This other Eden

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International Advisory Council member, Annabel Gillard reflects on her time at Anthropy.

The Eden Project in Cornwall was the perfect location for Anthropy – which David Grayson wrote about last week. Anthropy founder John O’Brien challenged the assembled to create a positive, equitable, sustainable, successful vision for a future Britain - an ambitious ask for 3 days of discussion and inter-disciplinary connections! A manifesto will be published early next year, but for all those who participated, it was already successful. The buzz of creativity and sense of cross-pollination was palpable - as was the need for action to follow.

It was, without question, the best event of my professional life – a widely shared experience if LinkedIn posts are anything to go by. The agenda was so packed with content, no two experiences will have been the same – but what was unifying and uniformly felt was the power of hope and the sense of collective purpose. Every Anthropist left Eden refreshed with a sense of possibility and buzzing with ideas from unexpected connections.

The location was an essential element in situating the discussions in an organic, natural, setting. When you’re sitting in a rainforest to discuss ESG, nature is quite literally at the table. A multi-sensory experience made for more engagement, hearing the birds, smelling the flowers, feeling the warmth or the raindrops –all a long way from death by PowerPoint! It also put delegates in their outdoor gear – an immediate leveller and connection to our non-work selves. The lack of hierarchy was reinforced in the discussions after each panel, with a growing sense that the audience also had expertise and insights that could illuminate the topic at hand.

The tone was set by the signs at the entrance: ‘leave your ego and your silo at the door’ and most people did exactly that. Arriving at a visitor centre, in wet weather clothing, made it feel a bit like a school trip - engendering a spirit of enquiry, collaboration, and learning. Maybe even playfulness. As social psychology tells us, these factors are hugely beneficial when it comes to openness and creativity.

This ‘other Eden’ experience was so successful because it was very different to most corporate events – by incorporating elements that engage us at a human level. The impact of the energy, creativity, connectivity, and positivity that it generated was revelatory. As someone with an interest in boosting the focus on our humanity in an increasingly digitalised world, I’m at risk of confirmation bias– so I’d love to hear from other Anthropists about how they found the experience.

Within the better business, ESG and organisational culture streams that I attended, some of the key debates were around greenwashing, short-termism, and the difficulty of balancing conflicting objectives. Some organisations are finding the fear of a greenwashing accusation paralysing and moving away from a saint/sinner binary and recognising the complexity of different priorities might encourage more authentic disclosures from companies. There are also real difficulties in matching Anthropist aspirations with the reality of life in big companies, or in listed companies where the focus is on short-term returns. One Head of Sustainability for a household name organisation advised showing the board “something they can’t un-see” as a way of securing C-suite commitment. The business case is strengthened by the recognition that Millennials and Gen Z seem to prioritise a different balance of profit with people and the planet. Businesses may need to reflect this, in order to retain the loyalty of this age group both as employees and consumers. B-Corps in attendance advocated the improving benefits of the rigour of the B-Corp certification (and the need to show continuous improvement to stay certified) along with the power and intangible value gained by the membership of the B-Corp community.

Daniel Bruce from Transparency International eloquently explained the importance of ethical culture in achieving ESG using the metaphor of a tree with governance acting as the root system of the tree, E and S as the leaves or fruit of the tree – requiring culture to act as the trunk connecting it all together. This echoes the findings of our report earlier this year.

I have three suggestions for the next Anthropy. Firstly, to do more to actively include those who do not naturally agree with its goals - ideas created in an echo chamber are less effective when they meet reality. Secondly, greater involvement of business, as the complex conflicts between the profit motive of business with the other objectives of Anthropy need to be addressed head-on – and the scope of Anthropy’s ambition can only be achieved with the private sector on board.

Finally – the humanness of the event and its natural environment made an incalculably positive impact on everyone attending. Beyond the borders of Eden however, we are accelerating into a digital, screen-based, technological future. Protecting and enhancing our humanity within a technology-driven future needs increasingly urgent attention.

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