Sustainability starts with people

The skills gap is one of the major obstacles to developing a more sustainable society. We understand how recruitment challenges in certain sectors are already slowing innovation and technological advancement. Academic Work Academy serves as a platform for individuals with the right attitude, motivation, and abilities to launch new careers. Our evidence-based recruitment method reduces unconscious biases and focuses on a candidate’s potential rather than just experience.

From a sustainability perspective, it's crucial to include those who are often unnecessarily overlooked and provide them with opportunities for new careers, competitiveness in changing labor markets, and an understanding of sustainable development requirements.

At Academic Work, we aim to lead by example. That's why we've developed sustainability training programs for both our internal employees and the consultants we employ. By educating our consultants, we prepare them with future-required skills even before they start working at our client companies. This allows us to have a broader impact and promote a sustainable society across the business landscape. The training program is already operational in Sweden under the name Hållbarhetsacceleratorn (Sustainability Accelerator), and we anticipate over 5.000 participants. Our goal is to expand the program to other countries in the near future.

Academic Work is committed to becoming a climate-positive company. We have set our sights higher than mere carbon neutrality, believing that companies must move from passive observers to leaders in the transition to a greener and more sustainable operating environment. 

Our role is to integrate sustainable thinking into our own operations and, through our consultants, clients, and partners, more broadly into the value chain. By raising awareness and educating our employees, guiding behavior through training, policy choices, encouragement, challenges, and changing behavioral norms, we can embed sustainability into all our work.

Climate-positive action means removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than our operations emit. This results in a positive footprint rather than a negative or neutral one. By the end of 2023, we have offset all the carbon dioxide emissions our company has produced since the very beginning, 1998. This is achieved through partnerships with three organizations: Siaya Cookstoves in Kenya, Nakau REDD+ in Fiji, and Communitree in Nicaragua. These projects promote reduced need for firewood, forest conservation, and reforestation.