A look back at the 2021 cycle of "+1, the ecology turned into actions”

The aim of "+1, the ecology turned into actions" is to contribute to opening a dialogue between the various stakeholders of the company in order to drive the ecological transformation in an efficient and fair way. This scheme was initiated in 2021 by Veolia, in partnership with Usbek & Rica and “La REcyclerie”, with the support of “Comité 21”.

Between September and December 2021, the “+1” collective met for three half-day working sessions at “La REcyclerie” in Paris, on the following themes:
#1 Listening, #2 Deciding and #3 Training.

At each of these sessions, “+1” members attended an opening keynote speech, representing a time for inspiration and reflection on the issues at stake. They then participated in collective intelligence workshops in sub-groups, with representatives from each of the five stakeholder categories: Employees, Clients, Shareholders, Society, Planet. They came up with specific actions with a significant impact for implementing the ecological transformation.

The 2021 cycle of “+1” was thus organized around the following elements:

three 3-hour morning sessions held in September, October and December;
the same group of 50 Veolia stakeholders, involved in all 3 sessions;
one theme per session (# 1 Listening, # 2 Deciding, # 3 Training);
a lunch to close each session.

THE KEYNOTE SPEECH

This inspirational moment in the first part of each session is intended to provide food for thought for the participants with a view to:

explaining the problem;
broadening the perspectives around the theme;
initiating a dynamic of mutual listening and interaction.

COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE WORKSHOPS

The challenge of the workshops was to create a cross-discussion between the five categories of stakeholders in order to confront their points of view and to approach the problems and solutions from all social, financial, commercial, societal and environmental angles. The objective is to propose specific actions to be implemented in the service of an ecology turned into actions.

In the first cycle of the “+1” process, the workshops were organized into three phases to guide the participants in their thinking as follows:

To identify obstacles and barriers related to the theme of the workshop and the specific experiences of the participants, which are used throughout the workshop to guide and frame the work undertaken.
To explore possible solutions to these obstacles by calling on the imagination and expertise of each person.
To define a realistic solution to be implemented in a specific context.

A REVIEW OF THE 3 MEETINGS OF THE “+1” PROCESS IN 2021

#1 Listening

#2 Deciding

#3 Training

LANDING

Indicators of success for the “+1” scheme include:

the participation of the members of the collective in the three sessions;
their satisfaction with each of the proposed stages;
their desire to work in a decompartmentalized way.

A look at the figures for the first cycle of “+1”, taken from the satisfaction questionnaires submitted to members of the collective at the end of each session*.
_{*Averages based on the three feedback questionnaires sent to the members of the collective after each session.}

92%

Almost all respondents felt that the collective work done with their group members was both
“useful” and “specific”.

93%

This is the proportion of respondents who felt that the objective of the scheme aiming to “work better together with diverse profiles”, in particular by “getting to know each other better”, was achieved in these sessions.

95%

This is the share of respondents who said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the quality of the interventions of the experts in these three sessions, which they described as “inspiring”, “enriching”, “of high quality” or “highly relevant”.

AND THE NEXT STEP?

“+1, for an ecology in action” is a pilot scheme that amply proved its worth in 2021.
It was also an intention, a framework for innovative experimentation, a toolbox shared in open source, a network of committed stakeholders and a movement to be expanded.

What this pilot scheme delivered:

A validation of the feasibility, the necessity and the deep desire of the stakeholders concerned to think and work together in a decompartmentalized way on the challenges of ecological transformation.
A proven method of open source collective intelligence, designed to work on the co-creation of solutions for a specific approach to ecology allowing organizations to be more open to their ecosystem.
A community ready to engage collectively and to take action for ecological transformation.

A prototype to be consolidated, perfected and duplicated in 2022

Three new work sessions will be offered to the “+1” collective in 2022 to strengthen this collective momentum created for the ecological transformation of territorial units:

What type of governances for companies and structures:

#1 to foster territorial resilience?

#2 to boost and increase innovation?

#3 for employment and social integration?

Find out more about the 2022 cycle of “+1”

Tools for adopting and deploying the program in your own context

The logbook that traces the “+1” process in 2021,
The deployment kit for the “+1” system, which brings together the tools needed to adapt the approach to your own needs.

Feedback from the “+1” experience in 2021

The objective of “+1” to "get to know one another better in order to work together better", as applied to stakeholders from various backgrounds, is based on three pillars: listen, co-create and commit together. Fanny Demulier, the coordinator of Veolia's “Purpose” steering committee, reminded us of these imperatives as she introduced the testimonies of members of the collective on their experience of “+1” during the review meeting on 29 March 2022.

« In view of the climate emergency, we need to replicate and adapt this system in all teams, whether operational, commercial or legal… and also by involving external stakeholders more to take action together», Claudia Thévenet, Materials Recovery Division, Ile-de-France Industrial Waste Center, Veolia – EMPLOYEE.

« As stakeholders in the ecological transformation, we all can contribute to the solutions, but we must take the time to listen to one another and to consider the long term in our decisions.», William Elland-Goldsmith, Managing director of Mouvement UP - SOCIETY.

« We need to think collectively about the transformation of our organisations thanks to spaces for dialogue such as the one proposed by ‘+1’, because it is with all the stakeholders that solutions can be found. This initiative should be extended to companies.», Anne Le Corre, Co-founder and President of the trade union “Le Printemps Écologique” - PLANET.