Open letter – For career practices that integrate sustainability
Preamble
Current ecological challenges and the multiple threats to the habitability of our world are profoundly and lastingly transforming careers. Those working in career guidance and counselling are fully aware of this. Their practices can no longer continue unchanged.
On June 28, 2023, the IAEVG General Assembly published an important communiqué on this matter, concluding as follows: “This requires educational and vocational guidance to consider ecological, planetary, and social foundations. Educational, vocational, and career guidance has a long history of considering social issues and social justice; it is urgent that we also consider the interconnections of contemporary practices and careers on the ecology and the environment.”
It is therefore, in the wake of this statement and in connection with the many initiatives of professionals across the planet, that we formulate this open letter. We seek neither to to induce guilt, nor to moralize, nor to overwhelm. We want to propose, support, and build together a form of career practice that is up to the challenges of the 21st century.
Collectively, across the planet, we are confronted with major tensions whose destructive and dehumanising impacts create multiple risks. Current geopolitical tensions, armed conflicts, and their humanitarian consequences can push other crises threatening the habitability of the planet into the background. The ecological crisis and its many manifestations (climate change, extreme weather events, megafires, water scarcity, multiple forms of pollution, accelerated glacier melting, and the crossing of planetary boundaries) are already affecting and alarming us. We are aware of the many risks associated with exceeding planetary boundaries, which endanger the Earth’s habitability. These ecological disruptions affect us all, particularly the most vulnerable, as well as all the ecosystems with which we interact. Yet collectively, they are not generating transformations commensurate with the scale of the challenges we face.
Focus on greening jobs and sectors
In this context, reflecting on the impact of transformations in work and careers can quickly be reduced to questions of forecasting and labour-market adaptation: How will work change? How will different sectors evolve? Which occupations will be needed for ecological transitions, and which skills will be required? The risk is to treat the current ecological crisis as a transformation requiring only minor adjustments to professional practices while continuing to pursue the same growth objectives. It also risks focusing on symptoms without analysing the multiple root causes of the current situation. It may be tempting to believe that we simply need to develop more environmentally friendly modes of production, without questioning what is being produced and in the service of what kind of collective way of life. In short, the danger is to depoliticise the debate by reducing it to a purely descriptive and technical dimension.
Careers services questioned in their very purpose
Through conformity with the historical construction of professional practices, and in the name of neutrality and economic necessity in the service of progress, many careers services may continue to perpetuate existing economic and social systems, thereby reinforcing the status quo: adapting to what already exists. Yet this debate is not new.
As early as 1996, Peter Plant laid the foundations of Green Guidance by calling on career professionals to move beyond a strictly individualistic view of career paths and to integrate environmental, social, and collective concerns into career choices. He already highlighted the need to rethink guidance in light of ecological crises and to question the environmental impact of individual career trajectories, thereby paving the way for an approach to guidance that connects social justice, sustainability, and collective responsibility.
In 1997, Jean Guichard emphasised the need for professionals to develop an ethical approach that integrates concern for decent working conditions, the reduction of inequalities, and respect for the environment and natural resources. In 2018, he formulated it as follows: “Can guidance interventions still be limited to helping individuals build future prospects that give meaning to their lives today, without asking through which forms of work they might contribute to sustainable, equitable, and human development?”
How, then, can guidance services integrate these reflections and necessities?
In recent years, numerous research works have called for a rethinking of guidance and counselling by outlining the contours of a new paradigm (Peter Plant, Annamaria Di Fabio, Valérie Cohen-Scali, and many others). In their wake, concrete initiatives are now emerging, translating these perspectives into practice and demonstrating their feasibility.
Reinforcing the emancipatory approach
The aim is not merely to help people fit into the world as it already exists, but to develop and strengthen the emancipatory dimensions of work. The concept of career services extends into a triple ecological, social, and democratic dimension. How can we act as professionals and help people build solidarity with the world? How can we move beyond a simple process of adaptation? How can we develop interventions that enable each person to live a life they themselves consider valuable, while remaining conscious of the impact of their lifestyle and work?
This perspective must not lead to the moralisation or stigmatisation of individuals whose choices are constrained by economic insecurity, social inequality, discrimination, or limited access to alternatives. Many workers do not have the material conditions to freely choose their employment or lifestyle. Likewise, responsibilities for the ecological crisis are profoundly unequal at the global level: the countries and populations most affected are often those who contributed least to environmental degradation. Sustainable guidance should therefore avoid individualising responsibility and instead seek to expand people’s real opportunities, strengthen collective capacities for action, and support socially just transitions.
Environmentally sustainable guidance that questions growth, work, and social justice
The objective is therefore to develop a conception of Green Guidance – or environmentally sustainable guidance – that promotes social justice while questioning current models of growth, the types and impacts of production, and the content, forms, and conditions of work in today’s world – not as a separate form of guidance, but as the “by defaut” choice in all careers services. The aim is to contribute to the development of new imaginaries and to encourage the emergence of alternative forms of work and production that are respectful of our shared world.
As career professionals, we play a strategic role in both individual and collective pathways. Every day, we are in contact with thousands of people searching for meaning, considering career changes, or simply seeking dignified, decent, and sustainable work. Yet, despite this shared concern, ecological issues remain largely absent from our tools, frameworks, and guidance practices.
This open letter aims to go further both in our assessment of the situation and in our proposals. Our goal is to outline a mobilizing vision capable of transforming practices beyond mere general intentions.
