On Tuesday I ran a workshop for Sustainability Champions at one of my clients – introducing them to the Sustainability Strategy targets and giving them an insight into Green Jujitsu to engage their colleagues. One Champion, however, had already stumbled on a winning formula at her site: ducks.

A collaboration with a local conservation charity had led to a duck pond being built adjacent to the site. Seeing an opportunity to get people out into the fresh air at lunchtime, she set up a ‘duck board’ in the atrium with information on the ducks and other wildlife, but, crucially it turned out, bags of bird seed to feed the ducks.

It turns out, people love feeding the ducks, so they keep coming back to the duck board. The board has now become a legend and our Champion has used it to promote a wide range of issues from single use plastic pollution to mental health and stress management. One thing, however, remains constant: the duck food – she’s been told in no uncertain terms by her colleagues that the seed must stay. So it does.

I love this as it is making Sustainability accessible and interesting, linking the hyper-local with the global, and giving something to the audience that they really appreciate. Ruddy brilliant, you could say!

For more on using Green Jujitsu to engage people in Sustainability, check out our white paper.