People For Nature

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  • Why Climate Literacy Belongs in Board and Executive Development

    Why Climate Literacy Belongs in Board and Executive Development

    Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue — it is a leadership challenge

    Boards and executive teams are navigating a world of accelerating climate impacts, changing regulations, shifting investor expectations, supply chain disruptions and growing community scrutiny.

    Yet one critical capability is often missing from leadership development programs: climate literacy.

    Just as financial literacy enables leaders to understand financial performance, climate literacy enables leaders to understand climate-related risks, opportunities and decisions that shape the future of their organisation.

    Climate literacy is not about turning executives into climate scientists. It is about giving decision-makers the confidence and shared understanding they need to lead in a rapidly changing world.

    At People For Nature, we believe informed leaders are essential to building a resilient future. Through Climate Fresk, a proven science-based collaborative workshop, we help organisations transform complex climate science into practical understanding — empowering leaders and teams to turn climate risk into meaningful action.

    The climate challenge is becoming a business challenge

    For many years, climate change was treated primarily as an environmental or sustainability issue. Today, it is increasingly recognised as a strategic issue that affects every organisation.

    Climate-related risks can influence:

    • operational continuity through extreme weather events;
    • supply chain reliability;
    • insurance availability and costs;
    • access to capital and investor confidence;
    • regulatory obligations;
    • workforce expectations and talent attraction;
    • long-term business resilience.

    Boards and executives are responsible for making decisions under uncertainty. But meaningful decisions require a shared understanding of the systems driving these changes.

    Without climate literacy, leaders risk relying on fragmented information, reactive responses or isolated sustainability initiatives rather than embedding climate considerations into strategy.

    Climate literacy is a leadership capability

    Effective leadership requires the ability to understand complex systems, identify emerging risks and make informed choices.

    Climate literacy helps leaders answer fundamental questions:

    What is driving climate change?
    Understanding the science behind greenhouse gas emissions, feedback loops and climate impacts provides a foundation for strategic thinking.

    How does climate change affect our organisation?
    Leaders need to connect global climate trends with operational, financial and reputational risks.

    What action creates meaningful impact?
    Moving beyond awareness requires understanding where organisations can reduce emissions, build resilience and contribute to positive change.

    A climate-literate leadership team can move conversations from:

    “What is happening?”

    to:

    “What does this mean for our organisation, and what decisions do we need to make?”

    The gap between climate awareness and climate action

    Many organisations have committed to sustainability goals. Many leaders genuinely want to contribute to solutions.

    The challenge is often not motivation — it is shared understanding.

    Climate conversations can become complicated by:

    • overwhelming amounts of information;
    • uncertainty about priorities;
    • technical language;
    • competing business pressures;
    • uncertainty about where to start.

    This is where participatory learning approaches can make a difference.

    Rather than delivering another presentation filled with facts, Climate Fresk brings leaders together to explore the causes and consequences of climate change through a collaborative, evidence-based process.

    In just three hours, participants build a shared mental model of the climate system, identify connections between causes and impacts, and begin exploring pathways for action.

    Why boards and executives need a shared climate language

    Organisations transform when leadership teams align around a common understanding.

    Climate literacy enables executives and boards to:

    1. Ask better questions

    Climate-literate leaders can challenge assumptions, identify blind spots and engage more effectively with sustainability teams, consultants and stakeholders.

    2. Make better strategic decisions

    Understanding climate systems helps leaders integrate climate considerations into investment decisions, risk management and organisational strategy.

    3. Engage teams with confidence

    Employees increasingly expect their organisations to take meaningful action. Leaders who understand the challenge can communicate with authenticity and inspire participation.

    4. Move beyond compliance

    While regulations and reporting requirements are important, climate leadership is about more than meeting obligations. It is about preparing organisations for the future.

    From climate risk to meaningful action

    The organisations that thrive in the coming decades will be those that can adapt, innovate and collaborate.

    Climate literacy is a foundation for that transition.

    At People For Nature, we work with organisations to build climate capability through engaging, science-based learning experiences. Our Climate Fresk workshops help leaders and teams understand the climate challenge, connect the science to their context, and identify opportunities for meaningful action.

    Because climate action starts with understanding.

    And understanding starts with informed leadership.

    Build climate capability in your organisation

    People For Nature equips corporate leaders with the climate understanding they need to lead with confidence.

    Through Climate Fresk’s proven 3-hour collaborative workshop, we transform complex climate science into shared understanding — enabling leaders and teams to turn climate risk into meaningful action.

