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Background
In 2022, Lendlease held their Towards Zero Customer Summit with over 400 leaders coming together to tackle environmental challenges in the built environment and hear from leading minds in the space.
The event was held across Melbourne and Sydney, as well as a range of virtual events to make it a truly national engagement opportunity to connect with customers and other stakeholders eager to learn the latest in environmental issues and practices.
The Lendlease team approached Wilderlands wanting to understand how they could embed environmental impact into the event as well as engage and educate audiences on the risks associated with biodiversity loss and learn what action can be taken by businesses.
Wilderlands presented a solution that includes panel discussions, protecting the footprint of the event spaces, unique gifts for attendees, and even an augmented reality experience to bring nature into the urban environment – it was a roaring success.
The Campaign
Lendlease protected the equivalent square metres of the event spaces across the Melbourne and Sydney offices, securing nearly 6000 Biological Diversity Units (BDU’s) that promise the permanent protection and active management of high-conservation value projects across Australia.
The campaign was announced via a promotional video which also revealed that attendees could unlock their very own Wilderlands platform with a gift of 10 square metres protected to enable attendees to take action on the day.
The Melbourne Connect venue was turned into an augmented reality experience enabling attendees to walk through the innovation precinct and see birds flying around their head, and learn about the species they’re helping to protect with a launch of the Birds of Wilderlands providing a unique way to educate people on why their support of these projects matters.
Wilderlands also took part in panel discussions throughout the summit with Co-Founder Paul Dettmann joining Pollination Foundation CEO Jane Hutchisonand Lendlease Head of Sustainability Ann Austin to lead a conversation around why biodiversity loss is bad for business.
The campaign was communicated via a bespoke profile page which detailed the total impact as well as connecting to the projects being supported.
The Results
Over 300 of the attendees took the opportunity to unlock their own 10 square metre gift and the feedback from the Summit was that this was an welcomed alternative to the typical tote bag or other souvenirs often handed out at events that are far less meaningful and impactful.
The campaign has been recognised globally for innovation in the use of biodiversity credits as a way to connect to customers and seen a range of other events and festivals explore similar concepts, with Adelaide Festival as an example.
Major global publications including the World Economic Forum and Wall Street Journal have referenced the partnership as has the Australian Financial Review, presenting this as one of the first true examples of collaboration between credit developers and industry.
About Wilderlands
Wilderlands have developed one of the world’s first voluntary biodiversity credits and launched a platform to make it easy for anyone to start protecting nature today.
The Biological Diversity Unit (BDU) represents a 1sqm plot of permanently-protected and actively managed land in high ecological value projects across Australia.
Each unit is geotagged to enable supporters to track their impact through their personal profile, receive regular reports from expert ecologists on the ground and watch as nature flourishes thanks to their support.
Since launching in August 2022, we’ve protected nearly 100,000 square metres of vulnerable Australian habitat thanks to the generosity of our supporters.
