Living Alive: Certified B Corporation
Experience-led sustainability consultancy based in NE Scotland becomes B Corp certified!
We’re proud to announce that a few weeks ago Living Alive officially became a certified B Corporation.
But what does this mean? and why do we believe it’s important? We thought we’d take the chance to share why this achievement feels like a symbolic and significant step in our journey towards building a regenerative business, and how it seems particularly poignant with what’s happening in the world today.
At Living Alive we offer awe-inspiring talks, immersive nature-based workshops and retreats, and intervention consultancy for leaders and businesses. The purpose in all of our work is to help people want to look after each other and the world around them better.
Over the last month in the UK awareness of the climate crisis has reached a tipping point: Extinction Rebellion took over the streets of London, young activist Greta Thunburg inspired millions of school children around the world to strike for their futures and spoke truth to power at the European and UK Parliaments on the urgency of the challenges we face. Then low and behold the Scottish and UK governments became the first to declare a climate emergency. How this translates into action? Only time will tell, but one thing that is clear is that awareness and engagement about the converging crises we face of climate and ecological breakdown have finally hit the mainstream.
So what does this mean for business?
To limit global warming to 1.5°c as specified by the latest IPCC report will require rapid change to all human systems, including a fundamental reassessment and reinvention of the true purpose of business to become more regenerative; creating benefits for both people and planet as well as shareholder profit.
We created Living Alive to respond to this need. To offer transformative experiences that catalyse, accelerate and support people in engaging in their vital role in building a more regenerative future for all life on Earth.
When we first set out on this mission, we were deeply inspired by outdoor brand Patagonia, whose core purpose is to use their business protect and “save our home planet“. We found out that along with now 2,800+ other inspiring and companies across over 150 industries around the world, Patagonia was a certified B Corporation – having undertaken rigorous assessment to prove that they meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.
And it captured our imagination: a certification that gave us the ability to demonstrate our commitment to building a purposeful business for the sake of people and planet, in a widely recognisable way!
We soon started working on our B Impact Assessment, and one year, lots of learning and paperwork later we’ve now completed the journey for Living Alive to become a certified B Corp – joining the inspiring community of businesses accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more regenerative future for all.
The certification process is administered by the nonprofit organisation B Lab, requiring each business to legally embed their long term commitment to purpose beyond profit into their company articles, and undertake a re-certification process every 3 years.
For Living Alive, certifying as a B Corporation is a powerful way that we can show our commitment to using our business as a force for good, and to being active proponents towards the wider systems change which is so urgently needed in the world today.
We’re grateful for all the encouragement and support we’ve received from Scotland CAN B along our journey to certification, and couldn’t be happier to join the B Corp community as what we reckon must be (for now) the most northerly B Corp in Scotland and the UK!
The B Impact Assessment tool is free for any organisation to use to start to measure and improve their impact.
You can find more details of Living Alive’s first B Impact Report over on the B Corp directory.