“We are going to a different place, let’s go differently.” – Nora Bateson
The Earth Funding Lab is one of the most innovative projects in the philanthropy space and a forerunner in the collaborative, systems-focused approach required for philanthropy and sustainable investment to achieve systemic impact. Be The Earth is proud to be an active participant in their collaborative work streams and pooled funds.
“Being part of the Lab has expanded my understanding around funding practices and foundational issues that are the roots of our systemic challenges. It has connected me to a wider network of funders that also value nature and its voice, while guiding us beautifully through the journey of learning, conceptualising and acting collaboratively." – Renata Minerbo, Head of Community & Partnerships, Be The Earth Foundation
The following article was published in Philanthropy Impact, Issue 31, Autumn 2024, pg. 28 — by Liz Gadd, Interim Director, Environmental Funders Network
We cannot rely on traditional methods of grant funding or sustainable investment alone to meet the unprecedented challenges our world faces. To address interconnected and ingrained social and environmental challenges - with the urgency they demand - we must travel differently to seek new destinations.
The Earth Funding Lab, founded by the Environmental Funders Network and the Bio Leadership Project, is a call to evolve the systems and structures behind funding and sustainable investment in order to support greater and more systemic forms of impact.
The Lab is both a learning community and an innovation incubator. We work with questions about how to evolve philanthropy from within in order to support more sustainable and generative change.
Participating funders connect ideas, knowledge, resources, and strategies.
A goal of the Lab is to develop a ‘portfolio’ of workstreams that support greater shifts toward economies that protect and regenerate all of life. Our current workstreams are:
1) Evolving the tax system to serve life
2) Going beyond ESG
3) Supporting the rights of nature movement
Of course, many areas of work are needed, so we developed a set of coordinates to help our group prioritise areas of work:
Is it bold and ambitious?
Is it the right fit for this group and this moment in time?
Can it inspire action in many different places?
Does it embrace connections more than silos?
Is it something that no one can do alone?
Does it have the potential to heal relationships (to ourselves, to nature, to the past)?
In autumn 2024, the second cohort of participants are beginning their journey with the Lab, and a third cohort is planned for spring 2025. New participants may decide to join one of the existing three workstreams and/or to establish new ones.
There is energy and commitment amongst existing participants to explore new workstreams together when the moment is right.
Possible areas for future action include in relation to the role of feminine leadership principles, developing a movement advocating for strong and just transition policy proposals in the UK, and potential geographical focus areas such as South Wales.
We acknowledge that there are no simple solutions to the challenges of the world today. For this reason, the spirit of the Lab is one of community, shared inquiry, experimentation and mutual support.
What makes the Earth Funding Lab innovative?
The Lab’s spirit of innovation is both broad and deep. However, two things stand out to me as reasons to celebrate that we are travelling a path less travelled.
Participating funders are building deep relationships to enable meaningful and long-term collaboration.
The Lab is convening discrete parts of the ecosystem to facilitate systemic action that no one group could achieve alone.
To my mind, this makes the Earth Funding Lab one of the most innovative projects in the philanthropy space and a forerunner for the style of working required for philanthropy and sustainable investment to achieve impact at a systemic level.
We invite you to join us as we walk the path less travelled, where together we are more than the sum of our parts. To join our next cohort, contact liz@greenfunders.org