Best sustainable team building activities to inspire and boost engagement

As more and more companies embed ESG or sustainability into their strategies, ESG or HR teams are looking for new ways how to engage teams and make them sustainability ambassadors. Some choose traditional sustainable indoor workshop and trainings, others opt for a more funny and adventurous ways by organizing  sustainable team buildings.

Our company organizes both and we would like to share here some inspiration from our sustainable events and team building programs.

Traditional sustainable team building activities

As a consulting firm that helps clients with sustainability and engaging of employees, we were asked by our clients to create a unique outdoor program that would bridge a gap between expectations of our clients and the market offer of green or eco-friendly events.  Most clients have experienced activities like planting a tree, collecting trash or trekking in forests. These activities can nicely fit into CSR strategy of companies and be part of a volunteering days program. However, they don’t go deep enough into sustainability and cannot compare with professional outdoor or indoor team building programs run by experienced instructors. That’s is why we decided to combine our 20+ years of experience in team building business and our sustainability expertise to provide a whole new sustainability team building experience.

Our team building programs introduce the topics of sustainability or strategies in a fun and adventurous way. By combining games, team activities, personal and group reflections, we can get participants excited about the topic of sustainability and strengthen the engagement and loyalty of  employees or clients. Reactions and feedbacks by participants of these program are amazing and we are happy to see how impactful such events became.

How do we approach our activities

We believe that to get people on board to make a difference, we need to focus more on the solutions than on the problem. We believe we need to tell and also enable participants to create own vision of the tomorrow they want to create, and to spread the word on the enormous benefits sustainability will bring in terms increased health, monetary savings, new products and business models and restored ecosystems.  Our mission imprinted into sustainable team building programs we organize, is to inspire and motivate so we can all act from courage and excitement.

We want to do so in a adventurous and appealing way, with story telling, examples of what one  can do in personal life, visualization and action planning.

We use modern educational methods, various types of model situations, games, team building activities and techniques. The final choice of activities is of course agreed during joint consultations with clients.

Typically our clients enjoy a combination of outdoor or indoor activities linked to sustainability topics such as:

• Personal sustainability impacts in the main areas such as Consumptions, Food, Transport, Housing/ Energy, Communities, Reconnecting with nature.
• Carbon footprint and how to reduce it
• Journey of personal change to more sustainable future
• Decarbonization and available solutions we can use as individuals and society

Participants are split into teams that rotate between different checkpoints where they experience entertaining outdoor or indoor activities.  We conclude programs with action planning, a moment of reflection and with creating a strong personal vision for each participant.

Program can be outdoor, indoor or a combination of outdoor activities with more detailed indoor workshops on the topic of sustainability or ecology. You can find more information about this service here.

Some examples of sustainable team building activities we use

ACTIVITY 1: FOOD PLATE

Team game that boosts teamwork, communication and relationships. Food is roughly 20% of our personal carbon footprint and how we eat and what we eat has not only impact on our health, household economy but also on the environment. Reducing food waste and plant-rich diets are also two areas with the biggest reduction potential on global greenhouse gases.

As a team, participants embark on a journey where their goal is not to waste food (symbolized by in game elements) and at the same time to complete a certain trail that has different sections. Each section has a different difficulty level and represents a different diet type. Upon completion they learn how can they make more sustainable choices and taste sustainable food options.

ACTIVITY 2:  LABYRINT OF CONSUMPTION

A team game requiring cooperation, good communication and focus.  In our daily life we often do not realize what impacts our consumption and purchasing actions have on the climate and the environment. In this activity participants need to get through a maze representing our consumption and purchasing actions as a team. Sustainable behaviors will lead the team to the finish line, while all participants will get inspiration how to be more sustainable in daily lives.

ACTIVITY 3:TRANSPORT CHALLENGE

For most people transport is their significant source of emissions. In this activity participants become part of the supply chain department and are responsible for planning the transport of goods or people around the world. In this dynamic cooperative activity participants will enjoy great fun and also will firsthand experience how traveling impacts carbon footprint.

ACTIVITY 4:SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS

In this game teams get familiar with the most impacting climate solutions that one can do in your personal life. There are so many unique and sometimes surprising solutions out there. It’s a race against time and we need to act fast! The team needs to discover these solutions as quickly as possible while cooperating and communicating effectively.

If you are interested in having sustainable teambuilding for your organization do not hesitate to contact us or learn more about this service on our website.