2degrees network

• General
  1. 1.What is 2degrees for?

     • 2degrees is the collaboration service for sustainable business

       2degrees will transform your access to the information, contacts and commercial opportunities you need to reach your sustainable business goals faster.

       Through active management of membership and content we have built a space where sustainable business leaders share openly with climate change experts and cutting-edge solutions-providers

  2. 2.Who are the members?

     • Senior sustainability, energy and procurement managers from major corporations and the public sector, consultants, clean-tech solution providers and academics.

        

        

       There is no single community of such influential people in sustainable business anywhere else in the world.

  3. 3.What can I do on the platform?
     • • Identify and collaborate with new innovative partners, suppliers & customers to solve practical problems
       • attend online presentations from sustainability thought leaders
       • access news, expert opinion and best practice documentation directly from your desk
       • find new technology and partners
       • share progress and ideas
  4. 4.How can I work with the 2degrees solutions team?

     • We offer a series of bespoke business services including:

       • supply chain engagement
       • partner recruitment and management
       • internal knowledge development
       • integrated project delivery

       Contact Simon Brown for more information

  5. 5.Why are you called 2degrees?

     • Leaders in many nations are discussing ambitious targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Scientists and policy makers believe that it is vital to hold the rise in global mean temperatures below a threshold of 2 degrees celsius compared with pre-industrial times in order to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change on the environment, human societies, and our economies.

• Membership
  1. 1.How will I know if I'm eligible to join? Or if someone I want to invite will be eligible?

     • Our priority is high quality collaboration leading to tangible results. So if you are confident that you can make a significant contribution through leadership of debates or specific expertise we would welcome your input.

       As a guide, we are less likely to include companies or individuals who are solely interested in accessing data or contacting our audience. This tends to rule out undergraduate students and recruitment consultants. If you feel that you have a special case for inclusion please contact simon.barnard@2degreesnetwork.com

  2. 2.What does it mean to be a member of 2degrees?

     • You can choose your level of involvement but to enjoy maximum benefits we recommend that you join several working groups. The more you participate in our online and offline collaborations the more you will benefit.

  3. 3.How much will I have to pay and when will I have to pay it?

     • Entry Level Membership of 2degrees is free.

       When you join 2degrees you qualify for a FREE 2 month upgrade to Business Membership level.

       Business Membership of 2degrees will be:-

       Small companies (less than 50 employees) $325 per seat per annum.
       Medium and large companies $795 per seat per annum.

       Or you might choose to pay quarterly:-

       Small companies (less than 50 employees) $90 per seat per quarter.
       Medium and large companies $215 per seat per quarter.

       Corporate group discounts are available as part of our 2degrees partnership packages. Contact oliver.hurrey@2degreesnetwork.com

       Postgraduate members of a relevant academic faculty receive a Free Upgrade to Business Membership*

       Charities, not for profits and companies based in developing countries may also qualify for discounts. Contact gill.harris@2degreesnetwork.com for further details.

       *At the discretion of the Client Services Director.

  4. 4.What are the differences between Entry Level and Business Level Membership?

     • Business Level Membership

       • Enjoy unrestricted access to our full range of cutting-edge webinars, increase your knowledge, explore new solutions and technology and share best-practice, all at your own desk.
       • Access high quality compliance documents and other specialist content
       • View full profiles of corporate leaders including contact details and key interests to identify high quality partners, suppliers and customers.
       • Contact members through the site

       For those who may be new to the area of climate change we have devised a simpler level of service.

       Entry Level Membership

       • View limited profiles of corporate leaders with names, position, company and key interests (contact details not shown)
       • Receive and reply to contacts from other members
       • Join forum discussions, access and reply to blogs, upload and download key documents.
       • Attend webinars by invitation only.
  5. 5.I haven't used the site for a few weeks - will my membership become dormant?

     • No, don't worry we'll keep it live for you. But we recommend joining one of our "getting started sessions"

• Partnerships, premier products and bespoke opportunities
  1. 1.What does it mean to be a 2degrees partner and how do I go about it?

     • We offer a range of corporate and consultancy products available to help you realize your business goals faster. For instance, as a consultancy you might be interested in establishing a collaborative working group on 2degrees to demonstrate thought leadership and build brand exposure. Or we could build a bespoke private working group to facilitate integrated project delivery, partner recruitment and management, internal knowledge development or to increase supply chain engagement.

       To discuss these opportunities further please contact oliver.hurrey@2degreesnetwork.com

       We will work with our Partners to position them as thought leaders and champions of sustainable business change to the members of the partnered group(s). We offer:-

       • Lead brand presence across the working group(s)
       • Opportunity to lead webinars, forums and blogs. Providing expert insight into areas of specific competence to positively influence debate, customers, partners and regulators.
       • Working group(s) designed and directed to solve Partners’ particular sustainable business challenges eg carbon reduction or sustainable supply chains.
       • Generation of new business opportunities delivered through a program of bespoke supplier, partner and customer introductions.
       • The support of a Working Group Manager to ensure that group(s) are compelling and valuable to other members.
• Using the Site
  1. 1.How do I get started?

     • Lots of people find it hard to carve out the time to get started on a new relationship, use a new system or master a new tool. We want to make sure that you get the maximum benefit from time spent with 2degrees so invite you to join one of our “getting started” sessions.

       We’ll take you through everything you need to know from maximizing your profile to requesting RSS feeds to running your own working group to make sure that you get the maximum benefit from the time you spend with us.

  2. 2.I’ve joined up, posted my details, but I still feel that I’m missing things, how can I get more involved?

