Project

Green Business Benefits: How you can let nature work for you to come up with solutions

Coming up with a good green business case is still a challenge for many entrepreneurs. How do you include less visible or quantifiable values in your calculations? How do you prevent successive initiatives for knowledge repeatedly starting from scratch? Commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Wageningen Economic Research (Alterra) organised the Green Business Benefits Buffet on 9 December 2014 to discuss these questions.

What are the Green Business Benefits?

The Green Business Benefits Buffet was aimed at entrepreneurs, business managers, sustainability managers and employees who went into discussion with various experts about what nature could mean for your business. In other words: what are the Green Business Benefits?

Together with 80 attendees and on the basis of five themes, we went in search of new, innovative ways to realise business ambitions and sustainability goals, considered the possibilities available to better use our natural capital and we shared experiences regarding the involvement of the community in business activities.

Themes

Duurzame productieketens.jpg
Nature based solutions.jpg
Natuur & biodiversiteit.jpg
Regionaal partnerschap.jpg
Circulaire economie.jpg

‘Green action’

Although ‘green action’ is a natural way of working for some businesses, for others financing, clients and regulations remain considerable obstacles. However, the prevailing theme in the reactions was that partnerships are essential to be able to make real progress. This would entail a far-reaching form of collaboration in which all participants will benefit and fulfil an essential role. Alone, it is simply not possible to successfully launch innovative green business cases.

Recommendations for the Ministry of Economic Affairs

That evening, discussions and the prevailing theme were presented in a drawing, a video and an article. In addition, we drew up recommendations for the ministry regarding how they could facilitate establishing green business cases.