RMIT University
Sustainability and Social Impact
- Delivery: Online
- Duration: Six weeks
- Course Type: Short Course
- Total Price: $1,900
Drive impactful change by learning how to build and execute a strategic ESG plan within organisations, while gaining the skills to lead operational change and secure stakeholder approval.
Course overview
As awareness grows around the impact individuals and organisations have on the environment and society, corporations can no longer ignore sustainability and social impact.
Sustainability requires organisations to consider both their operations and broader impact holistically, including how environmental, social and governance factors shape the way they do business and ensure decision-making leads to strong commercial outcomes as well as positive outcomes for the societies and environments in which they operate.
Key facts
14th September, 2026
2nd November, 2026
What you will study
The rise of sustainability, social impact and ESG
- Trace the evolution of sustainable development as an organisational strategic priority.
- Outline social priorities for contemporary Australian organisations.
Milestone: Select an organisation for the focus of your project and curate information based on the company’s context, values and drivers.
How you will learn
During this course, students will analyse how sustainability is critical to an organisation’s operations and strategy.
Students will select relevant social impact approaches and justify their rationale for embedded organisational change. As ESG advocates, students will develop short, medium and long-term goals to support continuous improvement within a sustainability roadmap.
During the final project, students will present a five-minute ESG strategy pitch targeted towards key decision-makers or influential stakeholders within a chosen organisation.
What you will learn
Throughout this course, you will:
- Explain why sustainability and social impact are critical to an organisation’s framework and/or strategy.
- Select initiatives for inclusion in an organisation’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy and justify these choices based on the material, social and environmental impacts of the organisation.
- Explain how change management principles, stakeholder management and communications will be used to affect and embed change within an organisation.
- Develop appropriate goals against which to measure and continuously improve an ESG strategy.
Who should attend
The Sustainability and Social Impact course is ideal for:
- Internal communications professionals, partnerships or community managers, people and culture teams, business partners or operational team members who are looking to influence change, improvements, and decisions within their organisation.
- Emerging or existing leaders looking to understand the importance of and develop the skills to drive a sustainability plan within their organisation. Students learn to assess materiality and consider sustainability frameworks as they develop a plan for their organisation.
Who You Will Learn From
Catherine O'Shea
Subject matter expert
Catherine O’Shea currently works as a Sustainability Analyst at Ambulance Victoria. She completed a Master of Environment at Monash University in 2008 and has worked in sustainability, feeding into, designing and implementing projects under the banner of ‘sustainability’ for 15 years. She is particularly passionate about healthcare sustainability and has worked in this field now for more than 10 years.
Daniel Flynn
Subject matter expert
An inspiring storyteller, Daniel Flynn is the co-founder and managing director of one of Australia’s most successful startups, Thankyou. At 19 years old, compelled by a vision to change the world we live in, he co-founded the social enterprise, now globally recognised for its innovation, disruption and impact. Daniel’s journey as a founder is one of grit and unconventionality, pioneering Thankyou to redefine ‘business as usual’ and change the world we live in forever. To date, Thankyou has given over $17m to impactful change-makers in the fight against global poverty.
Kirsten Haywood
Expert Industry Mentor
Kirsten is passionate about helping students develop strategies that build organisational reputation and stakeholder trust while creating genuine value for society and the environment. With over 20 years of experience at organisations like Westpac and the World Bank Group, she brings deep expertise in delivering impactful ESG strategies, diversity and inclusion initiatives and economic development programs across Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Her strategic approach to sustainability and stakeholder engagement, aligned with global standards, equips students with real-world knowledge and resources to excel in sustainability and social impact careers.
Jamie Hodgson
Expert Industry Mentor
Jamie is a sustainability and impact professional in the built environment, currently working within a large design practice to develop and implement an organisational-level strategy to create and enhance positive social and environmental impact. His current role and expertise span a breadth of areas, including sustainability strategy, modern slavery risk assessment and reporting, greenhouse gas emissions reporting and assurance, First Nations rights and reconciliation, sustainable procurement and management of third-party impact certifications.