This two-day professional development programme will help you identify and assess natural capital risks and opportunities. You will explore how to review the impact of your operations and supply chains on natural capital and create a better-informed strategy for your business. |
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Dates27-28 February 2020, Madingley Hall, Cambridge Duration, format and locationTwo-day professional development residential seminar; Cambridge, UK FeeThe course fee is £700 to £2,250, including accommodation and meals (see fees table). Lower fees are available for multiple delegates or Labs, not-for-profits, developing countries, and self-funded individuals. |
How to applySubmit your application or find out more about the selection criteria. Find out moreDownload the Lab brochure, or email labs@cisl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions regarding our two-day Labs.
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The opportunity
Businesses seeking to be more progressive, create competitive advantage and demonstrate their positive impacts on the environment are going beyond corporate reporting and using natural capital approaches to leverage business opportunities and inform decisions.
Participants in this two-day Lab will discover approaches that provide businesses with insight into their impacts and dependencies on natural capital. The enabling environment needed for businesses to successfully implement these approaches will be explored, including the need for supportive policy and financial incentives.
The course will demonstrate:
- How businesses can review the impacts of their operations and supply chains on natural capital
- How they can achieve a future proofed strategy and commercial savings through increased efficiency
- How they develop a language with which to communicate benefits to external audiences.
Business and nature at CISL
Current upward trends for consumption, population and economic growth across the globe are placing enormous pressure on natural resources, including water, biodiversity, soil and carbon, and the resulting impact on the environment looks set to increase at an alarming rate. This creates long-term risks to business, consumers and wider society who depend on the Earth's natural resource base. Through its Business and Nature team, CISL is working collaboratively with companies to determine how they can sustain the natural world and its resources through their strategies and operating practices.
Benefits of attending
The Lab will be highly interactive and will include insights from academics and industry leaders. Participants will work with peers over the course of the two days to:
- explore the enabling environment required to align natural capital within business decision making
- systematically review business activities to identify natural capital risks and opportunities
- align critical natural capital impacts and dependencies with corporate strategies
- measure and value natural capital
- engage stakeholders within the business and supply chain more effectively
- embed natural capital knowledge into day to day operations and decision making.
Participants will leave the Lab empowered to take action within their business and leverage natural capital approaches. They will have a clearer view of their path towards delivering their sustainability goals.
Learn how to identify and assess natural capital risks and opportunities for your business. Download the flyer, and apply for the two-day Embedding Natural Capital Lab.
Who should attend?
This two-day short course is designed for mid- to senior-level professionals working in strategy, sustainability, HSE, supply chain and procurement, and stakeholder engagement.
"The Sustainability Leadership Labs enabled me to gain a global perspective on material issues that are impacting businesses today. I left the Labs with practical tools and knowledge that could be used immediately when I returned to the office… Every Lab is unique but also consistent in providing a learning experience with other practitioners that prepares you for the volatile and uncertain environment we all operate in."
Manager, Responsible Business, Old Mutual Emerging Markets
Learn from industry thought leaders
Confirmed contributors for the Lab include:
- Chris Brown, Senior Director Sustainability and Sourcing, Asda
- Justin DeKoszmovszky, Managing Partner, Archipel&Co
- Dr Gemma Cranston, Director Natural Capital, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
- Dr Helen Crowley, Head of Sustainable Sourcing Innovation, Kering
- Chris Gerrard, Natural Catchment and Biodiversity Manager, Anglian Water
- Dr Stephanie Hime, Director, Little Blue Research
- Paul Silcock, Managing Director, Cumulus Consultants
- James Spurgeon, Director, Sustain Value
Keynote lecture: Hard truths, sacred cows and animal spirits – making nature count in fashion supply chains
Dr Helen Crowley of Kering shares her insights into how companies can support building natural capital into their business with a specific focus on biodiversity in sourcing and supply chains. The keynote lecture takes place in the evening of 27 February.
Participant-led case studies
Before the Lab, participants will be invited to volunteer their organisation as a case example for exercises. This offers a benefit to their business from thinking through a particular challenge or opportunity with like-minded individuals, supported by experts.
Sustainability Leadership Labs
University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) Labs bring together professionals to test and challenge cutting-edge responses to global problems. Open to all our alumni and senior industry practitioners, these two-day sustainability workshops held four times per year in Cambridge, are an opportunity for professional development, co-creation and networking – all with real application to your company or organisational situation.