Sustainable work: a dimension still insufficiently integrated
Today, when a person is supported in their career choices and professional development, the dominant criteria remain: On the one hand: short-term employability, salary levels, and the match between skills and available job opportunities. On the other hand: their interests, motivations, and the values they hope to find in their work. These criteria are legitimate. But they are insufficient and obscure the vital collective issues of our time. What often remains insufficiently addressed:
- Collective needs and the challenges facing our shared world
- Quality of life for oneself, for others, and for the planet
- The environmental and social impact of actual work practices (sector, occupation, or work situation targeted)
- The extent to which sustainability issues are integrated into these jobs, sectors, or occupations
- The opportunities offered by transition-related occupations: energy renovation, sustainable agriculture, repair work, local crafts, circular economy activities, environmental education, care work, and social connection
- Possibilities for transforming one’s work or organisation towards greater sustainability
- The right of the person receiving guidance to question the meaning of their work in light of their values and the state of the planet
- The right of the person receiving guidance to question forms of work and modes of production
This gap is not neutral. It can contribute to valuing occupations and sectors that are directly involved in the ecological overshoots we are collectively trying to avoid. It can also obscure very concrete aspects of the organisation of our professional practices and everyday lives that could instead become sources of mobilisation and well-being at work.
What we call for
1.1 Raise awareness and training professionals on ecological issues and sustainable work: Practitioners must develop a solid culture and in-depth foundational knowledge regarding planetary boundaries, sustainability models, future transformations of work and lifestyles, and decision-making processes connected to the needs of the world. These are now core professional competencies.
1.2 Integrate ecological impact as a criterion in career guidance decisions: We propose incorporating into our tools and frameworks the question of how occupations contribute to the common good and the preservation of ecosystems. Existing work – particularly on transition occupations, green jobs, and sectors with high negative impact – can help build accessible reference frameworks for practitioners. The European GreenComp framework can serve as a shared and structuring tool.
1.3 Make visible career paths and transitions towards work with high ecological and social value: Thousands of jobs are needed in energy renovation, care work, organic agriculture, forestry, low-tech innovation, craft professions, repair work, teaching, and training. But beyond these occupations, there are countless ways to integrate ecological concerns into one’s work. New forms of work organisation – cooperatives, social and solidarity economy enterprises, and collective entrepreneurial structures – which combine collective intelligence, responsibility, local rootedness, and respect for planetary boundaries, are inspiring and emancipatory examples. Guidance professionals should be able to highlight and make visible these pathways. They are not marginal, but could become the norm.
1.4 Create space to question meaning at work: Many of the people we support experience a deep dissonance between their values and the work situations they live through. This discomfort is not pathological; it is often a sign of an emerging ecological and ethical awareness. Guidance and counselling can become a legitimate space for exploring these tensions, rather than reducing them to an individual problem to be corrected.
The specific role of professional associations
National and international professional networks play a structuring role in the evolution of guidance and counselling practices. We propose several concrete levers to support and accelerate this transformation, while recognising that many networks and professionals have already begun this work.
2.1 Revise competency frameworks: It is essential that professionals have an explicit framework recognising the legitimacy of addressing these issues in their practice. Sustainability concerns must be explicitly integrated into professional standards so as to open the way for practices that address them systematically. The goal is to make attention to socio-ecological impacts a “default” component of guidance, relevant for every person supported, rather than a separate or marginal optional approach.
2.2 Create spaces for exchange of practices and reflection on sustainability: Experience shows that integrating sustainability depends largely on how professionals perceive their role. Developing communities of practice and peer exchange spaces appears to be a key lever for supporting these evolutions and breaking the isolation often felt by professionals who integrate sustainability into their practices. These spaces should enable professionals to rethink their role and practice in relation to social and ecological crises.
2.3 Support the adaptation of existing tools and the development of new ones: Integrating sustainability into practice does not rely solely on creating new tools, but also on adapting existing ones to real guidance contexts. Professionals must be able to appropriate these resources and make them compatible with the diversity of audiences and intervention constraints they encounter.
2.4 Make sustainability a pillar of continuing professional development: Professionals should be able to rely on a strong shared culture regarding planetary boundaries, social justice issues, and transformations in work. These dimensions can no longer depend on individual or activist initiatives alone; they must be recognised as integral to the core of the profession.
2.5 Develop shared ethical guidelines integrating sustainability: Professional networks can play a key role in clarifying the ethical foundations of the profession. This implies opening spaces for reflection and positioning on sensitive issues, such as guidance towards sectors with high environmental impact or the trade-offs between labour-market integration and contribution to the common good.
2.6 Identify, support and promote exemplary practices: Many initiatives already exist. Making them visible, documenting them, and connecting them together is a powerful lever for transformation. This may involve the creation of labels, awards, or recognition schemes, as well as the development of communities of practice at national and international levels.
2.7 Transform the organisation of professional conferences and events: Events organised by professional networks must be consistent with the values they promote. This can involve reducing air travel, developing hybrid or decentralised formats, working with committed local providers, reconsidering food choices, ensuring transparency regarding the environmental footprint of events, and systematically integrating sustainability issues into scientific and professional programmes.
2.8 Strengthen advocacy towards public decision-makers: Professional networks have an essential role to play in transforming institutional frameworks. This includes promoting the integration of sustainability concerns into specifications, evaluation systems, performance indicators for guidance and counselling services, and national and international policy frameworks, so that these dimensions no longer depend solely on the individual commitment of professionals.