    Get in touch for a quote: abarucchi@peoplefornature.org.au

  • Put nature at the heart of workplace giving

    Put nature at the heart of workplace giving

    Businesses have an important role to play in shaping a future where nature is valued, protected and restored.

    People For Nature is proud to be registered with Good2Give — a workplace giving platform that helps connect employees and businesses with charities creating positive change.

    To find us on Good2Give, click here.

    Workplace giving makes it simple for employees to support causes they care about through regular payroll donations, while enabling organisations to strengthen their sustainability commitments, engage their teams and contribute to meaningful community impact. Many workplaces also choose to amplify their employees’ generosity through matched giving programs.

    By choosing People For Nature as part of your workplace giving program, your organisation helps empower Australians to understand, value and protect the natural world.

    Your support contributes to:
    🌱 science-based climate and biodiversity education
    🦘 citizen science initiatives protecting Australian species and ecosystems
    🤝 community-led action connecting people with nature
    🌏 a growing movement of citizens driving positive change

    Because protecting nature is not the responsibility of a few—it is a collective effort.

    Whether you are an employee looking for a meaningful way to give, or a business wanting to engage your people around sustainability and purpose, workplace giving provides a practical pathway to create lasting impact.

    Find out how your organisation can support People For Nature through Good2Give and help put nature back at the heart of society.

  • Meet our Ambassador: Evelina Lekešiūtė

    Meet our Ambassador: Evelina Lekešiūtė

    Evelina Lekešiūtė enjoys helping people and organisations navigate complex sustainability challenges by bringing together research, learning, participation, and systems thinking.

    She is a sustainability project manager, researcher, climate educator, and community engagement and nature connectedness facilitator.

    Based in Sydney, Evelina volunteers with People for Nature, where she facilitates Climate Fresk workshops and is training to become a Biodiversity Collage facilitator. She also leads the Outdoor Office Day Australia movement, inviting people to get up, move, and spend more time outdoors while completing their everyday work tasks, working more efficiently and feeling relaxed.

    With experience spanning from civil engineering to non-formal learning, engaging youth, local communities, elderly and migrants,from research agencies and governmental EU institutions to hands-on community engagement, educating and facilitating. 

    She designs and leads effective educational programmed and experiential activities, and guides people and business towards cross-sector collaboration for a better world. 

    From revitalising public green spaces and contributing to regional climate adaptation strategies to embedding circular economy principles into vocational education and leading experiential learning in nature, Evelina is passionate about helping people connect, collaborate, and create positive environmental change.

  • From Climate Learner to Environmental Leader | Meet Sholihah

    From Climate Learner to Environmental Leader | Meet Sholihah

    How the People For Nature Ambassador pathway empowers the next generation of sustainability leaders

    The challenge: Turning science into action

    Climate and biodiversity challenges are complex. While scientific knowledge is growing, many people still struggle to understand what is happening, why it matters, and what they can do.

    For Sholihah, the barrier is not a lack of care.

    “People often don’t take action not because they don’t care, but because they don’t fully understand the issues at hand.”

    With a background in environmental engineering and biology education, Sholihah understood the importance of translating complex science into meaningful conversations that connect with people.

    The first step: Experiencing collective intelligence

    Sholihah’s journey with People For Nature began as a participant.

    Her first Climate Fresk workshop took place in Indonesia in June 2024. Despite having an environmental background, she didn’t know what to expect.

    What stood out was that it didn’t feel like a traditional lecture.

    Instead, participants worked together to build a shared understanding of climate systems by connecting causes and consequences, drawing on everyone’s knowledge and perspectives.

    “It felt like everyone in the room was figuring things out together, and somehow that made the whole thing land so much harder and memorable.”

    A few months later, after moving to Melbourne for her Master of Environment at the University of Melbourne, Sholihah joined her first Biodiversity Collage workshop.

    The experience reinforced something important: environmental education is most powerful when people are active participants in creating knowledge.

    Becoming a facilitator: From learning to empowering others

    After experiencing the impact of these workshops, Sholihah wanted to help create the same experience for others.

    She trained as a Climate Fresk facilitator and later joined People For Nature’s facilitator community, expanding her skills to deliver Biodiversity Collage and Circular Economy Collage workshops.

    “I didn’t want to facilitate because I had all the answers. I wanted to help create the space where people could discover and understand these issues together.”

    Through People For Nature, Sholihah found not only training opportunities, but a supportive community of people working towards the same goal.

    Building confidence and professional skills

    The People For Nature Ambassador pathway gave Sholihah opportunities to move from volunteer facilitation into professional environmental engagement.

