5 ways collaboration can combat climate change
Article
Sustainability
The climate emergency presents the planet and mankind with huge challenges, and working together will be key to our success in adapting to climate change and mitigating its impact.
In a recent webinar we explored how corporate collaborations are helping the water and distilling industries rise to the challenges of climate change and meet critical sustainability goals. Here are some key takeaways, on why collaboration is so important.
Working with others who have different expertise from within as well as outside your industry can help to unlock new and creative ways of doing things. Solving difficult problems requires different skill sets, experiences and backgrounds, therefore finding new perspectives can be transformational for tackling climate-related problems.
In the workplace and particularly in the race against climate change, time is a precious resource. Working together with others accelerates action and delivery, to reach goals faster.
Innovation can work gradually, but when it comes to the climate emergency we don’t have the luxury of time. We need to make the right decisions so we can innovate ata faster pace, and we need to work with others to do this.
If you need to do something new, being able to draw on the experience of others can prove invaluable. Sharing experience helps others learn what they need, so they can set up their projects quickly and successfully, and hopefully avoid (potentially costly) mistakes.
When embarking upon their AD (Anaerobic Digestion) journey, Glenmorangie benefitted from colleagues in the whisky industry being willing to share their own experiences. This helped Glenmorangie learn early on what they needed, and decide what technology and operating model was right for them.
At Alpheus, we’ve always believed in a collaborative approach. Our clients find great value in our willingness to openly share our learning, knowledge and experience from across different sectors.
Specific expertise doesn’t always lie within the same organisation or sector, so partnerships, (including outsourcing), can help bridge crucial gaps and accelerate success. One organisation cannot know everything!
Distilleries, for example, produce surplus heat but they’re not heating companies. Glenmorangie recognised a gap in their knowledge and decided to seek an external partner with a deeper level of expertise and understanding to help them operate and optimise their AD plant. This decision, and the appointment of the right partner, proved transformational for them.
Big ideas require big money! Luckily there are some significant funding opportunities out there for innovative ideas, which require development and delivery through collaboration.
Innovation also requires an ability to move at a fast pace, including bringing in new technology. Thankfully business knows how to do things quickly! Businesses have a responsibility to take the lead in tackling the challenges of climate change and to work with as many people as possible to achieve goals more quickly.
Last year Anglian Water won over £11 million in innovation funding for two projects from Ofwat’s Water Breakthrough Challenge, with a consortium of partners including fellow UK water companies.
The climate emergency presents significant challenges, but also a once in a lifetime opportunity to find the right solutions. It’s imperative, therefore, that we deepen collaboration within and across sectors, as well as with government and wider society to deliver our green recovery and tackle climate change. As Peter Nelson, Operations Director for Glenmorangie, said in our recent webinar “we’re not competing on the environment”.
