SAP Podcast, Ep. 5: Social Sustainability & Equity

Energy efficiency, good water management, daylighting, and all the other sustainability strategies we champion are meaningless if they’re not available to everybody. Social sustainability and equity, as explored in this week’s podcast, must be at the core of our work.

At SERA, social sustainability has roots in our founders Bing Sheldon and Don Eggleston’s dedication to serving our immediate community—making Old Town/Chinatown safer and more enticing for businesses, and supporting our long-time neighborhood nonprofits like Central City Concern, Blanchet House, p:ear and a host of others. Fifty years later, these beliefs and continued relationships exemplify our dedication and our responsibility to bring value.

More recently, we’ve sought the JUST label as a tool for measuring and being transparent about our own performance. We didn’t earn a perfect score, and so we have an ongoing process for considering how to improve in the areas where we’re not leading—all the while understanding that the process is as important as the result, and that continued conversation, learning and action are key.

Beyond JUST, we’re lucky to work with a number of great mission-driven clients, taking on both paid and pro bono projects where we have the opportunity to make real change in our cities.

We continue highlighting our Sustainability Action Plan, and in this episode, Gauri Rajbaidya joins Mark and Beth to discuss social sustainability and its impact at SERA.