At the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), we believe that sustainability training should go beyond awareness – it should empower people to take meaningful action. When national office supply company Lyreco approached CAT to support the development of sustainability understanding within its supply chain team, the goal was clear: to embed sustainability into everyday decision-making and operations.
Through a hands-on, immersive training experience, CAT helped participants move from surface-level knowledge to confident, practical application, resulting in real-world changes across sites, systems, and leadership.
We caught up with Jake Jones, Lyreco’s Quality Safety and Sustainability Coordinator to find out about how CAT’s approach helped spark transformation, empower individuals and influence long-term strategy.
Building Foundations for Change
Many of the participants in the training had long careers within the company, often starting in junior roles and progressing over decades. As Jake Jones explained:
“We have a lot of employees who started here when they were 16… and as part of that career progression, people need to have the advanced level of training.”
The organisation recognised that sustainability needed to be more than a corporate value – it had to be embedded in how people think and work. CAT’s training provided a structured, hands-on way to do just that.
“[We] understand sustainability as a staple piece – not only because it’s what customers want, but it’s also what we should be doing.”
CAT’s training combines systems thinking, practical workshops, and real-world examples to help participants understand the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability. This approach helps people connect abstract concepts to their own work and responsibilities.
Choosing the Right People to Lead Change
The organisation was strategic in selecting participants, choosing individuals who were either already in influential roles or who had shown a desire to grow and lead.
“The individuals were selected in regards to impact… their angle of change. Some people are happy to not make any change… others want progression.”
This approach aligns with CAT’s philosophy that sustainability champions within organisations can be powerful agents of change. By equipping the right people with knowledge and confidence, the training can ripple outward, affecting teams, departments, and policy.
From Awareness to Understanding
One of the most striking outcomes of the training was the shift from passive awareness to active understanding. As Jake described:
“They could tell you that climate change was bad. They couldn’t tell you why… CAT gave them the foundations to those principles, which then gave the whole point meaning.”
This is a core aim of CAT’s training – to help participants understand the science, systems and social context behind sustainability challenges.
The training also used inclusive facilitation techniques to ensure everyone could participate meaningfully:
“The splitting of groups allowed the quieter ones in the group to have more of a voice and get more engaged… Overall your teaching styles helped get the message across.”
By combining group work, site tours, and interactive sessions, CAT created an environment where participants could explore ideas, ask questions, and connect learning to their own roles.
Translating Learning into Action
The impact of the training was quickly visible in operational changes. Sustainability became a regular part of internal meetings and continuous improvement processes:
“Sustainability is now an element of PD meetings… We used to do things called Gemba walks… now sustainability and community engagement and health and safety are looked at the same time.”
One example involved reducing unnecessary plastic packaging:
“If we remove the plastic lining on this pallet… we’re not producing as much plastic waste. There doesn’t need to be a plastic lining there.”
Though changes are small, they show how sustainability can be embedded into everyday decisions, not just high-level strategy.
Importantly, the training also helped elevate sustainability within leadership:
“Some of the individuals have already now been promoted into higher level management roles… You’ve now got individuals who’ve got that sustainability at higher positions than before.”
This is a key marker of success: when sustainability-trained staff move into roles where they can influence policy, budgets and culture.
Energy Efficiency
One participant applied the training directly to energy use across the organisation’s sites. Rather than conducting lengthy audits, he took decisive action:
“Instead of auditing what resources we’ve got, he’s just basically gone and removed gas if needs be… There’s no need for a fossil fuel, right? That’s the logic.”
This led to practical changes, such as switching to electric heating and tailoring energy use to actual need:
“There’s only two people in the site for the entire day… so they’ve just been given an electric heater between the two.”
The organisation also achieved ISO 50001 certification for energy management:
“Since then, we’ve also been certified to now ISO 50001… that’s also driving the change on his sort of project.”
These outcomes show how CAT’s training can support not just individual learning, but strategic, organisation-wide change.
Sustaining the Momentum
The organisation plans to continue the training programme, using CAT’s model to support future cohorts:
“The aim is to do this every few years… with individuals who have shown promise, want to do more, and are all about skilling them, giving them those sustainability skills.”
This kind of long-term thinking is essential. Sustainability isn’t a one-off intervention, it’s a continuous process of learning, reflection and improvement. CAT’s training is designed to support that journey.
CAT’s training helped participants move from passive awareness to active engagement—embedding sustainability into their roles, influencing operational decisions, and shaping future leadership. As Jake Jones reflected:
“It sits in the back of their mind now… it comes out and it’s seen and it’s shown from time to time in different projects.”
CAT’s work with Lyreco shows how training can spark lasting change – helping organisations turn sustainability from a value into a practice.
Find out more
To find out more about CAT’ training offer or to enquire about booking some training with the team, please visit www.cat.org.uk.
