“The course opened the door to understanding sustainability in a business context.“
Ellie Kenny
Senior Software Coach
Introduction to Business Sustainability Graduate
Tell us about your role and background
I work as a Senior Software Coach, delivering software development apprenticeships at Levels 3 and 4. Alongside this, I’ve completed apprenticeships and management training through work, so learning and development are a big part of what I do.
Sustainability is something that has always interested me personally, but I was also looking at it from the perspective of how it could add value to the work I do. We had the opportunity to choose from a range of courses and I selected Introduction to Business Sustainability, with Decarbonisation: Achieving Net Zero planned as my next course.
Why did you decide to take the course?
I was interested in understanding sustainability from more of a business and enterprise perspective. Before taking the course, my understanding mainly came through personal interest and my own values rather than through work or business experience.
Sustainability is a huge topic, and I wanted an introduction that would help me understand how organisations approach it and why it matters in a workplace context. The course felt like a good opportunity to build that knowledge while exploring something that is becoming increasingly relevant across organisations and industries.
How was your experience?
I found the platform really user-friendly and easy to work through. It looked clean, worked smoothly, and I liked that I could pause, revisit content, or come back to sections if I needed to.
The self-paced nature worked well for me because it was something I had chosen to do and genuinely wanted to engage with. I completed the course over one day, with breaks in between, and found the module structure helpful for breaking the learning into manageable sections and tracking my progress.
I particularly enjoyed some of the visual and interactive elements. There were graphs and timelines that helped show information in a more engaging way, and I found the factual and statistic-based approach interesting because it looked at real information and trends rather than just predictions. The content was clear and accessible for someone new to sustainability from a business perspective.
Did the course have an impact on your work?
My organisation is already very conscious of sustainability, renewable energy, and resource use, and a sustainability panel has recently been established where we can discuss ideas and share learning.
We are still early in that process, so I have not yet had the opportunity to fully apply what I learnt, but the course has given me knowledge that I can bring into those discussions. It also made me think about sustainability in terms of my own professional development.
As sustainability becomes more relevant across organisations, I do think having this knowledge is important not just for the business, but also for the contribution I can make within my own role. The knowledge feels very transferable and relevant across different organisations and industries.
Would you recommend the course to others?
Yes, I would. The course provided a good introduction to business sustainability and made the topic feel accessible and manageable.
It was a nice short course that opened quite a few doors and made me want to learn more. For professionals who are new to sustainability and looking to build their understanding alongside their role, I think it offers a really good starting point.
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Dedicated to harnessing the power of storytelling to raise awareness, demystify, and drive behavioural change, Bronagh works as the Communications & Content Manager at the Institute of Sustainability Studies. Alongside her work with ISS, Bronagh contributes articles to several news media publications on sustainability and mental health.
