Case study: Biodiversity training for a global company
How an internal sustainability team boosted motivation and set actionable plans
The client
Building on their climate knowledge, the UK sustainability team of a global beverage company sought to deepen their understanding of biodiversity and integrate considerations into their broader sustainability efforts. With Many Roots (WMR) was brought in as a trusted facilitator to build on a systemic climate change workshop held earlier in the year with biodiversity training.
The challenge: Overwhelm in the face of a complex challenge
- Varying levels of knowledge and expertise across the team
- The complex and interconnected nature of the challenge making it seem difficult to address
- A perceived lack of agency
The solution: A collaborative workshop using creativity to empower participants
Training programme designed: Highly accessible in-person biodiversity training in the form of a workshop based on robust data in the Biodiversity Collage taking a creative, flexible approach.
Key content areas: Biodiversity.
Engagement method: Interactive collaborative workshops combining intellectual discussions with emotional reflection and localising wider issues in participants’ immediate environment.
Key outcome: Renewed momentum from workshop, supported by ongoing collaboration with the client’s long-standing sustainability partner.
Our approach: Giving the team the tools they need to act on biodiversity
WMR designed a highly-accessible in-person workshop using an engaging approach called the Biodiversity Collage. In the first part of the session we examined the biodiversity crisis from an intellectual and systemic perspective, followed by a reflective phase exploring the emotional responses to the crisis.
In the second half of the biodiversity training, the team mapped their organisation’s systemic impact on biodiversity, identifying areas of both negative and potential positive influence. This exercise took a collaborative approach to the problem rooted in systemic thinking.
The team then applied a design thinking methodology, fleshing out these ideas into project outlines with tangible next steps to be actioned in the next quarter.
Results: In-depth understanding and a structured plan
- Participants left with a clear visual representation of their organisation’s biodiversity impacts, both current and potential
- They prioritised a set of actionable initiatives and developed a structured action plan for implementation
- The team identified the need for closer partnerships with other departments to leverage their influence across other business areas
What the client said
The sustainability team reflected, “it really hit home, the appreciation of what nature gives us.” Critiquing our performance, they valued the facilitator’s awareness of “knowing when to sit in uncertainty and when to reveal.” They also found that bringing in an external professional helped provide a different perspective.
Why it worked: An accessible approach that reinvigorated and re-engaged
This workshop highlighted the importance of taking creative approaches to address complex sustainability topics, especially when knowledge levels vary. It also reinvigorated momentum, reminding the team of their power and influence in a globally recognised brand.
This process has been deployed with clients in different sectors who not only want to comprehensively bring their team up to speed with the scale of the problem but also want to carve out space for coming up with solutions relevant to their organisation.
Next steps
Want to find out more about biodiversity training or sustainability training on a different topic from With Many Roots for your company?
Book a call to see how we can help engage staff at all organisational levels.