West Sussex Council joins words and actions with Engauge

10 January 2012

What exactly is the best way to measure sustainability? It’s a question that can provoke all kinds of responses, and is becoming especially important as the drive to mitigate the environmental, social and economic impacts of the way we behave gathers even more attention.

Now, a pioneering project thinks it has found a sensible way for schools, communities and local businesses to help ensure they perform as efficiently as possible.

Engauge, a system originally designed by West Sussex County Council, is the result of several years’ work by council employees and their private sector partners seeking to develop a model for sustainability that could be easily understood and followed.

Originally conceived as an environmentally-based performance assessment to help provide a measurable cluster point for schools, Engauge was launched in 2008 with a royal seal of approval from Prince Charles. Since then the initiative has proved incredibly popular, with over 200 schools taking part so far.

Despite starting off with a particular focus on schools, Engauge has now been expanded to cover a wider range of needs, with each sector receiving individually-tailored content in the form of ‘seed packs’. These provide schools, communities and businesses with a simple overview of their current social, environmental and economic performance, and thus enable them to signpost improvements that can be clearly demonstrated.

To create a visual map of sustainability, the designers looked to nature for their inspiration. The result of their work is known as the ‘Susgauge’, a flower-shaped diagram with petals representing the key areas of ‘balanced development’ for schools, communities and businesses to work towards.

Click to view the Susgauge

The Susgauge assessment measures activity in all areas of sustainability and takes a holistic approach. Nine key areas are focused on: Energy, Water, Travel and Traffic, Procurement and Waste, Buildings and Grounds, Inclusion and Participation, Heritage, Health and Wellbeing, and Business management.

During the initial assessment grades are given for each individual area. Scores range from 0–40 for each petal and stem, with a maximum total of 360 points on offer.

It also signposts participants to initiatives they may not yet be working on, but does so without obstructing any sustainability initiatives that are already in place, such as the eco-schools project. Rather than replacing these systems, the Susgauge is designed to work with them.

Engauge helps participants to link up with local specialists in order to enable improvements, as indicated in the sustainability assessment.

Although one-off assessments remain popular, Engauge’s own specialists recommend flexible and continuous assessment using the online self-assessment Susgauge to determine how well the organisation is progressing towards its targets.

With the launch of counterpart website Engaugeonline, the project has now moved firmly into the digital era with the option of online assessments.

Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing & Shoreham, spoke of his hopes for the scheme at the launch of Engaugeonline in October 2011:

“Earlier this month, I was delighted to launch ‘Engaugeonline’ at Worthing High School as part of the drive to help improve the sustainability of schools in West Sussex. This online tool can be used for presenting evidence to Ofsted and will provide schools with a pathway to improving their sustainability.

“The website will also provide schools with a wealth of information and resources in their quests to become more sustainable.

“It was great to see that over 200 schools in West Sussex and London took part in the successful pilot scheme to develop the Susgauge and this phase is the next step in launching an online assessment tool.”

What’s next on the horizon for Engauge? Perhaps, like a flower growing from a seed, the system could flourish nationally after putting down solid roots in the south of England. A nationwide commonality for balanced development could soon become a reality.

For more information see http://engaugeonline.co.uk/