has been widely recognised, as has her work with the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Rockefeller Foundation on community and city resilience. She is qualified as a civil and structural engineer and received an honorary doctorate in humanitarian engineering from Coventry University. Jo spent 5 years as a part-time Fellow at Sydney Sussex, Cambridge University lecturing in Engineering for Sustainable Development and contributing as guest Faculty for the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership. She has been awarded an Order of British Empire and received the Gold Medal by the Institution of Structural Engineers. Just recently Jo received a Damehood as part of the Queens New Year Honours List for her contribution to humanitarian relief.

Further information, application and fees

Applications to the Leadership Lab are now open. You can apply here. Acceptance is by application and selection only. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with places offered at regular intervals.

To accommodate the uncertainty around travel during the pandemic, this Lab is being offered as an entirely virtual workshop. Attending virtually still requires a commitment of time to attend all sessions ‘live’ in GMT timing. Candidates attending virtually will be entitled to a fee discount equivalent to the direct cost of accommodation and subsistence.

In order to facilitate attendance, there are differential fees with discounts available for applicants from NGOs, the public sector, academia, self-funders and those based in developing countries.

There are group discounts available for organisations sending multiple participants, as well as individuals attending multiple Labs.

For further information, details of entry requirements, fees and how to apply, please visit our main Sustainability Leadership Labs page.

Join the Lab to become part of a learning community exploring what purposeful and impactful leadership looks like in a dynamic global context. Download the flyer and apply here.