A day in the life of a Master's in Sustainability Leadership student
15 November 2024 – Kristin Edie, Vice President, Enterprise Sustainability at Hallmark and student on the Master’s in Sustainability Leadership, shares her experience of studying the programme and details what a day looks like during one of her residential workshops in Cambridge, UK.
My day begins with... waking up in the dormitories at Robinson College and having an English breakfast in the college restaurant with fellow students. We talk about our dissertation topics, research progress and families back home. We leave the restaurant and walk to the West Hub where our workshop is taking place. There is always so much to talk about since we saw each other at the last workshop, and the exercise really freshens our minds for learning.
The workshop starts with… a Spotlight on Nature session about sustainable agriculture. This session focuses on the importance of taking a collaborative approach to sustainability leadership. Culture change, policy change, developing new economic models and empowering people are all part of effective sustainability leadership.
Between sessions… students are eager to network with each other over refreshments. I enjoy hearing their unique perspectives on the morning’s speakers. Because the students have so many varied lived experiences around the globe, their comments make me think differently about the nature topics shared in the morning session. There are several students from the Flexible Route at this workshop that I haven’t met before, so this is a great opportunity to meet them and hear how they are progressing on their alternative journey to the Masters award.
After lunch we… hear from a speaker from a conservation non-profit, Fauna & Flora. They share their mission to partner with businesses on initiatives to conserve nature. We discuss the importance of non-profits in the sustainability arena, as they help establish standards and ensure credibility of nature related goals and projects.
In addition, we hear from MSt in Sustainability Leadership alumni. The alumni share how they used the programme to shift their careers by starting new businesses providing sustainability services, pursuing PhDs, and leading corporate sustainability teams.
After sessions finish, I have the opportunity to… attend a group dinner in central Cambridge with members of my project team. Since we’ve spent nearly a year working closely as partners on sustainable finance research for our group project assignment, these are some of my closest relationships in the programme. Now, even though we may not see each other for months between workshops, it feels like we will be connected forever.
After a day of learning I feel… both truly exhausted and invigorated at the same time! The content of the workshop has really stretched my thinking all day long; so, free time at dinner with fellow students is exactly what is needed to prepare for the next day.
I am inspired to… drive for more significant change when I return to work. Hallmark is a global company, and my time at CISL brings me new perspectives from around the world. These new insights allow me to think about our sustainability strategy in new, more strategic ways. Overall, spending time as part of a large cohort of students, each of whom are so committed to making progress on sustainability, is inspirational. It creates a true optimism in me for the future.