At FuturePlanet, peer learning is one of the most powerful approaches that we have.
In this article, you will discover top 7 insights about community, engagement and collaboration as shared by the members of the Sodexo Community of Practice in February.
Every 3 months, the Sodexo Community of Practice convenes, and shares sustainability and social insights across industries from their activities, actions and programs.
This is an inclusive and diverse community of changemakers across sectors and roles. Some just starting out, others with a lifetime of experience to share. All leaning in, sharing support, and learning together.
We inspire action, save each other time, and build confidence in making impactful decisions. Organisations represented include BASF, Bunzl, Nestle, NHS and Toyota.
Check our our case study below to find out more what we do and what we achieve through this community.
A major success has been the formation of a collaborative network across the chemical industry. Partners who hadn’t worked together closely before now recognise the power of collaboration in driving sustainability.
Community building takes time, especially to create authenticity, safety and trust. A community-first approach in the value chain means collaboration opportunities will flow more easily.
A logistics company's creation of eco fund is a case study showing where leadership makes sustainability a priority, momentum follows. The ex-CEO’s direct involvement and an initial £150,000 investment showed a clear strategic vision that gave the team permission to push forward with confidence.
Sustainability often relies on policies and campaigns, but real change happens where habits form. In the case of a large catering business, focused engagement with chefs and kitchen staff during peak times has reshaped waste practices and improved recycling.
One way to build capability is intentional mentoring - not just top-down, but peer-to-peer, cross-functional, and embedded into how teams grow together. Nestle has a great reverse mentoring program, supporting senior leaders with younger sustainability professionals.
For competitors that rely on proprietary knowledge, collaboration requires careful legal guardrails. Structured IP agreements, compartmentalized workstreams, and clear governance ensures cooperation while protecting sensitive information.
For a multinational energy company, influence is about how they could activate their entire ecosystem of relationships. Their campaign leveraged its relationships with Sodexo, other service providers and external partners to expand positive impact far beyond its workforce. The campaign showcased the power of a collaborative approach.
While sometimes the goals a project starts with are not exactly met — what a project can unlock could be more valuable. The ability to test ideas, refine strategies, and uncover unexpected human, technical and strategic insights is part of the evolution process. The new relationships created, the understanding of where the blockers are and what to solve for in a future iteration are all so valuable. What is important is to learn quickly, move, adapt, evolve and keep transforming.
For a company in materials innovation, assessing a project's impact has been challenging due to the limitations of current tools like LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) and TEA (Techno-Economic Analysis). Despite that, they moved forward with the fundamental belief that reducing fossil-based materials is an inherently good direction — even when the data wasn't perfect.