    After facilitating more than five workshops, she began supporting paid corporate Climate Fresk sessions — adapting workshops for different audiences and organisational contexts.

    This experience helped her develop skills beyond environmental knowledge:

    • Facilitating conversations across diverse audiences
    • Communicating complex science clearly
    • Supporting groups through challenging topics
    • Listening and creating inclusive spaces
    • Connecting sustainability concepts with real-world action

    “When you’re facilitating, your job is to hold space for the group, not to steer it toward your own perspective. That’s harder than it sounds, and it’s something I’m still working on.”

    Impact beyond the workshops

    Today, Sholihah has facilitated many Climate Fresk and Biodiversity Collage workshops, reaching diverse audiences including students, communities and corporate teams.

    Her environmental engagement work also contributed to her receiving a Highly Commended award in the Student Leadership category at the University of Melbourne Sustainability Awards 2025.

    But the impact goes beyond numbers.

    Through the Ambassador community, Sholihah has developed confidence, leadership skills and a network of people working across climate and sustainability.

    Why the Ambassador pathway matters

    Sholihah’s journey demonstrates the power of citizen-powered change.

    People do not need to be climate scientists to contribute to solving climate and biodiversity challenges.

    They need:

    • Access to trusted knowledge
    • The confidence to start conversations
    • Skills to bring others together
    • A community that supports their journey

    The People For Nature Ambassador pathway transforms participants into environmental leaders who can bring science, dialogue and action into workplaces, universities and communities.

    Her message to future ambassadors

    “You don’t need to be an expert in climate change or biodiversity to facilitate these workshops. You just need to be curious and willing to listen. The model is built on collective intelligence, which means the group does the work together.”

    Connect with Sholihah on LinkedIn 💚

    Interested in becoming a People For Nature Ambassador?
    Join our growing community of facilitators helping Australians understand, connect with and protect nature.

  • Our Partnership with GreenScope Productions: Capturing Citizen-Powered Change

    Our Partnership with GreenScope Productions: Capturing Citizen-Powered Change

    As we build towards Citizen COP Australia 2026, we are proud to highlight our partnership with Green Scope Prod — a collaboration that brings a powerful new dimension to citizen-led climate and biodiversity action: storytelling through film.

    In 2025 Green Scope Prod supported People For Nature by documenting our events, capturing not only what happened — but what it felt like. Through their lens, moments of connection, curiosity, and collective action were preserved and shared far beyond the rooms where they took place.

    Adding a lens to citizen action

    Citizen COP is built on a simple idea: global decisions should be shaped by the people they affect. It is a decentralised, people-powered movement that invites communities across Australia to host their own events alongside global COPs — creating a distributed “Green Zone” grounded in local conversations and action.

    But for these conversations to travel, to inspire others, and to create a ripple effect — they need to be seen.

    This is where Green Scope Prod plays a vital role.

    By documenting Citizen COP and our broader programs, they help amplify citizen voices, making local initiatives visible, accessible, and shareable. Their work transforms ephemeral moments into lasting stories — ensuring that ideas, energy, and insights continue to circulate beyond each event.

    A shared vision

    At the heart of this partnership is a shared belief: storytelling is not just about documentation — it is a tool for change.

    By combining citizen engagement with visual storytelling, we are helping ensure that the voices, ideas, and solutions emerging from communities are not only heard, but remembered, shared, and built upon.

    We are deeply grateful to Green Scope Prod for their support, creativity, and commitment to amplifying citizen-powered change.

    Together, we are not only creating spaces for dialogue — we are capturing a movement in motion.

    Find out more about GreenScop Productions: https://greenscopeprod.com.au/

  • From France to Australia: rethinking our connection with nature

    From France to Australia: rethinking our connection with nature

    At People For Nature, our story is deeply rooted in the connection between France and Australia — not just geographically, but through ideas, innovation, and shared responsibility for the living world.

    Our co-founders bring French origins and influences that have shaped the way we approach environmental education today. It is from this background that we were first introduced to powerful participatory learning tools such as Biodiversity Collage and Climate Fresk — methods that translate complex scientific knowledge into accessible, engaging, and collective experiences. These tools are now helping communities across Australia build climate and biodiversity literacy in a way that is fun, social, and empowering.

    But France’s contribution to global environmental thinking goes far beyond cultural stereotypes. Yes, it is the country of fine cuisine, art, and yes… champagne and iconic design. But it is also a nation that helped shape modern democracy through the First Revolution, and a key player in global climate diplomacy through the adoption of the Paris Agreement — a landmark commitment to collective climate action.