     • To get the most benefit from 2degrees you should try to participate in a wide range of activities. The fastest way to focus your activity and make collaborative connections is to join several wokring groups. Participate in forums, post documents and try-out webinars.

       The more that you put in, the higher your profile will become and the more return you’ll see.

  3. 3.What is the dashboard for?

     • The dashboard is your personal home page, once you join one or more working groups your dashboard will collect up and display news, contacts and information relevant to you.

  4. 4.What’s the best way to keep abreast of news relevant to me?

     • You can choose to aggregate all the latest news relevant to your working groups as an RSS feed. Beneath the menu on your dashboard is column of news headlines. At the head of the column there is an orange RSS icon. Clicking this will take you to you a RSS link which you can view in your browser or paste into an RSS reader.

  5. 5.How can I keep track of when new posts are made?

     • If you have membership of a working group you can subscribe to a forum thread and you’ll be sent an email alert whenever there is a new post. If you make a post in the forum you will be automatically alerted.

       You can unsubscribe from this service at any time.

  6. 6.How and where should I upload my interesting document? And how will people know it’s there?

     • You should upload to the relevant working group, the new content will be highlighted in the “latest content” section on the working group dashboard. If your content does not fit into a working group post in "all 2degrees". If you think that the article you've posted is worthy of a working group spotlight please let the team at 2degrees know and we'll promote it for you.

  7. 7.I’m worried about privacy? Will I be bombarded with contacts that I don’t want?

     • Unless you choose to reveal your e-mail and contact numbers they will not be visible to others.

       Privacy settings »

       Working groups can be public or invitation only, and allow more focused and private dialogue.

       You can choose to share publicly through opinion pieces and forums or connect through private messaging.

  8. 8.I have very poor band-width and can’t view your webinars. Is there any way for me to access them?

     • If you are a non-UK member with reduced access and there is any content that you are particularly interested in please let us know by e-mailing simon.barnard@2degreesnetwork.com and we’ll try to help.

• Working Groups
  1. 1.Why should I join a working group?

     • A working group provides a focused space concentrating relevant expertise, information and interactions that address your climate change challenges. They can be public or by invitation only. Sorting content through your working groups streamlines your searches so you can access relevant information much faster.

  2. 2.Can I join any working group I like?

     • Most 2degrees working groups are open to all. A small percentage are private working groups established by companies or organizations to facilitate sharing progress towards a common goal. For example, these working groups might prevent silos forming in a joint development project, or revolutionize collaboration in the run up to an event.

  3. 3.I’d like to establish my own working group, what’s the first step?

     • You can propose a new working group by going to the Groups section and clicking the Propose tab.

       To avoid duplication of working groups, a member of the 2degrees team will review your proposal and get back in touch with you. We can help you in a number of ways:

       • populating your working group with the most relevant people
       • branding your working groups
       • offering advice and support on possible overlaps/relationships with existing working groups
       • providing opportunities for us to manage your working group or generate content and schedule events on your behalf.

       It takes a lot of time and effort to create and maintain a group! If you’d like to talk about partnering with us to create a bespoke group, contact oliver.hurrey@2degreesnetwork.com

  4. 4.I’ve started a working group and invited some people to join who aren’t members of 2degrees – will they have to join 2degrees?

     • Yes, to be part of our working groups you must be a member of 2degrees. This does not necessarily mean that they will have to pay. All new joiners will be given a 2 month FREE Trial with Business Level Membership privileges. Entry Level Membership is free.

  5. 5.Can I refuse people entry to my working group?

     • It’s important that you are very clear in your objectives for establishing your working group. We are committed to fostering true collaboration so public working groups should include competitors to ensure all possible approaches and aspects of a subject are covered.

       If you wish to collaborate with a private group of company stakeholders then you can establish a closed working group.

       For more info contact oliver.hurrey@2degreesnetwork.com

  6. 6.How can I promote my working group within the site?

     • By advertising relevant events to all 2degrees members. You can do this through a forum post, or contact simon.barnard@2degreesnetworks.com.

  7. 7.Responses to my forum discussions have been disappointingly few – how can I increase engagement?

     • It is important to plan and to research the topics that will engage your audience. Thought-provoking or controversial subject matter discussed by thought-leaders from your sector are an effective draw to your working group. Try to engage several "leaders" for your forum from different backgrounds or functions and encourage them to make posts. You can message your working group to alert them to new forum posts at any time.

  8. 8.My working group has achieved its objectives now – how can I close it down?

     • It may be that you have reached your goal, changed direction, or feel that you’ve run out of steam. Contact roz.curzonlewis@2degreesnetworks.com to discuss what happens next.

  9. 9.I want to set up a working group which will be private to my company. Will you run it for me?

     • Yes, we have a range of service offers, contact oliver.hurrey@2degreesnetwork.com

  10. 10.I want to partner 2degrees in an open working group.

      • That’s great. Please contact oliver.hurrey@2degreesnetwork.com to discuss the best way forward.

• Webinars
  1. 1.What is a webinar?

     • A webinar is real-time interactive seminar which runs on 2degrees using Webex, Cisco’s online meeting tool. Attendees dial into webinar through both the internet (you’ll need speakers on your computer) so you can watch a presentation (usually as powerpoint slides) and hear a lecture and questions, exactly like being at a conference.

 

 

All the information is very helpful and relevant - I find this platform very useful and believe we can all benefit from sharing experience, expertise and know-how.

Anca Adamescu
Sustainability Programs Coordinator, DHL Supply Chain