The delicate chemistry of coalitions
A close up of fruit trees within an agroforestry planting
Supporting a coalition to make regenerative agriculture profitable for smallholders in the global south
In humanity’s urgent search for ways to suck carbon out of the atmosphere we have a ready but complex answer right beneath our feet. Globally, soils could store up to 5 billion tonnes of organic carbon per year, locked away and enriching life rather than heating the planet.
There’s rising interest in a set of regenerative agriculture practices as a way to turn farming into a sink for GHG emissions instead of a source, and to increase biodiversity on farms, but these practices are still only at the margins of industrial farming in most countries of the global north . So perhaps we should learn from smallholders and indigenous communities in the global south, for whom practices like agroforestry are age-old, rather than new-fangled ways of farming the land.
These farmers are crucial not only as stewards of the land, but as providers of vital food. Around 500 million smallholder farms operate on only on a couple of hectares apiece, and despite only accounting for about 12% of available arable land, produce more than a third of the world’s food, supporting two billion of the world’s poorest people.
But farming is an increasingly difficult struggle for many, and they are all but excluded from access to the growing voluntary carbon market (expected to reach $10-$40 billion by 2030) which could help them to achieve better incomes and quality of life while farming in ways that are good for both planet and people.
In response, the Climate Action for Smallholders Coalition (CASH) recently formed to “make regenerative agriculture and climate action profitable for smallholder farmers.”
CASH, in their own words, is a group of 13 organizations dedicated to preserving and restoring local ecosystems and addressing climate change and poverty through partnership with farming and forest communities. They believe that to limit global warming to 1.5°C we must urgently involve the two billion people who rely on small-scale farming, agroforestry and healthy ecosystems for their livelihoods. These communities must play a vital role in mitigating climate change and be rewarded for their actions.
They intend to achieve their aim by sharing knowledge, conducting research, and advocating for policies that benefit these communities. Through coordinated actions and joint programming, CASH member organizations will positively impact the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and local communities, and demonstrate ecosystems and climate benefits.
In June 2023 CASH asked Bramble to support them by co-designing and facilitating a three-day workshop for their members at this early, formative stage in their development.
We learnt that one of our strengths – an ability to make collaboration purposeful, productive and enjoyable - can only be expressed if the chemistry comes together in certain ways. So what is the chemistry of an emerging coalition?
The delicate chemistry of coalitions
Coalitions can have a bad rap. In our own experience, and perhaps that of many in the sustainability world, there is an all-too-common phenomenon of well-intentioned but superficial ‘zombie-coalitions’ being created by a group of CEOs and/or their comms departments and then the work delegated to more junior leaders and/or consultants.
Lots of meetings are held, grand visions spun, and working groups sweated, usually to produce a glossy report or aspirational message which burnishes the external reputations and self-esteem of its members but leaves the problems they claimed to address largely undisturbed. They can leave people feeling like they’ve eaten a full meal but are still curiously hungry.
It’s understandable that they should turn out this way sometimes. It’s hard to achieve deep coalition practice and impact. There are lots of obstacles in the way, from competing and non-aligned incentives, scarce resources, inertia and the greatly increased complexity that comes from multi-party collaboration.
But multi-stakeholder coalitions are enjoying a new lease of life in tackling the biggest systemic challenges we face today. Whether - as this HBR article describes - it’s fighting Covid or reversing low life expectancy in poor neighbourhoods, such is the complexity, breadth and depth of these problems it’s impossible for organisations to make a dent in them alone.
The right alliance of diverse, purposeful organisations with complementary expertise and assets can make inroads on tough problems and sustain them over time. They can crowd others in through their credibility, convening power, local presence and networks.
So we were excited but initially cautious when in May one of our old friends – Debbie Aung Din from Proximity Designs asked if we would like to help design and facilitate a three day workshop in June for a newly-formed coalition she is part of called CASH – Climate Action for Smallholders. Any invitation from a great person you like and trust is always an easy first step to saying yes. But the clincher was the cause shared by the organisations, and their clear commitment to it. At Bramble we seek to make a useful contributions to the emergence of regenerative agriculture and nature-based responses to the ecological crisis and this was a group of organisations with powerful potential to accelerate and bend these trends towards a more just future for small farmers.