    As we bring these tools and ideas into Australia, we do so with a sense of shared purpose. Australia is a uniquely multicultural nation, and we believe these cross-cultural exchanges are essential to building the kind of ecological awareness and action our time demands.

  • Help Kokonut Sort It Right: Why Waste Sorting Matters (and Why It’s Not the Whole Story)

    Help Kokonut Sort It Right: Why Waste Sorting Matters (and Why It’s Not the Whole Story)

    At events, festivals, and public spaces, waste bins are often the first place we are asked to “do the right thing”.

    Recycle this.
    Compost that.
    Landfill the rest.

    It seems simple enough.

    But in reality, waste sorting is just one small part of a much bigger system—and it’s often where confusion begins.

    This is the thinking behind our video “Help Kokonut sort it right!”, created to make waste systems more visible, more playful, and easier to understand.

    Because when people are confused, it’s rarely due to lack of care. It’s usually because systems themselves are complex.

    Why waste sorting is harder than it looks

    At first glance, bins appear straightforward:

    • ♻️ Recycling
    • 🌿 Compost
    • 🔴 Landfill
    • 💰 Containers for Change

    But the reality behind each stream is more complicated.

    Some items that look recyclable are not accepted in standard recycling systems.
    Some “compostable” packaging requires industrial facilities that aren’t widely available.
    Some materials technically can be recycled—but only if they are clean, separated, and processed correctly.

    Even well-intentioned decisions can end up in landfill.

    This is not a failure of individuals. It’s a reflection of how systems are designed.

    The role of confusion (and why it matters)

    When people are unsure where something goes, it often leads to one of two outcomes:

    • placing it in recycling “just in case”
    • or defaulting to landfill to avoid contamination

    Both are understandable. Both are common.

    But both highlight a deeper issue: we are asking individuals to navigate systems that are not always intuitive.

    This is why education and clarity matter—but also why design matters just as much as behaviour.

    What Kokonut helps us see

    Through simple examples—like bottles, food scraps, coffee cups, and takeaway packaging—the video shows:

    • Not everything that looks recyclable actually is
    • Food waste belongs in biological cycles (compost), not landfill
    • Container Deposit Schemes provide a clear recovery pathway for some materials
    • Many everyday items still end up in landfill, even when sorted correctly

    The goal is not perfection.

    It is understanding.

    The bigger question: why are we sorting so much waste at all?

    Waste sorting is important. It helps reduce contamination and improves recovery where systems exist.

    But it also raises a bigger question:

    Why are we generating so many materials that require sorting in the first place?

    Many single-use items are designed for convenience, not recovery.
    Some materials are complex combinations that cannot easily be separated.
    And even with good sorting, a significant proportion still ends up in landfill.

    This is where the conversation begins to shift—from behaviour at the bin, to design upstream.

    From sorting waste to reducing it

    A more effective system starts earlier in the cycle:

    • choosing reusable over single-use
    • designing packaging that is truly recoverable
    • supporting systems like refill and return
    • reducing unnecessary material use altogether

    This doesn’t replace recycling or composting. It strengthens it by reducing pressure on the system in the first place.

    The takeaway

    Waste sorting matters. It plays a role in keeping materials in circulation where possible.

    But it is not the end of the story.

    If we stop at sorting, we miss the bigger opportunity: designing systems that create less waste in the first place.

    ♻️ Reduce first.
    ♻️ Reuse always.
    ♻️ Then sort what’s left.

    Because the goal is not just to sort waste better—but to create less of it altogether.

  • Meet our ambassador: Tom Borthwick

    Meet our ambassador: Tom Borthwick

    Tom Borthwick is a Principal Chemical Engineer and passionate sustainability facilitator dedicated to bridging engineering expertise with environmental action. As an Ambassador for People For Nature, Tom brings a unique blend of technical insight and public engagement to support climate and biodiversity education, helping diverse audiences explore systems‑based thinking and collaborative solutions to environmental challenges.

    With a professional background in chemical engineering, Tom has led complex technical processes and safety‑critical projects, where analytical rigour, risk assessment and innovative problem‑solving are core to success. He applies these strengths to his facilitation work — guiding workshops such as Climate Fresk that translate climate science into accessible, interactive learning experiences that inspire curiosity and action among participants.

    Tom is also active in community‑driven climate initiatives, contributing to People For Nature that bring together citizens, professionals and change‑makers to deepen climate literacy and collective agency. Through his ambassadorial role, he champions inclusive learning environments where people can connect knowledge with purpose‑driven action for a healthier planet.