Thursday Impact Insights

Building a Business Case for Intentional Community

Written by Carl Pratt | Mar 12, 2025 9:48:55 AM

Insights from FuturePlanet Community

Building a Business Case for Intentional Community

🧠 In this blog article...


You will discover the value and benefits of placing community at the heart of collaboration within our value chains.


One of the elements we love about how we have developed FuturePlanet is that every piece of our ways of being and doing have been co-created with our community and in the conversations that we have. 


This update was inspired by one of those conversations on supply chain engagement. However, what we noticed was that to effectively convey its value to key stakeholders, we need to start to create a business case for community and, in particular, intentional community building.



✨ You will discover

  • ✅ Challenges that changemakers face
  • ✅ Why community-first approach wins 
  • ✅ Case studies: community accelerates speed and scale of impact
  • ✅ How we can build a community that's intentional
  • ✅ ...and where you can connect with the FuturePlanet community



Let's look at the challenges...

Challenges vary - here are some of the common ones that are shared with us 

  • Targets have been set - and now need to be met, time is running out
  • To achieve our goals, we must reduce the impact of our customers and suppliers
  • Traditional compliance-based approaches often fall short
  • Successes can sometimes stutter and stagnate 
  • Can be challenging to identify and engage beyond tier 1 and 2 suppliers
  • Suppliers can struggle with the complexity, cost and feasibility of achieving targets

 

 

Community first wins

Where community could be of value to you, as shared in our community

What we notice is that alongside practical policies and effective procurement strategies, customers and suppliers value mentorship, peer support, practical guidance and motivation to commit and achieve their reductions.

This and more can all be found in community. The benefits of which include:

  • A safe space for people to connect and share support
  • Leverages peer influence to increase supplier commitment. 
  • Encourages knowledge-sharing through case studies and best practices

It helps to: 

  • Identify blockers, challenges and opportunities for collaboration, and

  • Provide a space for continued improvement and...

  • Perhaps most important of all, community really gives people resilience and encouragement to keep going 


Case studies

Community accelerates speed and scale of our impact 

We have discovered this in our communities and with our community. It's also an approach that is validated by SBTi, WEF and others.

✅  Science Based Targets Initiative: 2x more likely to set SBTi targets when engaged in a peer-driven network > Link here

✅ Science Based Targets Initiative: 72% of companies report greater emissions reductions via community-based supplier engagement > Link here


✅  World Economic Forum: Companies in peer-collaboration programs decarbonise 30% faster Link here

 

 

Community must be intentional

These are the elements foundational to this approach

The right people in the right rooms, connected and supported in the best way, and then given what they need to influence others and bring them on the journey too. 

Mapping

Mapping key people (stakeholders) and understanding them—what they are measured by, what kind of personalities they have, what their challenges are, and what is important to them.


Identifying, mapping and organising organisations including: territories, goals and targets, risks, value chains and connections of influence and relevance.


Mapping internal liabilities and external levers that can drive change, legislations, regulations and politics. All this information helps to create engagement and action.


Engagement

There are of course webinars and supplier days and events that we are all familiar with. Here are some principles that we have discovered are valuable from a community first approach. 

  • Consistency is key, staying regularly connected and supportive

  • The energy and empathy of an approach makes all the difference

  • Structured engagement cycles with clear milestones (onboarding, commitment, implementation, reporting) ensure follow-through.

 

Insights for influence

The stories that we share are a form of soft power, in the right hands they can have a very real impact.

  • Our customers require us to...

  • Did you know that our competitor is doing...

  • A growing trend in our end customers is to...

Knowing which people and organizations are important to influence—and who and what influences them—can make all the difference.

 

Insights for collaboration

At our recent value chain roundtable on critical minerals, the structure of the conversations was for each person to share their challenges and opportunities for collaboration. This openness and then our ability to synthesis, summarise share has the potential to save us all time and facilitate transformational collaborations. 

 

Insights for transformation

These insights saved on a notebook or summarised in an event are not enough. We need to be much more joined up. At FuturePlanet, we are curating a data and insights library. This is a closed and private database that helps us to identify patterns and support professionals to find answers to their challenges and collaborate effectively. Done at scale, we can transform sectors and systems.

 

 

Connect with your peers, share stories, receive support and more

Join our Community of Action


We are intentionally welcoming individuals and team whom we can support through a community of peers to: 

❤️ Feel energised, supported and a sense of belonging
🙌 Save time and discover solutions to your sustainability challenges
🤓 Share and receive knowledge and insights on impact themes
⚡ Collaborate to create and scale the tools for transformation


If you would like to explore joining the community - please apply here

The Future Planet community of action is vetted and intentionally curated to include: 

  • Professionals from across functions and sectors in medium and large organisations 
  • Purposeful pioneers and leaders of innovative solutions, and
  • Policy influencers 

Individuals and teams are from organisations including Asda, Estee Lauder, Capgemini Invent Nestle, Sodexo, Suez and many more.

 

Together we can ✊🏽