PROBE for Sustainable Business

PROBE for Sustainable Business is a best practice benchmarking tool that allows organisations to take stock of their current sustainability condition and then measure their progress through ongoing benchmarking and continual improvement.

Regardless of your understanding of sustainability, where you are on your journey, or how familiar you are with The Natural Step Framework, a PROBE assessment will help you demonstrate and measure the positive link between increased sustainability of your activities and tangible business benefits.

We really appreciated the structured and rigorous assessment that PROBE provided. It helped us 'hold up a mirror' to our own performance and progress and deepened our awareness of the complex interplay between the economic, social and environmental effects of our business. - John Twigg, Group Planning Director, Manchester Airports Group (UK).

PROBE for Sustainable Business is a new application of a proven analytics tool used by thousands of large and small organizations worldwide to guide strategy and provide accountability. Developed by Comparison International in collaboration with The Natural Step, it is underpinned by rigorous, academically reviewed and tested methods that have been developed over the last 20 years.

In terms of sustainable business practices, PROBE takes you from using your thumbs and the sun for orientation, to having an actual GPS. - Raefer Wallis, Director of A00 Architecture, Founder of GIGA (China).

Benefits:

PROBE for Sustainable Business has the following benefits:

Identifies potential risk exposure, highlights areas for improvement and provides focus for prioritization.
Supports continual improvement and benchmarking, including comparison with other organizations.
Underpinned by rigorous methods with proven results
Rapid and cost effective assessment.

Learn More

How it Works

Download our brochure (click here) for further information about PROBE for Sustainable Business.

Request a PROBE assessment

We have accredited facilitators in our teams around the world and are in the process of expanding our network of PROBE facilitators.We have dedicated PROBE project leaders in the following locations:

- The Natural Step Canada - info@naturalstep.ca; attn Sustainable Business Team

- The Natural Step France - Caroline Gervais

- The Natural Step Italy - Paolo Ronchetti

- The Natural Step New Zealand - Simon Harvey

- The Natural Step Network USA - Chas Martin

- The Natural Step International / Sweden - Richard Blume

You can also request a workshop via The Natural Step website or make direct contact with your local office to enquire about PROBE for Sustainable Business.

Latest News about PROBE roll-out!! (news item)

Announcement: International Wineries Sustainability Benchmarking Project launches (April 2011)
Introductory webinars on PROBE for Sustainable business - posted here when running.
PROBE training in New Zealand - "Total Quality Management and The Natural Step - PROBE for Sustainable Business read more.

PROBE Facilitator Training

PROBE facilitator training is run and accredited by Comparison International, a partner of The Natural Step. Upcoming PROBE facilitator training courses are posted on our website when they are running and you can also contact Comparison International directly. More courses are currently being planned in various locations, likely to include the USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand. To express interest and for further details, Please contact Comparison International.

Testimonials

Read what others are saying about PROBE for Sustainable Business here: (download .pdf)

Background on PROBE for Sustainable Business

PROBE stands for PROmoting Business Excellence and refers to a suite of performance benchmarking tools managed and deployed worldwide by Comparison International Ltd and a network of PROBE Licensees.

“PROBE for Sustainable Business brings together the proven PROBE methodology with a rigorously-researched framework that encapsulates sustainability as a set of powerful and readily-understood principles – The Natural Step Framework”.

PROBE tools have enjoyed widespread use in over 40 countries across all sectors and are well regarded for their research foundations. PROBE for Sustainable Business is no exception. The Natural Step Framework was selected as the whole-systems approach underpinning the PROBE for Sustainable Business tool and the TNS eLearning course is included as part of the PROBE for Sustainable Business assessment process.

Since 2009 we have worked closely with Comparison International to help develop and validate the tool as consistent with The Natural Step Framework (those familiar with the framework will see how the ABCD process and sustainability principles are embedded and operationalized within the tool). The list of other development contributors and collaborators on the PROBE for Sustainable Business is long and includes:

b:ssec (UK), Cambridge University (UK), Carbon Trust (UK), District of Easington Council (UK), Forum for the Future (UK), Fujitsu Tokyo & Centre for International Public Policy Studies (Japan), Global to Local (UK), Home Grown Cereals Authority (UK), Interserve (UK), Local Government Sustainable Procurement Stakeholder Group (UK), London Business School (UK), Real Change Research Program (International), TNEI (UK), Chicago Manufacturing Center (USA), Harvard Business School (USA), Enterprise Connect (Australia) and QMI Solutions (Australia).

Please contact Jonas Oldmark at jonas.oldmark@thenaturalstep.org for more information about our collaboration with Comparison International.

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