At First Hand, we advocate for working in open ways. We’re in an era when openness and collaboration are no longer optional; they’re critical for navigating complexity and achieving systemic change.

Complex shared challenges – including but not only the climate crisis – require business and industry to work in different ways, inside and across sectors and disciplines.

Easily said, but where these ideas meet reality is a hard landing. New mindsets, strategies, infrastructure, processes, skills, regulation – the list is comprehensive. But change is coming, and for many it’s already in progress, look at anyone from Tesla to the Fashion Alliance to understand that big business is all over these agendas, and we’ve seen pockets of brilliance in some sectors working at other scales.

First Hand is an initiative focused on making these ideas more available and actionable for more people and organisations. We offer these ideas and tools for change via our learning events and through a platform for exchange. A key approach is the ecosystem, or specifically the ‘learning ecosystem’. You can read the research, but there’s nothing like learning on the job, we’re growing our own and we’re sharing early successes and observations in this article.

Seeking new connections for systemic change

Connecting outside of our small CIC is a pre-requisite for creating tangible impact. We’ve worked collaboratively, and created networks often during the 15 years we’ve been in practice, but this is different for us.

This time we’re not inventing something from scratch, we’re looking to learn from international best practice. We’ve positioned the idea of the Learning Ecosystem centrally in the LEVERS project and we’re seeing how it works not just locally with First Hand, but across nine climate learning projects delivered under this EU Horizon-funded initiative.

So earlier this year we jumped in, creating a framework for a Learning Ecosystem (also referred to a Community of Practice or Learning Venture) to support innovation in climate and green skills related learning programmes.

Here’s 3 things we’ve learned

Beginnings are painfully fragile

When we reached out to our network to convene a group of practitioners in industry, local government, education and advocacy with the broad aim to addressing SDG 12 through skills, there was only great people and their interest.

Creating the conditions for the group to form and find purpose is an important step, that’s why it took two meetings to surface thoughts about our shared attitude to change and working together, acknowledging questions of power dynamics and creating space for each voice.

At an early point we felt like we were pedalling so hard to hold something which didn’t really exist. It would have been so easy for it all to fall apart.

Finding purpose can only be done together

Halfway through the year, we were clear on our goals:

• Accelerate our own understanding of transformative green skills and practices, in order to:

• Develop our capability to build programmes and curriculum, and scale access to green skills – fast.

Clarifying our purpose was a key step. But how did we start the group if we didn’t have a clear purpose? That’s kind of tricky – we approached people with a loose idea, but we couldn’t really form as a group until that was kicked about and tailored to the group. Cue more pedalling hard and hoping people didn’t disconnect while we circled back around.

Things really started coming together as people shared their real experiences of working to develop sustainability skills in real settings and we landed on an important qualifier – we’re interested in how green skills agendas meet real-world contexts. We’re glad we bonded and that they stayed with us for the long run.

Generosity in ecosystems yields mutual dividends

Collaboration rather than competition is redefining business practices and spurring innovation. We recently shared our thoughts on the power of openness to drive change in sustainability – you can catch up here.

With openness and collaboration often comes uncertainty and discomfort – but the Community of Practice setting can work to counterbalance this with trust and generosity. The exchange creates more and mutual benefit than sticking to our own turf.

Here are some examples from this year:

• We’ve been working with The Green Edge, a Substack publication and podcast specialising in tracking developments in skills and education for sustainability for over a year. The authors – now members of our Community of Practice – have shared insights from our CoP discussions with their subscribers in a recent article. They apply the Berkana Institute Two-Loop model to explain current dynamics of change in the English education system. We recommend this read to see how ideas explored within our community are influencing broader conversations.

• We’ve been partnering with The Felix Project for over a year now in a number of ways, and their contribution to the CoP has been fundamental as they hosted the group and shared their experiences. It’s been brilliant to see the food redistribution charity drawing on the experience of another CoP member to support the development of an exciting new project that aims to save even more food from going to waste. This kind of access to expertise is built on trust and can shortcut a route to rapid action.

• We’re seeing many benefits to working in this ecosystemic way. From exploring joint research to partnering on content for our First Hand learning events, to growing organically as we meet people on the way – there is no doubt that this Community of Practice gives us confidence and the collective power we need to continue on our mission to accelerate the transformative skills we need to (adapt to) change.

A huge thank you to all of our members for their engagement and dedication in 2024. We’re excited about expanding and continue our exploration of transformative green skills and how to scale their adoption.

Notes

What’s a Community of Practice?

A Community of Practice is a group of people who come together to share, learn, and work through challenges and opportunities around shared interests. In our case, a cross sectoral collaboration for learning and scaling green skills to address SDG12 – Responsible Production and Consumption.

What’s a Learning Ecosystem?

A learning ecosystem, as implied by its name, constitutes a network or system comprising individuals and organisations connected through symbiotic relationships based on shared interests, technology, resources, skills, and tools. A learning ecosystem as an intentional collaborative network aims to innovate and co-create opportunities that enhance learning within their communities. Read more on the LEVERS website

What are transformative green skills?

Transformative green skills focus on transferable/transversal skills needed to drive sustainability beyond technical expertise. These skills include systems thinking, leadership, problem-solving, collaboration, and adaptability—essential for enabling organisations and communities to integrate sustainability into their operations and mindsets. Unlike technical green skills (like installing solar panels or retrofitting homes), transformative skills help people manage change, lead innovation, and work across sectors to achieve environmental goals. Read more