We can't create change alone.

I broke my thumb last year, right when the end of the year pressures started ramping up.?

I quickly realised how important our thumbs are for everything from typing on a computer, opening doors, and putting on earrings, and also how much I came to rely on those around me to do these things for me.?

I had to shift from being the one that helped others, to asking for help.?

Going through surgery, two screws, and an elbow-high cast that came off last week, gave me the chance to SLOW DOWN and reflect with gratitude on how many heads, hearts, and ‘hands’ I have been working with, for and alongside over the last five years to transform businesses, materials flows and practices to be circular.?

It was a reminder that it takes a village to create systems change, maintain momentum, and do the Mahi required especially if we are undertaking ‘cathedral’ big, bold projects that take more than a lifetime to complete, but that have enduring impacts.?

In 2023, we saw an even greater commitment from New Zealand businesses toward improving the impact of the materials/products they buy, create, and use.?

If you are a lone sustainability professional within an organisation - you can’t do this without shifting from implementing to leading.?

Simply put, we can’t do this stuff alone.

And so we need to ask for help.

Many of our clients gave us their bucket list projects last year.

The ones they couldn’t get to, the ones they never dreamed would be possible, or parts of them that enabled them to accelerate real, tangible progress.

Together, we created meaningful, workable collaborations, tested solutions, and gained agreement from diverse stakeholders on the changes needed and what ‘nature-positive’ looks like.?

A client texted me the day before Christmas to say -

‘thank you for all you’re doing this year (and next), it has been a huge relief being able to trust you and the team with enabling and unlocking collaboration across stakeholders”.?

By working together alongside our partners, we created circular flows for 767,141 tonnes (including 14 million kgs of fruit) of materials, saving our clients money, engaging their staff and stakeholders, and improving their impact.?

We didn't need an app to do that, we needed the skills and the credibility to guide diverse stakeholders towards a common goal with a roadmap to achieve it.

We saw greater demand for our design skills in creating system maps, visualisations of the future states especially for the food sector as organisations found they needed to effectively communicate what the future could look like to their stakeholders. By making the shift to working with nature, not against it.?

We also saw a greater need to succinctly bring together research and data into accessible formats that enabled businesses to make informed decisions.?

The highlights were…

+We co-designed a food waste reduction ecosystem map for New Zealand Food Waste Champions 12.3 Charitable Trust (NZFWC 12.3 Trust) , bringing together both the enablers and solutions to achieve halving food waste by 2050.

+We brought together 23 businesses for our XLabs Future of Food program to define a core challenge facing their business/industry and pitch a circular, regenerative solution as part of an annual 3-day circular design sprint.

+ Ministry for the Environment and NZ Apples and Pears (NZAPI) commissioned us to create a visual design for a future orchard in 2030 that incorporated low waste, nature-positive practices across four identified benefits - environmental, economic, climate, social, and cultural incorporating principles from Te Tiriti.?

+We engaged the wider industry through interviews with growers, scientists, managers, global retailers, innovation specialists, and Māori representatives across the food system, undertook desk research, and defined practices that could deliver ecosystem health, reduce harm, and prosperity to the industry.?

+We walked through stunning kiwifruit orchards in full bloom and learned about regenerative practices.

+We supported The Collective in the BCorp Impact Assessment, writing their Theory of Change and researching the carbon reduction benefits of diverse plant-based crops.?

+We committed over 200 hours to share our learnings across our networks including engagements with Toitū Envirocare on greenwashing and at Planet Ark Circular Economy conference, presenting on circular measurement.?

+We conducted global research on soft plastic recycling and pursued innovative solutions with greater circular outcomes for PPE for Silver Fern Farms.

+We used the global Circular Transitions Indicators (CTI) framework to measure materials across the manufacturing, food and beverage, and agriculture sectors with an average potential increase in circularity across those sectors of 52.9% by implementing the recommended shifts.

This is #circularity and this is what we do here.

Before I start to lean into this year’s projects, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who trusted us to work alongside you to achieve your impact.

2024 doesn’t quite feel real yet,? but here’s to another year of learning, designing, and building our resilience together.?

If you need a ‘hand’ with your environmental business aspirations,? I now have two back up and running and a hearty appreciation for what it takes for a business to make the changes we need to see in the world.

You can't do this alone and you shouldn't have to.