Platform Relaunch - “The Dream is Alive”
Welcome to your new Connecting Nature Enterprise Platform 2.0!
Relaunching a website is never easy or straight forward, let alone relaunching a platform with over 2,000+ members. And so I bow my head in thanks to Olivia, Esmee, Dharm, Isobel and Siobhan who have led us to this new frontier. In the words of Space Shuttle Program astronaut John Young in 1981, “The Dream is Alive”.
We first launched the Connecting Nature Enterprise Platform (CNEP) back in 2020 after research identified thousands of nature-based enterprises working with and for nature. The research showed that many of these enterprises were working in isolation with no peer support network and no centralised home where we could be found and heard as a collective and important part of the nature positive economy.
Over the first two years we grew to over 2,000+ members with representation from over 90 countries worldwide. Connections were established and many members have begun working on projects together. Knowledge, opportunities and learnings have been shared and friendships have formed and blossomed. We’ve held webinars, in person events and established best practice in our respective sectors. Nature Based Solutions are conceived, tested and delivered because of people like you - the trailblazers & visionaries we need!
At the beginning of 2022 we asked you all for feedback about the platform itself. What would you like to see? What didn't work well? And how could it be improved? That feedback was invaluable and we have been busy analysing it, talking with our community ambassadors and researching best in class digital communities of practice that would meet our collective needs.
Following months of work the site went live for testing with a smaller group over the last few weeks. Yesterday we invited all 2,000+ original members to reactivate their accounts on the new Connecting Nature Enterprise Platform. Due to data controls, we could not simply transfer people’s accounts and private information to the new platform, hence the need for pre-existing users to reactivate accounts themselves. That said, in the first 24 hours we have had hundreds of account reactivations already and new members continue to join all the time.
One of the first events on the new platform will be our inaugural horizon scanning, industry futures event: “Nature Futures: Emerging Trends for Nature Based Enterprises”.
Register Here - Wednesday 15th, March, 13:00 GMT / 14:00 CET
Bringing together 10 industry leading international speakers, this promises to be one event you won't want to miss. From regenerative agriculture, tourism and forestry to green buildings, natural water management and smart tech solutions, speakers will explore the key trends, challenges and opportunities facing nature-based enterprises and how we can prepare for these. Please note that you will need to sign-up and be logged into the site to register for the event.
Finally, we have great plans for the coming year and ambitious targets for the growth of the CNEP community. We realise that it is through yourselves that much of this growth happens so please encourage your peers and colleagues to check us out. We have further webinars and CPD courses in the pipeline and encourage all members to share and engage with each other on the platform and off it. Our hive mind works in the interest of our broader sector and our common goals for climate, biodiversity and restoration of the ecosystems we form only a very small part.
Thanks for your time & consideration and please do let us know what you think of the new platform. Feedback, ideas for new features, content, webinars, or anything else you would like to see is always welcome and we are always learning - [email protected].