Grabbing the opportunity not only to broaden learnings but also implement them in a real world context

When the ICP projects were initially announced, most of us were curious what Plantlife – a biodiversity focused NGO – was doing on the list. But for Ricardo Sanchez, Sanjukta Mahajan, Sienna Sui, Nicolas de Toledo and myself, following that curiosity has paid off with an absolutely fascinating project that has not only allowed us to gain real world experience implementing some of the classroom concepts from the year, but also broadened our learnings into new and exciting topics.

Our research has taken us down a variety of winding paths as we try to provide some useful insights to Plantlife, bringing our decidedly different perspective to their operations. We’ve looked into different governance structures, emerging environmental laws and trends, natural capitalism, the use of blockchain and digital technologies in conservation, and the topic of the economic autonomy of nature.

To fully understand Plantlife’s needs and ambitions, we kicked off the project with a week in the UK, visiting with different members of the Plantlife team in London, Salisbury and York. Our visit had us taking part in a workshop with the senior management team, sitting in on a meeting of the board of directors, and working directly with potential clients to learn more about their needs.

But despite our packed schedule, we managed to find some time to explore some of the immense cultural offerings of the UK including visiting Stonehenge in the driving rain, touring awe-inspiring cathedrals, and playing “shove ha’penny” with some locals over a pint.

The ICP experience has proven to be a great synthesis of our year thus far and will be one of the more memorable experiences from this impactful year.

Team members: Ricardo Sánchez, Sanjukta Mahajan, Nicolas de Toledo, Sienna Sui, Douglas Petry

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