MANAMA: The scientific and technological advances of the last 150 years have left humanity even more remote from the natural world, as exploitation of natural resources and profits are arguably prioritized over environmental protection.
Leena Al-Olaimy, a Bahraini social entrepreneur, has made it her mission to reset the paradigm, launching non-profit Public Planet Partnerships (PPP) to train businesses how to “team up” with nature to operate more efficiently and boost their bottom line.
“We see nature as something to protect or exploit, unfortunately. But we don’t see it as something to collaborate with as a socio-economic partner,” Al-Olaimy said.
The World Bank values earth’s natural assets at $100 trillion. For instance, California’s street trees annually provide $1 billion in services by regulating the atmosphere and preventing floods, but such contributions are usually overlooked in conventional economics.
The PPP model offers a step-by-step methodology enabling mutually beneficial collaborations between humans and the natural world. (Supplied)
So, Al-Olaimy’s PPP model offers an ethos and step-by-step methodology enabling mutually beneficial and regenerative collaborations between humans and the natural world.
“We’d like to see PPP become widely used, so any new or existing business, NGO or government department would look at this framework and find it easy to implement,” she said.
By public, Al-Olaimy means businesses, multilateral organizations, scientists, governments and civil society. By planet, she means all life on earth and its vast resources.
PPP’s open-source tools combine design-thinking, management consulting and spiritual ecology with a science-based approach. With around 20 downloadable tools, organizations can gain unique insights, from reframing nature to see it as a technology to connecting with nature at an intuitive level. These toolkits are available in English, Arabic and French.
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- $100,000 Expo Live grant received by PPP to expand its case study library.
PPP’s co-founders piloted its program at COP22, the UN’s 2016 climate change conference in Marrakech. PPP also received a $100,000 Expo Live grant to develop its methodology and toolkit and expand its case study library.
“We wanted to create a planet-centered toolkit that anyone could use and was accessible,” says Al-Olaimy. “Most environmental frameworks are technical, so we set out to create something that would be easy to understand for everyone — from a changemaker to an entrepreneur, corporate innovator or government official.”
Her 12 partnership models include using nature as a sensor, a data partner, a waste manager, a purifier and a protector. For instance, the incredible sense of smell of giant pouched rats enables them to detect landmines and identify tuberculosis in human mucus samples.
“That’s an example of looking at what’s available to you and seeing the superpowers that particular species can offer you,” said Al-Olaimy. “These partnerships should be a win-win, so we’d also look at the threats to that rat species and see how to mitigate these to ensure they thrive.”
Leena Al-Olaimy, Bahraini social entrepreneur
A PPP bootcamp takes an organization through a three-stage process. This begins with planet centering to reconnect with nature at a tactile, sensory and intuitive level. Phase two is “discovery,” where participants examine the available biological resources in their environment and identify potential ecological and species partners, as well as the non-human stakeholders. This phase determines the best bio strategies to adopt, while the final phase is planet partnering.
“We create an inventory of the species available to you and the things these species do that could be useful to your business or organization,” Al-Olaimy said. “We help you experiment — if you were to partner with this species as a data partner, how would that work? Or with another species as a nourisher, what would that entail?
“Once you have an idea, you need to develop a business case. You’d probably need an environmental economist to quantify the costs, for example, but the ideation process can be done by anyone.”
Professionals from more than 40 countries have used the toolkit. “Most of the traction we’ve had has been with design thinkers, sustainability professionals, environmental NGOs,” Al-Olaimy said.
Meanwhile, PPP’s Udemy course is available in English and has been completed by 154 students as of mid-September 2020.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the traction we’ve had,” she said.
• This report is being published by Arab News as a partner of the Middle East Exchange, which was launched by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives to reflect the vision of the UAE prime minister and ruler of Dubai to explore the possibility of changing the status of the Arab region.
