Phil Kalidoudis of MacKillop Family Services is asking faith-based organisations to start small if needed and to see their role in the ecological future.
“At MacKillop, we view our care for the environment as part of our care for children and young people. By working towards minimising our impact on the environment we are helping to hand over a better world to them tomorrow.”
The Procurement and Sustainability Manager is presenting at the Season of Creation Catholic Earthcare Convocation. The event takes place 12-14 September in Sydney and is organised by aid agency, Caritas, as part of the annual Season of Creation celebration.
Mr. Kallidoudis will speak at the sector workshops, presenting a ‘Future for our children to thrive’, and aims to de-mystify the process of creating a sustainability strategy. His presentation will demonstrate how MacKillop created its own Sustainability Strategy, guided by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as well as by the papal encyclical, Laudato Si.
“Don’t be overwhelmed by the details or at the thought of starting,” he says. “You don’t always have to have an elaborate strategy. You could work with a consultant or start with an already established framework and take it a step at a time. The exploration stage is most important, where you determine what matters to you as an organisation, and to your stakeholders. This will help you identify areas where you can focus your resources and where you can achieve the greatest impact.
“We asked our employees, young people and our foster carers for their input as we developed our strategy. This helped us decide which areas to focus on. Then, over the past year, we have worked on engaging all our stakeholders to get everyone on board and working towards a common goal.
“It starts with the basics like using the right bins and turning off computers at night and goes all the way up to increasing use of solar panels on our properties and selecting fleet cars with low CO2 emission.”
MacKillop’s Sustainability Strategy can be viewed on its website, and Mr. Kalidoudis’ presentation will be available there from 13 September.
For further information, or to arrange an interview, contact:
Suzanne Schokman, Media & Communications Advisor
M: 0488 777 497 E: suzanne.schokman@mackillop.org.au
