“KEEP THE FIRE ALIVE”

What did you work with in 2019 and what do you do today?

Back then I was Sustainability and R&D Manager at Helly Hansen. Since spring 2022, I am responsible for sustainability at Active Brands, a Norwegian corporate group with brands such as Kari Traa, Sweet Protection and Åsnes. I was recruited to develop the company’s environmental, social and governance strategies, and set the goals and the roadmaps together with the different brands.

What positive steps do you see in the outdoor industry since 2019?

A lot has happened. In general, the sustainability work is more concrete and structured today. The transparency tools are more developed, and the climate strategies are more mature. At that time, many outdoor brands had neither concrete goals nor climate accounting. Also, I think that sustainability has become more of a priority among top management and boards. That was one thing we pointed out as a key factor in the think tank in 2019.

What has not developed in the way that the think tank aimed for?

Looking at the state of the planet, we are still doing too little, too late. The business models are very much the same, with a focus on growth and no impactful enough strategies on how to decouple this from the growing ecological footprints. Circular models have developed but are still on a fairly low level when it comes to business. I hope they will take a bigger part in the future.

What can be the reasons for this?

I think there was big momentum around sustainability then, in society. Perhaps we were also a bit more naive at the time, and now we are more into details that take longer to implement at scale than what we first anticipated. The passion for sustainability remains strong within the outdoor industry and we are making progress. However, the progress must be accelerated to address what we have in front of us.

What would you like to discuss if there was a visionary outdoor think tank today?

In both Europe and North America, the pandemic also led to many novices discovering the benefits of going outdoors. How can we inspire them to connect deeper to nature and act responsibly?

On the social side, many people working for our suppliers have had a tough time in the last years, with lockdowns, inflation etc. Can we as an industry unite and offer a more secure future for them?

A lot of good things have happened around transparency, both when it comes to technology development and companies identifying shared suppliers. I believe we will collaborate even more within this space in the future.

Also, I believe that biodiversity is a theme that we need to bring higher up on the agenda in the outdoor industry.

On a personal level, do you feel less or more visionary than in 2019?

Less, I am afraid. I am also more focused on the details and concrete action plans. In one way, that is maybe a natural and good development. At the think tank in Monviso, we didn’t only talk about how to minimize negative impacts. We also wanted to maximize the positive impacts! Here, I think there is still a lot to discover, together.