The Challenge

How do you bring together the threads of an ambitious strategy to create a compelling narrative and engage an entire organisation around sustainability?

Canary Wharf Group are leading the way with their current strategy and planning towards 2050, but with such a fast pace and so many moving parts (including target setting, working groups, reporting) there is a challenge in clearly articulating a sustainability narrative that would ensure the right level of ambition, and ensure that sustainability become absolutely central to the business. Achieving focus and clarity is crucial to moving to their desired next step of activating the whole organisation on sustainability, but without it, it would be difficult to build the momentum to engage the wider business on sustainability so that everyone understands the level of ambition for sustainability over the next 30 years, and what will therefore be expected of them in terms of leadership, decision-making, and delivery.

The Design

Through a comprehensive review of their sustainability strategies and ambitions in comparison with their peers, FutureMakers engaged CWG’s Corporate Responsibility Group (CRG) in discussion on the insights revealed to identify gaps and opportunities in the existing approach. In a subsequent series of workshops, an upgrade of their sustainability approach was co-created and a new narrative with which to engage the wider organisation was crafted. This design is intended as the first step of a Transformation journey for the business that will result in the activation of all employees on CWG’s sustainability ambitions, and lead them toward becoming a regenerative business.

The Impact

Following the delivery of the project, FutureMakers were called to present the recommendations directly to the CRG which were described as “paving the way for the challenges ahead”.