Memorable Moments

It is 10 years since NETpositive Futures Ltd was established. Whilst it has been a joyful rollercoaster of trial and error, development and re-development and making new friends and taking on challenging projects, there was a life beforehand. Sheri-Leigh and I have brought a range of skills, experience and learning to our shared adventure. To celebrate our 10-year anniversary we have decided to share individually and collectively some of the experiences that have shaped us.

Whilst still working for the Environment Agency I developed and delivered the first ever sustainable procurement training for CIPS. It was delivered over 2 days, face-to-face and much of that early thinking has shaped our approach ever since.

In 2007 I worked with construction professionals to support sustainability in the supply chain on-site at Wembley Stadium, I then went on to work on Terminal 5 in 2008 and subsequently trained all staff in CITB Construction Skills on sustainability.

In 2008 working with colleagues we developed the global programme ‘One Planet Leaders’ in partnership with WWF International, I delivered it for 5 years around the world. The 3 month programme was a mixture of workshops and online support. The structure was as follows;

  • Explore Phase: What are the material environmental, social and economic issues facing businesses.
  • Challenge Phase: How can we respond to these challenges, specifically focussing on the art of the possible and developing a transformational intent.
  • Apply Phase: How do we effectively implement our commitments and communicate our positive impact.
  • Join WWF’s award-winning One Planet Leaders | WWF (panda.org).

 

In 2009 I spent a wonderful few days training the global WWF business engagement team (60 staff) on how to demonstrate the relationship between sustainability and conservation objectives.

In 2010 I delivered a two-day sustainability training course to leading business owners in Kathmandu on behalf of WWF international. The programme explored the challenges of implementing sustainability commitments in a politically and socially challenging environment.

Also in 2010 working on behalf of the British Ambassador in the Philippines we brought together the church alongside the business community to explore the sustainability challenges related to the mining industry and the raft of related environmental and social challenges and what steps could be taken to address them.

In 2011, whilst working in Geneva, I worked with colleagues to develop the concept of NETpositive Sustainability and then produced the first ever NETpositive Sustainability Strategy for Becker Underwood. Following on from this I developed a NETpositive Sustainability Strategy for Oxford Brookes University, it was at this point that the concept quickly became mainstream, and the rest is history!

 

And lastly, for the sustainability nerds like me, I led an amazing session, in a retreat in Geneva, exploring the relative benefits and commonalities of the following sustainability approaches; Systems Conditions (The Natural Step), Cradle to Cradle (Professor Michael Braungart) and Biomimicry (Biomimicry Institute) with the developers of these approaches! In part it was this exploration that has cemented my belief that at the core or every approach you might be presented with, or sold, are the same basic principles; Sustainability is primarily an approach to decision making, which at its heart should include the concepts of systems thinking and against all the odds force ourselves to take a long-term approach, ideally intergenerational!

 

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