Our partnership began with understanding the coalition’s goals for their formative workshop and working with the Executive Team to further develop the workshop plan they had already partly completed. We co-facilitated the group of c. 25 over three fascinating, fun and intense days in the heart of London in June. During that time the group evolved its thinking and made concrete commitments to advance the why, what and how of the work ahead. Along the way we learned from successful coalition pioneers as the Community Health Impact Coalition (CHIC), whose remarkable CEO Madeleine Ballard joined us give a masterclass on how they can work (and fail).
So what does it take to get the delicate chemistry right at this early formative stage? Fast forward to now and amidst the various concrete outputs and outcomes of the workshop, three things stand out in terms of the dynamics of the group as we look back on that experience in June:
1. Stay rooted in relationship: to each other, real places and beneficiaries
Investing time in the workshop for coalition members to mix, mingle and get to know each other more deeply through both facilitated and self-led exercises, as well as simply being out walking and/or eating together proved time very well spent. In addition to forming human bonds beneath the titles and jobs, bridging across organisations and recognising their unique qualities, it helped people form a field of shared inquiry and a safe space in which they could disagree without causing ruptures.
Another aspect of this was to regularly remind ourselves of our beneficiaries, and see the world, and this work, through the eyes of the places, communities, smallholder farmers and indigenous communities the coalition was there to support. Throughout the three days we also rooted ourselves in the deep history of our location in London as a place that could inspire and resource us.
Such moments of connecting to purpose, place and people brought raw emotion, deep values and wholeness into the room, avoiding the inevitable tendency towards abstraction or dry intellectual conceptualising and discussion.
2. Create and sustain momentum in the face of complexity
At times I was concerned that we weren’t giving enough time to burrow deep into the complex topics being discussed, and that any interventions we would develop would therefore be superficial. Although I think this is something to always guard against, I learned to trust the need to keep momentum going in the context of such a diverse group where the risk of getting lost in the fog of complexity is ever present. By day 2 we were working on intervention and innovation ideas and in a very short space of time the different break out teams had developed the kernel of some very tangible and promising opportunities.
For facilitators, this means having the means to be able to aggregate opinions quickly at times and knowing what to park for another time. We had a variety of large group methods to enable this, and the decision to move on was always consensual, as was the pacing, which we checked at various intervals. Keeping strong norms around paying attention to each other (e.g. phones away in the room) having fun and bringing in surprises with brief group based energisers and varied formats kept the mood and the momentum lively.
3. Distribute the power, energy and responsibility from the start
Another feature of that workshop which stands out is the humility, curiosity and spirit of equality which people showed throughout. It felt, from an outsider’s perspective, that egos and power plays were at a minimum during the three days, despite most of the participants being CEOs and leaders of their organisations. Perhaps this isn’t surprising given the kinds of organisations they lead, and their backgrounds, but it was still refreshing as someone who doesn’t take this for granted.
In addition to this natural advantage, the way the workshop was conducted meant that everyone had to pull their weight, with presentations and breakout sessions being largely led and run by different coalition members and only calling in facilitation support and direction where necessary. It is crucial to set the pattern early that the coalition has all it needs in the room and the likes of us, when used as facilitators, need to make ourselves redundant as quickly as possible so that we can make ourselves useful in other ways. This sets a precedent for distributed leadership of the coalition as it moves forward.
What next?
None of these are exotic kinds of social chemistry. The coalition brew is formed from such simple and obvious elements. But the brew isn’t stable and its energy tends towards dissipation unless it receives the right mix of catalysts and reagents, especially there are so many contextual elements dampening the force of the reaction.
At the end of the workshop some of the leading Coalition members took part in a facilitated panel discussion at the Conduit, where we had been spending the last day of our workshop. You can watch their discussion here
We are continuing as a partner of the coalition, currently supporting them in designing their next workshop in Nairobi and working to develop a visual way to represent all their work in a way that educates and resonates with their stakeholders quickly and effectively.
If you are interested in joining the CASH coalition, or willing and able to support the work of the coalition you can contact them here.
And if you're wondering if Bramble might help your coalition form its own unique chemistry, here are some of the kind testimonials we received from the CASH partners in response to our work. If we can see the mission alignment with our work we’d love to help you, you can reach us at hello@thebramblegroup.com.
Testimonials
“I thought we could probably manage the convening ourselves just fine, without external facilitation. But we ended up, less than 10 days before the event, to engage Julian from Bramble. And boy, am I glad we did.
Why? Julian ended up managing the process and logistics throughout the 3 days, which allowed me and others involved in putting together the event, to focus much more on the content and relationship building. He also prepared and led session that create the preconditions for participants to engage fully (phone away, attentive listening, etc.) and trust each other. That was invaluable. In low-energy situations or when we would get stuck in making a decision, get to the critical to-do part, he would always have something up his sleeve to bring us back. I have been in many facilitated meetings and he is one of the most effective I have ever seen. He is also a pleasure to work with, has a feel for when to stand back and when to engage. when working with Julian/Bramble you know it's not about them, but about the outcome of the event/process they are hired to catalyze. I highly recommend Julian and the Bramble team.”
Heiner Baumann, Executive Director, CASH Coalition
“Julian Thompson was a superb meeting facilitator for our important, 3-day, in-person gathering of 22 coalition leaders. We were a diverse group of individuals from different continents, cultures, backgrounds and levels of experience, taking on a very complex topic.
We were looking for the right combination of skills and personality traits in a facilitator, and Julian exceeded our expectations.
Julian brought authentic, positive and optimistic energy to our three days. He has high EQ and keen observation and interpersonal skills. He facilitated our meeting smoothly by asking us questions at key points, and encouraging group members to come up with our own ideas. Over the course of 3 full days, I observed that all of us participants remained highly engaged.”
Julian was patient, neutral, easy to talk to and facilitated trust easily with and among all of our members. I could tell he was deeply committed to social change and aligned with our values of respecting the power of the group. He was careful to ensure everyone in our group felt empowered to make suggestions and participate. He is an excellent communicator; and spoke comfortably in front of our group while conveying our meeting process in simple, concise ways. He could paraphrase back our ideas for the purpose of gaining better clarity. He was able to summarize and communicate back key themes, trends and decisions our group was making to create closure.
Julian was also adept at adjusting our meeting process when needed, which contributed significantly to our meeting's success. I felt Julian was well-attuned to our facilitation needs and tailored our meeting process when relevant to add value to our meeting. He was great at reading the room and skillfully inserted playful and creative exercises when needed, which fostered team bonding, more focus, or boosted energy levels within our group.
I worked closely with Julian to help prepare for our meeting, and can say he was an absolute pleasure to work with and we all viewed him as part of our team during the three intense days. I believe we wouldn't have had such a successful meeting outcome if it wasn't for Julian's expert facilitation. He is one of the best facilitators I've come across.
Debbie Aung Din, Co-Founder, Proximity Designs
“The CASH Coalition brought in Julian from Bramble to help figure out our shared strategy and focus. We had a lot of ground to cover, as well as the need to form strong, trusting bonds at this vital early stage. Julian and Bramble very effectively created the conditions for both. Working in a deft, creative and fun way to harness the strengths of the group and the power of the place we were in, Julian ensured we balanced the time and energy we spent together beautifully. We remained animated, motivated and productive through three long days, and left with renewed momentum. To anyone else forming or sustaining a coalition, I strongly recommend Julian and Bramble.”
Chris Jochnik, President and CEO, Landesa
“A facilitator with Julian's skills and professionalism is a rare find. His expert guidance quickly and effectively connected us to our purpose and to each other. This led our coalition to generate tangible results, and revealed a clear path forward. Best of all, his commitment to our success never waivered. Thank you, Bramble!”
Alexandra Tuinstra, Chief Strategy Officer, Root Capital